News from Survivors Fund (SURF) and our work ahead

We hope you have enjoyed a fine summer .

Firstly, a reminder for our forthcoming 25th Anniversary event at The Somers Town Coffee House on Saturday 17th September, details as below. It would be great to see as many as our donors, supporters, and friends there as possible, so we hope you can join us to mark this special occasion.

We hope to have a special guest with us from our team in Rwanda joining us, as well as many of our trustees, so it will be a great opportunity to learn more about our current work.

With the help of our longstanding videographers, Drew Sutton and Rachel Collingwood from eco2, we have edited a new updated campaign film that we will be launching on the night. For a sneak preview you can view one of the chapters from the film on our work supported by Good Gifts by clicking here.

We are currently preparing our Annual Report which we look forward to sharing with you in next month's newsletter. Ahead of the publication of it, we share here an excerpt from the annual message of SURF's Chair, Sam Hunt MBE. Sam has just returned back from Rwanda where she has been leading visits of the Reaching Rwanda programme which continues to deliver great support for our work.

A highlight of our work over the past year has been the establishment of our new Youth Economic Empowerment Project (YEEP) in partnership with GAERG, made possible by funding through the Cornerstone initiative of Clifford Chance. We have just completed the first year of the three-year project, and as pictured above, YEEP Programme Manager, Alphonse Nsengimana, is helping to roll out the support offered through it to thousands of GAERG members.

Such work continues to be important at this time, as does your continuing assistance for it. So, thank you for your ongoing support to us. And we take this opportunity to wish you well ahead from all of the SURF team!

Annual Message from SURF Chair

As a prelude to the publication of our Annual Report 2021/22, we feature from it a message from the Chair of Survivors Fund (SURF), Sam Hunt MBE:

In a challenging year when the world had slowly begun to emerge from the global pandemic, many of us have been reminded of the importance of family and the love and support of those we care for. After a two-year Covid-induced hiatus I recently was delighted to be able to return to Rwanda and to see first-hand the outstanding and vital work SURF has continued to do throughout the pandemic to support survivors of the genocide against the Tutsi. For so many survivors who lost their families and loved ones during the genocide, SURF has become a vital source of support, comfort, guidance and empowerment.

The commitment of Survivors Fund (SURF) to advocate for survivors and support them to rebuild their shattered lives remains undiminished. Our work would not be possible without the dedication of the SURF staff, led by our inspirational Chief Executive, Sam Munderere, and without the continuing commitment and generosity of our supporters, trustees and donors.

As the survivor community continues to age, the ability of Survivors Fund (SURF) to adapt to cater for their changing needs will become even more important. Your support to enable us to continue this vital work is more important than ever.

Thank you for supporting our work and helping survivors achieve their true potential. For those interested to learn more, and to support our work further, please do consider a donation.

Survivors Fund (SURF) Newsletter - September 2022

Annual Message from SURF Chair