2025
REPORT
(Get that kettle on)
Approx: 10 minute read
Coming up…
Relationship Is Everything
How water is changing lives
A good title
A message from our CEO, Tom Herring
Shouldn’t we be looking out for ourselves?
I love Guernsey.
Times feel hard at the moment with many facing hardships in a way we might not have seen in recent decades. It is definitely a time to be looking out for one another.
Unsurprisingly, seasons like this trigger conversations around how much we should be helping others outside the island. Why would we look outward, when we are struggling inwardly? I think it is a very important question.
I have lots of personal reasons as to why I want to support communities overseas, including a belief that giving is truly more beneficial than receiving in the long term.
But personal convictions aside, communities who remain both inward and outward looking are demonstrably happier.
Studies have found that communities with strong bonds within as well as meaningful ties with diverse groups outside, experience better levels of health and wellbeing. Shared culture and heritage is critical for a sense of belonging, but having the courage to look outward even in hard times increases innovation and growth.
Giving overseas should never be at the expense of supporting one another and protecting our local heritage and culture. We can only be of value to others as far as we value ourselves. We should not be coerced into giving through negative emotions like guilt and shame, or by any other means. This is one reason I believe a ‘tax-choice’ system could be a better way of doing government funded overseas aid, as well as commissioning of local charities.
We are free people, and I love systems that empower people to make their own informed decisions. There are wonderful social and economic benefits of looking outward if we are empowered to do so, rather than forced.
Since you are reading, this you probably don’t need persuading that helping to empower families living in poverty is a worthwhile endeavour, wherever they live.
I hope you enjoy finding out how your support in has been changing the world for children and their families in 2025.
Tom Herring
In 2025 our work in the key areas of Livelihoods, Water & Sanitation and Primary Education directly benefited 7,192 people.
This included 4,783 children and 3,909 adults.
On top of these individuals there were significant positive indirect impacts on a further 6,732 children.
Examples of someone benefiting directly are, a child who can now access safe drinking water or a mum who learns how to run a profitable micro enterprise.
An example of someone benefitting indirectly is a child whose parent is accessing important services like a Village Bank and business training.
Esita is one of the people who’s life has changed because of your help.
Like many others, to feed her four children Esita grows maize every year — lots of it. If you go to rural Malawi in March you will find fields of towering maize swaying gently in the breeze as far as the eye can see.
When the maize is harvested, it is dried in the sun and then stored in a room in the house in sacks and eaten daily. If is was a good year, there might be a surplus to sell.
Esita and others like here have been hit hard by raising prices of fertiliser, and can no longer afford it. Any farmer knows that if there is no food in the soil, there wont be any food on the table.
That is where we come in.
Esita is a member of a Village Bank that we have facilitated. Our partner Rhema provided training in how to get good yields without the use of expensive vhemical fertiliser — using a mixture of composeted manure, leaves and wood ash. With a loan of £50 she purchased some seeds and made up five sacks of the lovely stuff.
This is how it looks…
By coming alongside community members in this way, we are able to help housheolds improve nutrition, income and resilience.
In 2025 Esita also decided to have a go at growing onions — a valuable crop and highly nutritious.
This all seems straightforward you might be thinking…. Why are we so excited?
Yes, this is simple, as many of the most transformational things are.
We love this approach for many reason. Three of the direct benefits:
1) Resilience — hundreds of women are no longer vulnerable to skyrocketing fertiliser prices. For households on the brink destitution for much of the year, increasing resilience is the goal.
2) This approach feeds the soil rather than depletes it. Soil health is the basis for our existence. If this approach is followed along with some other conservation techniques, Esita’s great grandchildren could farm on the same plot with great results
3) This approach reduces carbon emissions since carbon-intensive synthetic fertilizers are not required and soil carbon sequestration is increased.
What has the price of oil got to do with water?
You don’t need us to tell you how fragile things feel.
The world is volatile, and we have become so interconnected that the impacts are on everyone, everywhere.
