Paul O'Grady in South Africa with Save the Children

Paul O'Grady, award winning comedian and television personality, saw first hand what life is like for children in Free State, South Africa, where one in three children don't have enough to eat and one in five children don't go to school.

Monday 17 March 2008

"While on a recent trip to South Africa with Save the Children, I met children dealing with the effects of HIV, children heading their households and caring for their siblings. I was invited to their homes and witnessed their poverty and fears. Save the Children are doing an amazing job to help improve these children's lives," said Paul O'Grady. Paul O'Grady

"Whilst out in South Africa I visited a feeding point funded by local business and supported by Save the Children where 2000 orphans are guaranteed a hot dinner every day, two schools where a high percentage of the children were living in poverty, orphaned and living with HIV, a Garden Project where families grow food to provide for themselves and their families and a day care centre for orphans, which provided under five's a safe environment to play and be children. For these children, a hot meal and a safe place to play is not something they can expect every day. And many haven't even the hope of school giving them a chance for the future because they can't even afford the uniform they need to enrol.

"You can help these children. Save the Children's Wish List is a range of gifts that you can buy for children worldwide. When you buy a gift from the Wish List items below, Save the Children will ensure that the gift will get to a child that needs it the most. Gifts that the children I met in South Africa really need are as follows:

  • A week's supply of Plumpy Nut costs £7 and will help a severly malnourished child get well. Your help can save children's lives.
  • Supply of seeds costs just £11. Supplying poor families with food can make all the difference when times are tough, but at some point they'll need to be able to provide for themselves. If we supply them with seeds to plant vegetables, they'll be able to start growing their own food.
  • School uniforms. Buying school uniform for a child costs just £18 — It's not something that you may think of, but in many countries not having a uniform means children are not allowed to go to school. For such a simple reason, it seems awful that children are missing out on the chance of an education and the excitement of making friends with children their own age. You can kit a child out with the clothes they need to get back to school.

Knitting to save children's lives

A woolly hat can mean the difference between life and death for a newborn baby. A newborn baby can't regulate its own body temperature. It loses lots of vital body heat through its head which make it more prone to pneumonia - a disease which still kills around 2 million children each year.

Paul O'Grady says: "I have never picked up knitting needles in my life before, but Save the Children's challenged me to get learning. If a knitted hat can save a child's life then we should all get knitting!!! I have just come back from seeing so many lives that need saving, I'm determined to get you all knitting hats to save children's lives!"

Save the Children wants you to get your needles out and knit them a woolly hat for a new born baby. Download the knit kit (PDF 1.29MB), complete the label inside and pin it to your hat. Send your hat and message to: Save the Children, 1 St John's Lane, London EC1M 4AR.

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