Charity information

The money you donate will go to Send a Cow, a charity that gives livestock and training to poor Africans. Here is some information taken from the Send a Cow website.

Send a Cow was founded in 1988 in response to a plea from a Ugandan bishop. The country had been devastated by a long civil war: people had lost their homes and cattle, and milk had become a luxury that few could afford. The bishop had heard there were milk surpluses in the UK, and appealed to British farmers for help.

A group of Christian farmers based mainly in the West Country decided to send not milk, but long-term help in the form of cows. The first plane-load of 32 in-calf heifers left Gatwick Airport in June 1988 and arrived in Uganda 12 hours later. With the help of local church groups, we distributed the cows to poor women. We also trained the recipients in caring for their animals, and offered them low-cost veterinary services.

Send a Cow gained charitable status later that year. By 1996, we had flown more than 300 cows from the UK to Uganda. Then the BSE crisis in the UK prompted us to change our strategy. We no longer send animals, but instead purchase all our gift livestock in Africa.

In 1998 – our 10^th anniversary year – we expanded further. We launched a new programme called StockAid that targeted the very poorest people, especially those who have suffered from war, drought and AIDS. As many of these people do not have the resources to look after a cow, we began supplying smaller livestock such as goats and rabbits. We also expanded the sustainable farming component of our training programmes.

We were given a further boost in 1999 when we were chosen as one of the charities featured in the Daily Telegraph’s Christmas Appeal. The money raised enabled us to increase our work in Africa and invest in more UK staff. We now receive institutional funding from the Department for International Development, Comic Relief, the Diana Memorial Fund, and smaller trusts. However, most of our money comes from the general public.

Now, in 2006, we work in ten countries: Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Zambia, Tanzania, Cameroon, Ghana and Mozambique. We have also worked with a group in Sudan. We support new and established projects by supplying cows, goats, bees and fruit trees, and have also started to provide donkeys, breeding goats and bulls, draft oxen and sheep. 
We hope to expand substantially over the next decade, giving more African farmers the means to work their way out of poverty for good.

Send a Cow is part of a global network of charities with expertise in the provision of livestock and training in organic farming. 

Margaret’s story

Margaret Nabemezi from Uganda received one of the first cows we provided. And, after 18 years, the cow is still going strong.

In that time, it has given Margaret’s family milk, manure and calves. The money they have made from the sale of surplus milk and vegetables has enabled Margaret and her husband to buy and breed more than 400 chickens, build a new house, put up water tanks, and build up a small business selling coffee. Now they’re using the cow’s manure in a bio-gas system, to use as fuel for cooking. In short, they’ve changed their lives.
Above all, the cow has helped Margaret and her family achieve security. They no longer need support from Send a Cow – they’re doing just fine on their own. Now when Send a Cow extension workers pay them a visit, it’s purely because, after 18 years, they’ve become firm friends.

Send a Cow’s Christian Mission

Send a Cow began in the Christian farming community and has at its heart a clear commitment to obey the teaching of Jesus Christ through its work to help the people of Africa to overcome poverty and malnutrition.

It fulfils its mission by equipping needy farmers with appropriate resources for a sustainable future, primarily through the provision of livestock. Training in good husbandry and organic farming methods plays a key role.

We work with organised groups of needy people, building their capacity to improve their situation. Often these groups have Christian roots, but not in every case. Criteria for selection is based on need, not on race, gender or religion.

Send a Cow depends on the continuing generosity of many people. Our support comes from churches, schools, the general public, Rotary Clubs, Government, and other aid organisations. Our experience is that our Christian background provides an important framework for trust, which people making donations to Send a Cow find reassuring.

Beneficiaries do not just receive. When they ‘pass on the gift’, they help others in the same way they themselves were helped. The principle echoes the Good Samaritan, and is the route to self-reliance and more fulfilled lives.

Looking after livestock, crops and the environment is good stewardship, as is the way in which we make careful use of our time and money. All these material things are entrusted to us by God to be used wisely and well.

We pray for God’s blessing on the work of Send a Cow. We look to him for guidance and inspiration in the many decisions we have to take. We pray that Send a Cow will be regarded as a tangible expression of God’s love for those in tremendous need.

Send a Cow’s verse is Micah 6:8

He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.

All new directors should by conviction be willing to uphold, maintain and develop these values and the Send a Cow vision.

All members of the UK staff and volunteers should be confident and willing to represent these core values and the Send a Cow vision in all aspects of their work.