2020

Regular fund raising events were suspended due to the pandemic.   Many local businesses namely Biggs opticians, Strand Pharmacy, Walmer Pharmacy and both the Cutting Room Hairdressers as well as schools, namely Hornbeam and Temple Ewell supported Christmas Jumper Day and we are very grateful to them for their continued support.

We only managed to hold one quiz in 2020 before we had to halt the monthly quizzes at the Deal Vics Cricket Club.

Christmas Jumper Day

However the branch has been grateful to those who have continued to send donations. The support locally for Christmas Jumper Day has been quite amazing considering the difficulties that we have all been facing. This year, both ‘the Cutting Room’ and ‘The Cutting Room for Men’ as well as Biggs Opticians, Walmer Pharmacy, Strand Pharmacy, Hornbeam School, and Temple Ewell School are among the local businesses who have been so generous in supporting the day. I would also like to thank the Post Office and Wellingtons for having collecting tins on the counters.

Valerie Miller and Sarah  Spong have spoken on Zoom to the Inner Wheel Deal about the work of Save the Children and in particular how the pandemic has affected that work. We are very grateful to them for their generous donation of £50. I am extremely grateful to Valerie Miller for preparing specially adapted presentations on the work of the Save the Children for local primary schools as we have been unable to visit those schools to give assembly presentations this year.

Commitments

Save the Children is committed to making sure that children and their families are safe and healthy and that they continue to learn as this is their best chance of a better future once this is over. Here in the UK., Save the Children has set up an emergency grants programme that enables those suffering severe financial hardship to buy essential household items. These families also received advise on how to support their child’s learning when schools were shut.

In countries like Syria and Yemen, the virus is threatening to overwhelm the health services. A key role of Save the Children is to support those health centres and to train health workers as well as providing PPE for the workers. Save the Children has also been providing up to date and accurate information to the community on covid-19 and how to protect themselves. This has been crucial to ensuring that the community has confidence to access health care and reducing rates of transmission of the disease.

Globally, as at the end of September 2020, Save the Children had reached 16.4 m people, of which 7.7 m were children. Support includes ensuring communities have access to clean water, screening children for malnutrition and  providing treatment for malnutrition, providing  distance learning, and cash or voucher transfers for families living in poverty. See the page on savethechildren.org.uk for further details.