Glad’s House (2019)

Kenya
2019-2021

In brief

Glad’s House is a UK charity and Kenyan NGO supporting children and young people facing homeless and incarceration in Mombasa. They ensure that children and young people should be able to grow up cared for and in safety, should have the chance of an education, and should be supported to fulfil their potential.

They believe in the power of sport to lift up vulnerable children and young people and sport has been at the heart of their work since they were founded in 2006.  They use Football, Boxing, Golf and other sports as a vehicle to create change for children and young people.

Problem to be tackled

Children and young people living on the streets have no safe spaces to play. If they convene in large numbers, they are arrested or rounded up by the County Government or Police. Through football, they are able to come together without fear of persecution and have the opportunity to not only have fun and play but also build their self-esteem, courage and self-efficacy. The secure space created by Glad’s House provides children and young people with a safe environment to grow & explore, supporting their physical, social & emotional development.

Local partner

Since 2006, Glad’s House has been delivering holistic support to thousands of children and young people that live on the streets, in prisons and on dumpsites in Mombasa, Kenya.

They work with the children and young people who are deemed ‘too challenging’ by the rest of society. Without that support those children and young people would have little option but to remain on the streets with all the dangers that life on the streets brings. They ensure that children and young people have the opportunity to grow up loved and in safety, have the chance for an education and are supported to fulfil their potential.

Beneficiaries

Glad’s House’s core work is on the streets and in the prisons of Mombasa, Kenya. It was founded in response to the lack of services for children and young people living on the streets, particularly those that were deemed ‘too challenging’ by other NGOs. These were children and young people that had experienced significant trauma and often failed family reunifications that made a life away from the streets feel impossible.

The project benefits children who are not in school, currently around 5% disabled. The age range is from five to 25 and the gender ration is 90% male, 10% female.

SOL’s contribution

With the support from The SOL Foundation, Glad’s House will be able to run their programme ‘Street Soccer and Papasa’, this includes two full time football coaches and a trainee football coach to deliver all football sessions across the streets and prisons.

Project partner

Glad’s House is committed to empowering homeless children and young people to take responsibility for their own lives, to realise their full potential and to protect them. They work with those who society forgets, to give them hope and a positive future.

Glad’s House facilitates opportunities for these children and young people to create positive change in their lives by being a leading organisation in sports, education, child rights and child protection.

Goal is to ensure that the children and young people they support will not be criminalised for being on the streets and that there will no longer be unlawful round ups.

Glad's House

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