These impacts are disproportionately great where economies are very fragile, and for the most vulnerable people within those societies the pain is severe.
Let me give you an example impacting our work.
Our Social Enterprise Hope Water supplies piped water to over 1,000 households in central Malawi who would otherwise have little access to safe water. Since 2020, the price of diesel has increased by around 800% or 9 times.
It has now become too expensive for us to pump water. Passing on the cost to users would make the supply prohibitively expensive.
Without outside help, what options does a local enterprise have in this situation?
Fortunately, because of your wonderful support, we are able to do something to overcome this and are working to maintain the supply to these vulnerable customers.
Find out below how how we are tackling this issue.
As you know, our dream is for all children to grow up with the opportunity to thrive, their basic needs for a safe, happy life met.
How can this be achieved? How can a child living in extreme poverty access safe housing, nutritious food and healthcare?
Critical factors, of course, are the level of prosperity of parents and carers at the household level and the productivity of the community as a whole. As a result we work with both households and wider communities, to help identify and address the root causes of poverty
We help households strengthen livelihoods and nd at the community level we help improve facilities and infrastructure like community water supply and primary school facilities.
Livelihoods
We are passionate about working to develop the local economy by helping individuals and cooperatives run thriving enterprises.
Why? For people living in poverty to become less vulnerable to outside shocks like fuel price spikes, they need to accumulate physical things, assets which provide some kind of safety net like livestock, tools and vehicles.
Communities must also produce more locally so there is less dependency on imports, which have become extremely expensive due to a shortage of forex.
What is our approach?
In Malawi most people (around 80%) are living in rural areas. There are limited employment opportunities. If you can’t go out and get a job, what do you do?
We help people to run profitable small-business. The majority are farmers, so this is where we start. The added benefit of helping people farm commercially is that it directly improves household nutrition — a bigger range of nutritious food, like sweet potatoes, beans and meat becomes available to children.
We do this by helping people access basic financial services, receive training in agriculture and business and access markets.
This helps overcome the 3 big challenges facing entrepreneurs in rural areas — capital, knowledge and market access.
Violet’s experience is one of the hundreds of stories that should be told to demonstrate how this has been working in practice with your support in 2025.
A small loan can change everything
(Football shirt lady photo)
Like a little seed, a small loan can change everything. Along with some guidance on where to plant and how to care for it, a single investment can grow into a great tree and change the trajectory of a family's life.
Violet Gibson has experienced this miracle.
Violet is a mother of five and a member of Katsongole Village Bank in Chipelepete Village. Before becoming a member of the Village Bank she used to be frustrated about meeting basic needs for the family.
“I used to feel heavy in my heart wondering how to feed my family each day… Not to talk of affording school fees for my children. I was hopeless”.
Life began to change for Violet when she took a loan of £25.
She used the capital to start a small business selling maize and tomatoes.
Despite many ups and downs along the way, things haven’t been the same since. Through her determination she has now managed to construct her own home with the business proceeds
“I am able to send my children to school with confidence since I am able to pay their school fees, I and my children feel safe because of the house I built” she said
Violet has now diversified into livestock farming; she bought pigs with the profits she has been getting from her tomato business. She has a vision to grow and continue her business by opening a big shop, she believes in independence and she shall continue to work hard until her dreams come true. Below shows a picture of Violet holding one of her pigs she is rearing.
Violet's story gives an insight of how women empowerment through village savings and loans associations (VSLAs) can bring development and social impacts such as jobs in the community.
In 2025 we supported 1,746 village bank members with access to informal financial services through Village Banks. A sample of 97 banks generated savings of MWK290,596,000 — around £120,000.
With our partners we worked alongside 3,366 people in 2025, helping them to strengthen their livelihoods so that they are able to meet the needs of the households.
Martha holding a text book for her favourite subject — agriculture
“I would often skip school during my periods because I was too embarrassed to go. But since I started using the reusables pads I can focus on my studies without worrying.”
