Support our appeal

Will you give a gift to help a vulnerable child in Colombia put down roots?

Most of Bogotá’s street children and young people leave their family home to escape emotional, physical or sexual violence at the hands of their parents. Of course, they find no solace on the streets of Colombia’s capital – one of the most dangerous places in the world.

Every day they are at risk of being forced into sex work, hard drugs or gang violence. And every night, during unofficial curfews, they hide from the armed groups that roam the slums, sometimes killing the children they find.

Pablo, a ten-year-old boy, came to our project in Bogotá last Christmas. Pablo used to live in Carmen, a part of the city that is renowned for poverty and violence. Both his parents were addicted to drugs and, instead of going to school, Pablo had to work with his mum, selling sweets and cheap goods on Bogotá’s buses. Despite spending many long, tiring hours working, they earned a pittance – sometimes coming home with just a few coins.

The family had little money, but that isn’t why Pablo ended up spending more and more time on the streets. His father would fly into uncontrollable rages, beating his mother and then Pablo, as he tried to protect her.

Pablo soon fell under the influence of older boys who were on drugs or in local gangs. To them, he was a new recruit. And at this point, Pablo was in grave danger of becoming another tragic casualty of life on the streets – at risk from violence, abuse and exploitation.

Thankfully, a YMCA member of staff worked with Pablo directly on the street and referred him to one of our centres, where he received the support he needed to turn his back on the streets for good. There have been some important changes at home too – including his mother overcoming her drug addiction.

But Pablo is just one child and, in a city like Bogotá, there are so very many children and young people who need our help. We have recently expanded our project there, so we need your support now more than ever.

We will be working in two more neighbourhoods of Bogotá – Ciudad Bolívar and Bosa – making a total of four. We have set a target of reaching 6,400 children and young people who will be living or working on the streets and we need your help to meet it.

By giving a gift today, you could help children and young people escape life on the street. You could help them find a place where they feel safe. Where they feel loved. Where they can put down roots and start a better life.

£10.35 could pay for a child to come to a YMCA centre for 3 days.
£104 could cover the running cost of a YMCA centre for 2 days.

Read more about our work in Colombia.

If you would like to make a donation to make a lasting difference to a young person like Pablo, please complete the form below. Alternatively, you can ring our Fundraising Team on: 020 7549 3175.

We assure you that your gift will be used wherever the need is greatest.