OUR WORK

Sustainable grassroots change is best coming from within. That’s why we work with local partners that think like us. Local organisations are best positioned to understand the needs of their community. This has a far greater impact on their beneficiaries. Best of all, our supporters’ donations go much further as a result. Check out our work below.

Where We're Working

Payatas, Philippines

Payatas – situated in Quezon city, North East of the Capital City of Manilla – is one of the largest and poorest slums in The Philippines¹. Government estimates from the 2010 census suggest 120,000 people live in this area². However, estimates from academic sources lie at 500,000 people^3,⁴. This is due to an estimated 30 – 80% of inhabitants being unregistered migrants, without land titles for where they live, and therefore not being included in census data⁴. Being unregistered impacts a whole range of measures related to poverty. The national poverty level was estimated at 21.6% in 2015⁵. This is based on data from the Family Income and Expenditure Survey, which uses household income as a measure. In comparison, the municipality of Quezon City, in which Payatas is located, poverty was estimated at just 1.6% in 2012, accepted by many as a gross underestimation¹. By minimising poverty as a problem, people in need of assistance do not receive the support that could help them break out of the poverty cycle. Many people that live here have migrated to the area due to the close proximity to the 50 acre Payatas dumpsite³ , made temporary shelters and earned a small living scavenging for waste before it closed in 2017^6,^7,⁸. Though this work was dangerous, killing hundreds of people in waste landslides³, it has left a significant gap in the finances of many Payatas families.

Why Payatas

Life in the Payatas slum

The basic needs of children living in Payatas are not being met. Their access to healthcare is poor, with around 40,000 people sharing a doctor for just two days a week¹. Classrooms can contain 60 – 80 students and still use corporal punishment; school drop-out rates are estimated at over 50% nationally and half of students in one study didn’t complete school due to a need to work⁹. In addition, children are not getting a stable, nutritious diet. Our project partners found that 68% of children involved in the project in Payatas were underweight¹.

The problems in Payatas are many and complex. As the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals¹⁰, which aim to end poverty by 2030, point out, you cannot solve just one problem. They are interconnected and the success of ending hunger, for example, will rely on improving access to quality education, and providing decent work and economic growth. How can a child learn well at school if she is hungry? How can she eat if her parents have no work? How can her parents work if there are no opportunities?

Our Partner In Payatas

Fairplay - levelling the playing field

Our project partner, Fairplay for All Foundation works in Payatas to break the cycle of poverty. They aim to improve the lives of young people in Payatas, through work on and off of the football pitch. Fairplay operates a safe space that houses an alternative learning centre, a cafe that provides healthy vegetarian food within the community and to outside offices, a sports centre and the Payatas football club. Some of the football players have even represented The Philippines in The Street Child World Cup.

Local people know what’s best for their community and can deliver the project in the most sustainable way. By Fairplay employing local people to run the projects, they gain professional experience, build skills and strengthen the community they live in.

Our work with Fairplay

Improving the Fairplay Sports Centre in Payatas

Our partner, Fairplay For All Foundation, provides a space for every child in Payatas. It doesn’t matter which side of the community divide they come from. They come to play sports at the centre in an environment of cooperation and teamwork. An environment crucial to helping them develop confidence and social skills.

View Case Study

Helping 100 Children At-Risk

In February 2018, our partner Fairplay For All Foundation launched a project we’re co-funding aimed at helping 100 children living in poverty and at-risk in Payatas, The Philippines. The project intends to support these children by providing regular sport, nutrition and social groups that help to improve their quality of life as well as their physical and mental wellbeing.