Young women learning how to make reusable pads
Simankwala Primary students outside a new toilet block
Hope Water Ltd
Hope Water regularly supplies 7,300 people with water — 1,600 households through public water points and 136 households through private water connections.
The business environment presents a number of challenges for the company, such as fuel and forex shortages, property damage and inflation. However we are determined to keep the supply available to the customers and to continually improve the service
The coming of a piped water network has presented a lot of opportunity for the community.
Chilozi is one business man who has been making the most of it, using the water to run a public toilet business in partnership with the council:
Chilozi’s Toilets
Before the arrival of Hope Water, fetching water from distant sources made it difficult to maintain basic facilities.
"Running the toilets was tough back then," Chilozi recalls. “But now, with a reliable water supply, his business is thriving.”
"We can offer clean bathrooms and toilets, which is crucial for public health.”
For Chilozi, a father of five, this change has been a game-changer. "Since I started this business, I’ve benefited greatly," he says, smiling. "I’ve been able to invest in livestock — goats and cattle — and even expand my operations to other areas."
Chilozi’s public toilets
The impact goes beyond Chilozi’s business, touching his family’s daily life as well. "This water isn’t just for the business," he says. "We use it at home too. It’s made a world of difference for my family."
The water system stands as a testament to the ripple effects of basic infrastructure — empowering individuals like Chilozi and sowing seeds of hope for a brighter, more sustainable future.
Water supply enables 10x business growth
Howard is a pig farmer. He remembers the daily struggle to access clean water.
“Before Hope Water, women spent more than two hours travelling to boreholes and queuing for water.
I see my life changing because of the water. Previously, we could keep two or three pigs but now I have close to 40 pigs. The animals consume a lot of water.
Having so many pigs gives me a lot of manure for my crops, as well as a good income.”
Howard spends MK30,000 (£13) per month on water but says it’s worth it for the benefits, which extend beyond agriculture.
Howard, proud pig farmer
“We take baths and wash clothes whenever we want, something we couldn’t afford in the past. Previously, from morning to noon, you would have just collected one pail of water.”
Livelihoods & Food Security
A New Hope for Farmers
In Mgonela Village people depend on farming, but in recent years they have been in a tricky situation. Traditionally farmers use chemical fertiliser to feed their crops.
Over time, soil quality has been declining while fertilisers have become prohibitively expensive. This has left farmers experiencing the double blow of depleted soils and no fertiliser. The result is very low yields and decreased household income, nutrition and health — badly impacting children.
With our partners we have been spreading knowledge about affordable options that also enhance soil quality over time.
Many farmers we work with do not believe it is possible to get good yields without artificial fertiliser, however members of Mgonela Village have now been converted.
This year Mgonela community members were taught how to make their own fertiliser using organic ingredients like manure, wood ash and maize bran.
Mixing fertiliser ingredients.
Farmers applied it to their fields in the November 2024 growing season and are surprised by the wonderful results, with healthy tall maize and deep green vegetable leaves — to the surprise of many.
Joyce struggled with poor harvests for years. She would harvest 250kg of maize on an acre instead of the expected 3,000kg. After the training she prepared the fertiliser and applied to her farm. This season, her maize field is thriving like never before.
Joyce in her maize field
“I used to buy fertilizer but now I make my own for less than 10% of the price. I expect to harvest more than 60 bags this year, because the maize is healthier.
This initiative has transformed my family and the village as a whole. This year there will be more food on the table. I will no longer worry about food shortages.”
In 2024 we supported 1,358 people like Joyce, providing training and support for building strong secure livelihoods.
In the communities we work, not many employment opportunities exist, so to provide for their families most people are required to be entrepreneurs. To help people be successful we focus on 3 key ingredients:
Mindset & Knowledge: People must understand that they have potential. Once we have hope for the future, most of the battle is already won. This is then complemented by relevant, reliable information.
