Capital: London
Area: 244,820 km²
Population: 58.7 million (December 2000 est.)
Ethnic groups: 81% English, 10% Scottish, 4% Irish, 2% Welsh, 3% Indian, Pakistani, and others
Official language(s): English
Religion(s): Anglican (57%), various Protestant faiths (15%), Catholic (13%), Methodist (1%), Muslim (1%)Jewish, Hindu and Sikh minorities
Currency: 1 pound sterling = 100 pence
SOS Children's Villages' activities in the country
The SOS children’s village organisation in United Kingdom was founded in February 1968 under the name ‘British Friends of SOS Children's Villages’ and has been supporting the worldwide work of SOS Children's Villages as a Promoting Association ever since.
Lady Brabourne, then Countess Mountbatten of Burma, served as the first President of the association in 1968. The current President is Dame Mary Richardson, former Chief Executive of the HSBC Education Trust.
Between 1984 and 1986 the London Hilton Hotel donated one pound from each bill issued in its hotel and restaurants to SOS Children’s Villages UK. And in 1985 the association was awarded the International Fundraising Award for its campaign ‘Rainy Days’, in which children collected money for each day of rain.
SOS Children’s Villages UK is particularly well suited to internet fundraising and child sponsorships have more than doubled in the last few years through the internet. Funds raised have helped the association take full responsibility for the construction and running costs of SOS Children’s Villages in Basse, The Gambia and in Chipata, Zambia. In addition to online and face-to-face activities, SOS Children’s Villages UK run an annual fundraising campaign called ‘World Orphan Week’, during which everyone is invited to raise money by ‘wearing something WOW’ for one day in return for a donation.
In 2006, SOS Children’s Villages UK began a five year partnership with HSBC who, through its Future First programme, will distribute five million USD to educational projects in 45 countries. The programme has supported educational projects which to date include: a playbus; a mobile library; a music therapy project; buying computers for SOS Schools and buying school uniforms for children from Family Strengthening Programmes. Key to this partnership is the cooperation between SOS Children’s Villages and HSBC staff within each country.
SOS Children’s Villages UK does not have an SOS Children's Village or other SOS facility in the UK at present, but is using its available funds exclusively for programmes and projects outside the UK.