We are celebrating the arrival of the Charity Commission’s formal accreditation of Esharelife.org as a registered charity.
This is an important landmark that sets the organisation on a recognised and formal footing and demonstrates Esharelife.org’s credentials as a fundraising body working to help create change for some of the most disadvantaged people in the world.
The process involved in achieving registered charity status is rigorous, and that is as it should be. We are incredibly proud of achieving this and we would like to formally and publicly thank the Charity Commission for working with us, the guidance and the incredible patience shown along the way.
Now is a good time to remind ourselves why we are doing this.
Esharelife is:
- A charity foundation aiding those in some of the most disadvantaged areas of the world
- Working to help relieve poverty by providing education, training and healthcare
- Supporting established charity projects that understand the problems and deliver solutions in each location
In particular Esharelife aims to prevent or relieve poverty by enabling individuals to generate a sustainable income and be self-sufficient.
The sole purpose of Esharelife is to raise money to help charities’ projects that have demonstrated their value in these areas.
Esharelife Foundation is a grant-making charity.
How does the Charity work?
- It is grant-based
- It provides funding to organisations making a difference
- Its focus is alleviating poverty and creating better futures for children and young people
- Its initial focus is projects in Kenya and it supports Little Prince School in Nairobi
Education is one of the proven roads out of poverty and the charity funds that route. So far Esharelife.org has attracted the support of a growing number of philanthropists without whom the journey would have taken much longer. It is a way to give back that creates a legacy through education and training. More than that, the people helped through these projects in turn choose to give back, lead by example and help lift others in their community out of poverty.
Education gives children and young people chances and choices. The charity is supported by Queen’s Award for Enterprise: Innovation winner 2019, Tratos UK Ltd. Tratos is active in global markets and always strives to find ways to make a positive impact.
Funding existing, experienced projects in these territories is the best way for the charity to have an impact. The key workers are well known, their work is understood and they are trusted as well as expert in their field. For example Esharelife.org has a partnership with AVSI which is doing great work in some of the worst slums in Kenya.
A lot of art patrons are supporters of good causes. The charity has therefore developed relationships with certain artists and funds are raised through the sale of their artworks, with a proportion donated to the charity. Esharelife.org gives the money raised from the art platform to make real changes to people’s lives, funding projects that provide money for school places and vocational training courses for young adults who live in some of the poorest conditions.
The charity is fortunate to include actor George Blagden; Simon Blagden, chairman of Fujitsu and artists including Piero Mochi and Prof. Nadey Hakim sculptor and transplant surgeon among its patrons.
The charity was officially registered with The Charity Commission at April 24, 2019 but has been active since 2017. During the run up to registration, Esharelife.org has been working with the Charity Commission to shape the organisation. Monies raised to date went directly into registered charity AVSI’s projects. The sequence is in line with the Charity Commission’s guidelines – it asks that a charity is set up your BEFORE seeking to register it with the Commission.
The Charity Commission and Cass Business School have both been incredibly helpful in guiding Esharelife through the process. Professor Paul Palmer, director of CCE, Charity Centre of Effectiveness at Cass Business School and Mark Salway, Cass Business School’s Director, Sustainable Finance have been very generous with their time.
In the run up to achieving registration every event run for Esharelife.org has been paid for by Tratos CEO Dr Maurizio Bragagni personally or sponsored by his company or companies with connections to him. Monies raised at those events go to the causes.
It is right that valuable support was begun at the outset – from funding school places to sponsoring vocational training for young adults. These children and young people often live in appalling conditions with no basic sanitation or clean water – they cannot afford to wait. In the future there will be more projects and more people helped toward happy, fulfilled and productive lives.