Capital: To start or scale a business capital is required, so we help people set up small cooperative banks. With each member depositing just small amounts on a weekly basis the pooled funds becomes an invaluable source of capital for members.
Hard work: We cannot impart this, but we find using a cooperative approach is effective — we help people get organised into groups with a shared vision, which can be very motivating.
Once these three components are in place, there are a number of specific barriers we work to help organisations and individuals overcome.
Goat Loans
One of the interventions that we have found powerful is lending goats.
In 2024, 80 goats were distributed across 20 households. As the goats multiply, recipients pay back 4 goats, which are in turn passed on to other vulnerable households via a process overseen by our partners.
Goats are a great asset to have, proving to be a good source of income and nutrition for the owners.
To increase the capacity of recipients to care for the animals, 8 community members were trained as para-vets by the government Veterinary Officer. A drug revolving fund was established, a self-sustaining system designed to ensure continuous availability of drugs.
Tom visiting a goat loan recipient in northern Malawi
Tree Nursery
Deforestation is a significant threat to people’s livelihoods, worsening the impacts of flooding. In 2024, 56 farmers were involved in establishment and management of a tree nursery in 2024 with 6,000 seedlings being planted.
Farmers are being trained in agroforestry practices for improved environmental and economic outcomes.
Villagers in central Malawi were delighted to receive 100 trees, all useful for food and shade.
Members of Tiyamik Club with their mango trees
Planting a tree and growing up with it is a wonderful experience for a child
Nutrition
In 2024 we worked with over 200 households to help them learn about nutrition and how to grow nutritious food at home.
Helping children to eat well is a great opportunity to improve their health and wellbeing, not only for a happier childhood but for a brighter future.
By looking at a child's diet today, we can get a glimpse at what the rest of their life will look like.
Unfortunately, many children in Malawi don't eat enough nutritious food, and over half of children under 5 are anaemic due to a lack of things like iron and B vitamins.
When too little oxygen is transported around the body there are many knock-on effects such as increased susceptibility to other illnesses.
In response to this, we train hundreds of parents, carers and children about the variety of foods that our bodies need and how to grow them. We provide seeds to get going — like beans, various leaves and sweet potatoes.
In northern Malawi, 78 households were trained to grow sweet potato and cassava. Between them they harvested over 11 tonnes. This will provide each household with over 1kg of nutritious food per day for a 4 month period.
Sack gardens — an easy way to grow nutritious food at home
Learning the food groups
Enjoying a nutritious porridge
Linga Rice Mill
We have been working with our partner Njira Impact to create a sustainable solution for supporting smallholder rice farmers in Nkhotakota district, and Linga Rice Mill is the result.
Recently we caught up with Monica, pictured above, who is a member of Mthabithabi Rice Cooperative. She is excited by the vigorous growth after only 3 weeks of planting.
The co-op receives training from our partner in commercial rice production, as well as quality seed and a guaranteed price for their rice from Linga Rice Mill.
The co-op is also set up as a Village Bank where they pool savings and issue loans. This package of training, seeds, access to financial services and a guaranteed sale price is very powerful.
“I can now afford for my daughter to go to college where she is learning tailoring. She made me the dress I am wearing today.”
Linga Rice mill is working with 600 farmers.
In 2024, the business purchased 33.5 tonnes of rice from 220 smallholders. This is a great opportunity for farmers, since they normally really struggle a lot to obtain a good price for their rice due a number of factors like transport costs, storage challenges and exploitation from vendors.
SPRODETA Agribusiness
Through a social enterprise owned with our partner SPRODETA, in 2024 we purchased 65 tonnes of maize, soya, beans, rice and peanuts from 414 smallholders in northern Malawi.
The business was able to provide seed to 352 farmers. This helps lower the barrier for farmers to commercialise their farming, but also helps to ensure that their produce will be of high enough quality.
The business also trained 3,432 smallholder farmers in business management and entrepreneurship, which has resulted in a 47% increase in household income of those households.
