How does child sponsoring work?

Child sponsorship is a great way to help children and those living in poverty. Children living in poor communities have very few opportunities, with long treks to reach water, little education, and no healthcare.

Sponsorship doesn’t just feed the children, it opens up a future for them, and it’s easy to set up online.

When you sponsor a child in India or Africa for example, you help the child’s village become stronger and self sufficient. That’s because your money doesn’t just care for the child; it helps to pay for better schools, to provide clean water and to develop healthcare skills that benefit the whole community.

Can I contact my sponsor child?

For many people, child sponsoring is about more than donating money. Most charities encourage you to write to the child that you sponsor, because for children living in poverty it means a lot to receive letters.

Sponsor children are interested in finding out about your hobbies and interests, and seeing photos. Letters can also be shared in school or at special meetings so all the children can enjoy the message.

If you want to, it may even be possible to visit your sponsor child. Most schemes typically sponsor a child in India or Africa, and with the help of the charity you can visit the community you’re helping to meet the child and to see the work that’s been achieved.

How do I set up child sponsorship online?

There are a number of charities offering sponsorship schemes, including World Vision, ActionAid and Barnardos.

All these charities allow you to set up your sponsorship donations quickly and securing online.

Choosing a sponsor child is a personal decision and some charities also allow you to select an individual child at the same time as arranging your payments.

For example, when you sponsor a child through World Vision, you can choose the continent, country, gender and age of your child on the website.

ActionAid allows you to choose the country of your sponsor child, but further child sponsorship requests need to be arranged over the phone.

Read more about charities that offer child sponsorship.