Season’s greetings to you and your loved ones. As we begin to wrap up the year 2023, we have witnessed a high demand from many vulnerable people in our communities who have struggled to cope with the rising cost of living.
The Russian – Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas wars along with numerous natural disasters, have not helped the situation. While we are unable to meet every request tabled before us, our limited responses have been made possible by your financial commitment to the foundation and for this, we are profoundly grateful.
Below are some of our activities since you received our last newsletter:
Support for refugees in Scotland
We continued our collaboration with our local partners and provided basic household items and winter clothing (winter socks, boxers, hats, gloves etc.) to the refugees in their care. Please pray for these refugees as they are separated from their families who are still stuck in the war-torn countries.
Continued Support for widows and orphans in Kogi State
We have continued to provide foodstuffs to multiple widows and their families during this festive season so that they have a meal on their table on Christmas and new year day. These items were purchased and distributed by one of our volunteers and the heartfelt gratitude and prayers offered by the recipients are a testament of how much the items made a difference.
Support for kids in Egbeda Akowonjo slum areas of Lagos State
The year 2023 has been an eventful one as one of our partners, Westdyke Community Football club donated vast amounts of used football kits to the youths and most of who are orphans in Nigeria. These items were delivered in September 2023, and they have all been put to effective use during their football training matches.
During this festive season, we also provided foodstuff to the football team to give them a taste of Christmas.
Continued support for Widows, Widowers, Orphans
The foundation continues to support numerous widow(er)s and their children who are struggling. We now have 70 widow(er)s and over 105 children (including orphans) that are direct beneficiaries of our financial support and business empowerment. Where required, we pay school fees and GCSE exam fees for some of these children. Our desire is to reach out to more.
Bursary support for tertiary tuition fees
We now support 12 Nigerian university students that we sponsor through tertiary education. Three of the students we support, recently graduated and are heading off to Nigerian National Youth Service (NYSC) programme.
Local UK community support
We continue to donate to the local foodbank of Westhill community church. We know that some members of our local community are suffering, and we want to help as best as we can.
Summary
Finally, LWF would love to continue to do more in this area if we can increase funds for operation. All we have achieved and still hope to achieve is only possible with your continued financial support. Your donations make the following difference:
- £20 pays for 1 child’s school stationery for a
- £30 pays for 1 child’s school fees for 1 term
- £60 pays for a child’s uniform over the school year
- £80 pays for a child’s clothing essential for a year
- £150 provides emergency medical bills for pregnant women with no support and relief materials to
- £300 pays for a child on our annual scholarship
To make donations, please visit our donation page, https://lydiawilsonfoundation.org/donate/. Alternatively, if you wish to make a One-off payment or to set up a frequent donation please drop us an email at lydiawilsonfoundation@gmail.com and we will respond with the bank account details.
Please help us share with your friends and families the impactful work that we are doing. This is by far the easiest way to grow financial support for the foundation.
We wish you all a joyful festive break and hope 2024 will be a much better year for us all.
With gratitude,
Lydia Balogun-Wilson President