In 2025 the business will begin operating a 10T maize milling machine to provide maize flower to hotels, schools, NGO’s and other institutions.
SPRODETA Agribusiness centre is getting close to opening. A number of setbacks have been met, but we are excited about opening up to the public soon.
A Tasty Incentive
After successful interventions working with 3 primary schools over the last 5 years In 2024 we began working with 2 new schools with our partner SPRODETA.
A feeding programme has been initiated for the 637 primary students at Kalaza and Nthizi Primary Schools, where children receive breakfast every day. All students have also received stationary.
A school meal is a big incentive to attend school, and this intervention has increased attendance by 10% so far.
Role-models
A Role-model outreach event was run. These communities are remote and children are not often exposed to the various careers and opportunities available to them if they are able to progress with their learning. The students were visited by professionals such as a nurse, a lawyer and business owner who were able to share their experiences and inspire the children.
Early Years Centre
In 2024 we also constructed an Early Years Centre so that young children have a safe, covered space to receive care, learn and play. It is currently being attended by 17 children, and also acts as a community space for many other activities.
Primary Education
Little ones enjoying the Early Years Centre
Start Smart Academy
We met Grace a few years ago and were inspired by her commitment to support vulnerable children. She noticed that many pre-school aged children in a particular area were not getting the care they needed at home. Poverty is debilitating and parents or guardians are often, for a number of reasons, not present with their children — maybe working in the fields, struggling with alcohol dependency or even passed away.
Grace began offering early years sessions for the children at a rented premises. We decided to partner with Grace’s vision, and together we have constructed a purpose-built building, which so far is catering for 44 children.
The centre provides high quality early year’s services, of which two thirds of the spaces are for fee-paying children. The remaining spaces are subsidised for vulnerable children from the surrounding villages.
One of these free spaces is occupied by Bridget.
Bridget’s life so far has not been without challenges. At 3 years old, her dad left the household. Bridget’s mum remarried but her new husband refused to take in Bridget.
She was sent to live with her grandparents. They are hardworking people but face big struggles. Mr. Mtumodzi is a subsistence farmer, cultivating a small piece of land to provide food for the family. To earn an income, he works as a watchman for a nearby family, earning around $15 per month.
Speaking of their struggles, Bridget’s grandfather shared that there are many days when the family does not have enough to eat, and Bridget goes to bed on an empty stomach or goes to school without breakfast. He expressed deep sorrow over the situation, saying that it pains him greatly to see his granddaughter go hungry.
Among these hardships, Bridget has been given an opportunity through Start Smart Academy, where she receives free care, education and learning materials. Bridget has embraced this opportunity wholeheartedly. She loves learning and actively participates in the activities, demonstrating confidence and determination.
With the strong foundation she is building at Start Smart Academy, she is better prepared for the challenges of life. Bridget’s grandfather holds deep hopes for her future. He dreams of seeing her grow into an educated young woman who will be able to support herself.
He expressed his gratitude for the support Bridget is receiving, saying that education is the greatest gift she could have been given. He believes that with determination and the right opportunities, Bridget’s future will be bright, and she will have the chance to break free from the cycle of poverty that has held back so many in their community.
Start Smart also supports the parents of vulnerable children who attend, helping them to build sustainable livelihoods through a Village Bank and training in small business management
Emergency Response
In 2024 we were thankful to receive an Emergency grant of £59,800 from the Guernsey Overseas Aid & Development Commission.
Malawi experienced an unusual dry spell in the middle of the 2023/2024 growing season, causing a national food shortage affecting 2.3 million people. Many of these households were then hit by floods that washed away crops, livestock, property and public infrastructure.
The grant funding was used to provide relief to 5,031 vulnerable people in Karonga and Nkhata Bay districts. The support was provided to children, pregnant women, single mothers, the disabled and the elderly.
Local Support
In 2024 we were delighted to be able to provide support amounting to £22,100 to the following charities supporting children and young people in Guernsey:
Friends of Frossard Children’s Ward
We are always on the look out for organisations changing the world for families and children in Guernsey.
