|
| |
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||
  |
CHILD SPONSORSHIP FAQ 1. How does CRY child sponsorship work? Because sponsorship is a form of regular giving, a project can plan towards the things they really need. Most sponsored children are enrolled in a project where sponsor donations are pooled. A sponsor can have more than one sponsored child and vice versa. The project cares for the child's well-being and often also assists the family and community. Your payments usually go towards supporting the child's accommodation, food, clothing, health care, education, recreation, summer camps and trips out, etc. Pledging to fund a child through CRY goes a long way to securing their long-term future. The programme is a vital lifeline to the children but if for any reason the sponsor withdraws, CRY continues to support the child until a new sponsor can be found. 2. What will I receive once I sign up? When we receive your first payment, we assign an individual child to you. You will receive a comprehensive sponsorship folder pack. This will include a picture of the child, information about the child's personal background and a detailed description of the project in which your child is enrolled. At least twice a year you will be sent a report about the child or children who have benefitted from your support. 3. Can I sponsor a child ONLINE? You can set up your child sponsorship online. Just select 'Sponsor a Child' > 'Online Sponsor Form' link on the main menu. 4. Can I send a card or write to my sponsored child? You are welcome to communicate with your child 3 or 4 times a year if you wish. Please send cards, letters or, preferably, emails to the CRY UK office which we will forward to our local administrator who will translate them. CRY UK Office 5. How do I write to my sponsored child? Firstly, please bear in mind that these children all come from different backgrounds. Some have been rescued from the streets, others come through social services. A few are orphans with no knowledge of their families. Others have parents who may be divorced or separated. We actively try and re-establish contact with their families but often they don't want to look after their children, or are unable to, through poverty or ill health. Personal background information is often incomplete and inaccurate. Please write one-page letters in clear simple English. Unless you are fluent in the language and local dialects, your letters may be misunderstood. Please feel free to enclose photos, picture postcards and greetings cards. It is important that you do NOT include your address or any contact information on the actual letter you write to the child, but do remember to include it on a covering letter so that we know where to return any reply. Please refer to yourself being a "friend" rather than a "sponsor". A group-sponsored child When a group sponsors a child, all letters should come from one person appointed as the group's letter writer. What to write Your sponsored child would like to know about you personally - your family, pets, hobbies, favourite sports or other activities as well as your occupation and where you live. After the first letter or two, focus more and more on the child. Please avoid writing about material possessions and any other topics that emphasise the difference between you and the child's situation. By writing about your everyday life, your child will get to know you and gain insight into your culture, making this an educational experience for both of you. Encouragement is one of the most important things you can give. Translations Your letter will be given to the child along with a translation if necessary. Field staff translate all letters and replies. Whilst we encourage all sponsored children to reply, we cannot guarantee one. Children who are not able to write are assisted by relatives or project staff who identify themselves in the letter you receive. However, we must emphasise that this all takes time. 6. Can I write to my sponsored child ONLINE? Keeping in touch with your sponsored child is now just a click away! Writing a letter online makes it easier for you to communicate. However, we must insist that you send NO attachments. When you sign up and receive your pack, you will be given an email address to use. 7. Can I send my sponsored child a gift? Sometimes sponsors wish to send an extra gift to the child, family or project - perhaps for a child's birthday or for a festive occasion. You can send a cheque (UK only), or money order to the UK Office or make a donation online through our secure ePDQ facility - don't forget to notify us when you have done this. The money is then sent to the project so that gifts can then be purchased in the child's own country. Please note that no deductions are made for handling or administration. Please DO NOT send money direct to the field project. We would ask that you send no more than £10 ($15 USD) as a gift for an individual child. Bear in mind that a typical monthly wage in Eastern Europe, for instance, is around $100 USD or even less! Please DO NOT send parcels because shipping costs and customs duty often exceed their value. It can also take hours of waiting in long queues to obtain the parcel from the local postal or sorting office, which can be miles away. In some countries, such parcels would be stolen before they reach their destination. 8. Can I visit my sponsored child? Visits to your sponsored child can sometimes be arranged but must be at the sponsor's expense. However, in the case of sponsored children in residential care, it is difficult to operate a visiting system from a staffing point of view - for example, children often attend school in several different shifts. If you are planning to visit the country anyway, and would like to see your sponsored child for half an hour, please contact our UK office at least 6 weeks before your trip for advice. We do not facilitate visits of children to their sponsors. 9. What happens when sponsorship of a particular child ends? Sponsorship support is often required for some time after a child has left residential care to return home, live with foster parents or live in CRY supported lodgings. Our local CRY social workers closely monitor all placements on a regular basis. When a child's circumstances change so that our assistance is no longer required or possible, then another child can be assisted instead. We do ask for your understanding and for your continuing support of a different child in need. When a child no longer requires our help, a sponsor can feel a great sense of satisfaction and achievement. 10. How do I make my sponsorship payments? UK Residents We prefer sponsorship payments to be made by bank standing order (no commission charges) but we can take credit card payments through our secure online ePDQ facility (a division of Barclaycard Merchant Services). You simply enter your credit card details and your sponsorship payments are automatically taken every month. Should you wish to withdraw from the scheme at any time, cancelling the recurring credit card instruction is easy, just drop us a line and we will do the rest. Non-UK residents Sponsorships should be paid by credit card by using our secure online ePDQ facility (a division of Barclaycard Merchant Services). You simply enter your credit card details and your sponsorship payments are automatically taken every month, converted into your own local currency, just the same mechanism as when you use your credit card overseas. Should you wish to withdraw from the scheme at any time, cancelling the recurring credit card instruction is easy, just drop us a line and we will do the rest. Notes to all sponsors If you have been issued with a unique sponsorship number, please quote this with all payments and correspondence. If you are a UK taxpayer, please complete a Gift Aid form as this considerably increases the amount we receive. 11. How much money goes direct to the child or programme? CRY guarantees that at least 80% of all sponsorship funds it receives will go directly to the various residential projects or child placements. Currently CRY is supporting the programmes to a much higer level of funding than the income from child sponsorship would allow. 
A word from the Executive Officer…I do hope that you will decide to support a child through our child sponsorship programme. With the help of caring people like you, we can help stop the suffering and give deserving children in need a better life today and hope for the future. It's a very rewarding commitment. Our partnership projects employ exclusively local personnel (mostly Christian) and have a set of strict financial controls. Long term funding is gained extensively, but not exclusively, through this system of child sponsorship. Our comprehensive child sponsorship welcome pack should provide you with all the information you need, but should you have any queries from time to time, please contact our Sponsorship Helpline who will be pleased to help solve your problems and answer your questions. David Farndale Chief Executive Officer
All material & content Copyright © CRY unless otherwise stated.
Page last updated on 22/06/2004. View Site Map. |
|
