Annual report

Protecting unsupported children in 2017

Your support in 2017 enabled us to protect and care for at-risk children around the world. When children were left with nobody to care for them – whether through abandonment, neglect, abuse or bereavement – we were there to offer them a home, a carer and a family where they could grow up from cradle to career. When families were struggling to cope, we were on hand with the practical, financial and emotional support they needed to lift themselves out of poverty, improve their family relationships and stay together as a family. And when children’s lives were torn apart by warfare, natural disasters and epidemics our international SOS emergency response teams worked to keep them safe, healthy and with their families.

See how you helped give vulnerable children worldwide the chance of a positive future in our 2017 annual report.

Children flourish best in a family environment

We are working towards a world where every child without parental support is cared for and protected. Last year we supported the work of more than 550 SOS village communities as they looked after children who have lost parental care or are at risk of losing it. With your continued support, we ensured that some of the world’s most vulnerable children had access to the quality education, emotional support and care they needed to thrive.

Supporting at-risk families

We know one of the best ways to protect children from losing parental care is to help struggling families though the hard times. With your support last year, we worked to prevent family breakdown, child neglect and abandonment around the world. We helped families gain new skills and find work that pulled children out of poverty, empowered women to better provide for their families and have a voice in the childcare decisions that affect them and gave vulnerable families the support they needed to stay together.

Protecting children in crisis

One in six children worldwide is growing up in a war zone, many more have had their lives and families shattered by natural and man-made disasters. Your support last year enabled SOS emergency response teams to protect children and their families living through crisis – helping to reunite families torn apart by war and chaos and ensuring children’s needs for food, shelter, healthcare and education are met.

Download our annual report

Our work was made possible by the amazing support received from our child and village sponsors, our corporate and institutional funding partners, our trusts and foundations, our committed regular givers and those who ran, cycled, baked and much more to raise funds for our work. Their incredible generosity improves the lives of children every day.

Alison Wallace
CEO of SOS Children's Villages UK

Our international accounts

SOS Children’s Villages is a federation of autonomous, inter-dependent member associations, who share a common goal and mission to provide a caring, family-like environment for vulnerable children. We all agree to abide by a common set of values and high standards that bear the hallmark of SOS Children’s Villages. As a federation, we work and adapt together in response to the evolving needs of children and young people.To find out more about our finances and impact internationally, download the annual report.