Do get it touch if you know of an organisation that might benefit from our support.
Fundraising
The £5 Lottery Club
The £5 Lottery Club is Guernsey’s most rewarding regular prize-winning opportunity. We love sending out thousands of pounds to happy winners every single month. In 2024 we sent out over £50,000 in prizes.
The club is an engine that keeps Hope for a Child running, enabling us to meet core costs and invest in communities in Malawi. With the proceeds we also support organisations benefiting children in Guernsey.
There are currently around 4,500 numbers in the monthly draw — raising over £200,000 over the year.
The draw takes place on the 23rd of each month when 100 winning numbers are drawn, including a top prize of £1,000 - except in May and November when the top prize is boosted to £3,000!
Find out more and join the waiting list HERE (we will be opening the doors to new members soon).
The Big Summer Lottery
“Winning £100,000 feels like a dream come true.
After years of saving for a house deposit and finally putting in an offer, this incredible win has made my dream home a reality.
I’m profoundly grateful to Tom and his amazing team for their dedication and hard work in organising this lottery. Their efforts not only supported my dreams but also make a significant difference in the lives of children in Malawi.
Thank you for this life-changing opportunity and for all the hope you bring to so many.”
The Big Summer Lottery 2024 made some extremely happy winners as always. We received some wonderful feedback from participants — and thank you to those who gave us ideas about what you would like to see happen in future draws
We gave away prizes worth a total of £185,500, including a top prize of £100,000.
The draw raised over £320,000 for Hope for a Child, which we are using to invest in communities in Malawi, meet our core operating costs and support charities benefiting children in Guernsey.
Here are some words from top prize winner Lauren:
Special Thanks
We could not have achieved any of the above without our wonderful partners in Malawi — SPRODETA, Rhema Institute for Development & Njira Impact.
We strongly believe in empowering local people to lead change in their own communities, and as a result all our work is delivered by our local partners.
We are also indebted to our wonderful Hope Team in Guernsey, who work passionately and tirelessly to raise funds and ensure we are achieving our aims in Malawi.
And of course, thank you to you — without the generosity of our supporters we could achieve very little — if you took part in The Big Summer Lottery, The £5 Lottery Club or purchased something from Hope Store in 2024, we can’t thank you enough.
2025 and Beyond
Hope is Tangible
We believe that hope is not a feeling or an abstract principle. It is not a narrator of today’s circumstances.
Hope is an experience. It means to feel something before it happens, to see something while it is still yet to take physical form. Most importantly — Hope doesn’t just happen, but something we need to apprehend.
I can’t shake the feeling that the future is bright. There is massive hope for humanity. Do not buy into the doom and gloom narratives that have always been peddled, but now have more routes into our consciousness than ever before.
The world can feel dark sometimes, but that has a lot to do with where our focus lies. I want to encourage you this year to protect yourself from the onslaught on negativity — you were never meant to carry the world’s burdens.
Look after yourself, tend your own garden, care for your family, friends and neighbours.
In the coming months and years we will remain focused on business and entrepreneurship as a tool for helping communities and families create an environment where children can thrive in Malawi — and we are so excited to have you on the journey with us.
In 2025 we will be connecting more people to safe water, and helping children access the basic things they need to thrive, like education and nutritious food, by enabling households to tackle the underlying causes of poverty.
We will work on developing the social enterprises that we part own, and supporting other high impact businesses, co-operatives and individuals — which provide essential services to the community and support livelihoods.
We will be launching a new fundraising initiative in the winter of 2025, which we are very much looking forward to inviting you to join!
Thank you for taking the time to read the Hope Report. We couldn’t do any of this without you.
Don't miss out on upcoming events and success stories:
Questions, comments or suggestions? We would love to hear from you. Email: tom@hope.gg
Hope For a Child is a charity registered in Guernsey No: 291