Become A Guardian Angel

Dear people of Jersey,

It saddens us to have to resort to this urgent appeal, but we have no other option but to make a final attempt to secure the futures of our 22 children at Jersken’s Little Angels Home Kenya. 

Five years ago in Jersey, our Founder, Lucy Falle, opened the doors to a charity shop in St Clements, Jersey. People from across the Island came there –to donate and buy second-hand goods  – from toys and furniture to clothing and crockery.

Aside from the considerable rent paid to our landlord, 90% of the profit made from the charity shop in Jersey is put towards the running of the children’s home in Kenya.

How the pandemic has affected Jersken

To keep the public safe from the Coronavirus pandemic, Governments everywhere enforce the temporary closure of public spaces. For Jersken, the effect of our charity shop closure is felt most by our children in Kenya.

The prospect of reopening and operating the charity shop, as it was before the pandemic, is extremely unlikely.

It is for these reasons that the Jersken committee has decided to close the doors of the charity shop in Jersey, permanently. As soon as is possible, we will clear out the charity shop, and vacate the premises.

What’s next?

Closing the charity shop permanently and the current state of our finances means we will no longer be able to keep the children’s home running in Kenya, beyond the next two months.

Between now and 30 June, we must find 22 sponsors who can commit to sponsoring our Little Angels.

Why? Because it would break our hearts to have to split up the children –  who have grown up with each other for the last five years – and send them to separate outreach programmes in Kenya for the remainder of their childhoods.  

Support Us On Our Emergency Appeal

You may have already seen Lucy’s Just Giving appeal to raise £4,000 to cover the costs of running the home for six months – including staff wages, food and implementing health and safety measures. I launched this just after the temporary closure of our charity shop. So far, this Just Giving appeal has raised £1,000 in two months – thanks to generous donors, Facebook friends and Instagram followers. This money raised will keep the home operating for the next two months while we search for sponsors for our children. Thank you so much to all of those who donated to this appeal.

What I am writing about now, here in this blog, is a separate more urgent appeal. We cannot stress how crucial it is that we find 22 sponsors to secure the futures of the children at our home.

Do you know someone who can afford to sponsor one of our 22 children at our home for £35 per month, for one year? 

Or a company who is keen to see real-life results from its corporate social responsibility activity? 

If you do, please  sign up to be a ‘Guardian Angel’ for a Jersken child, for one year. In the meantime, we hope you all continue to stay safe and well, and that you are able take of yourselves and your loved ones.