Recent News

First Day of School at Katuuso

14 February 2011

Katuuso Primary and Vocational School is up and running! 81 lucky children have been given the opportunity to attend in Nursery and Primary 1 this year. We have employed 4 teachers (including 2 teachers’ assistants) to teach within the school.

31st January 2011 marked the first day of school for the children and the day ran smoothly with only a few tears from the children as their mothers dropped them off. They looked gorgeous in their new blue and white checked uniforms and were very excited to be attending school for the first time. Our brightly coloured classrooms, tables and chairs provide a stimulating and positive learning environment for students.

The children are receiving 3 meals per day which are prepared by mothers from the local community as well as basic health checks, including de-worming and education about oral hygiene. The school has been equipped with lots of toys, including balls and hula hoops which provide hours of entertainment.

The school also has 10 pit latrines for adequate sanitation and both students and the whole local community benefit from the supply of clean drinking water from our borehole.

Assisting to achieve our aim of high quality education, volunteer Jennifer Hinchly has been working hard to compose a skills development program for our teachers, including one on one enrichment programs. She has been sitting in on the classes in order to provide critical feedback to better the teachers’ skills.

Dave continues to work tirelessly in Uganda overseeing the management and maintenance of the school. We are delighted with the progress thus far and are excited to update you about the wonderful impacts of the project to come!

If you would like to sponsor a child or teacher, please contact Annabelle at annabelle@uff.org.au for more information. Child sponsorship is just $50/month or $1.65 per day. Teacher sponsorship is $200/month. Make a difference to the life of someone less fortunate today and help break the cycle of poverty in Uganda.

Annabelle joins Dave in Uganda

23 September 2010

Annabelle has also recently returned to Uganda to see the first brick laid! UFF have begun laying the foundations for the school and are hoping to have pictures of the first brick being laid very soon. Please stay tuned for progress reports...

Dave back in Uganda

14 August 2010

Dave is back on the ground in Uganda and making excellent progress. The Mpigi community has welcomed him back warmly and are very excited to see the first stages of their long-awaited education centre. We have kept close communication with local government officials to ensure the Ugandans’ ongoing support and enthusiasm for our project.

Dave has purchased a motorbike to make transport more efficient and is currently looking to purchase a UFF Ute to assist the building process.

UFF will soon be the proud owner of 10 acres of land in Mpigi, Uganda, with the land transaction being finalised this week. We are excited to start the brick making in the next few weeks and the first bricks will be laid in a few short months. We have locked in our construction engineer, Dan – a budding, experienced and professional Ugandan, to implement the first stages of the development. He is fine tuning the bill of quantities to ensure accuracy and enable the building process to run as smoothly as possible.

We are also excited to announce our first Ugandan employee in Kampala, 24 year old Aorone. Aorone was a street kid and has been sponsored by an Australian in Wollongong for the last four years, enabling him to complete a Bachelor of IT. He will be assisting with the negotiation for all our construction needs.

United Future Foundation Uganda is soon to be formally registered and the final paperwork has been submitted to the government for approval.

Annabelle has been busy speaking to various at various functions and Clubs over the past few weeks. She was welcomed warmly by Northbridge Rotary Club and received a generous donation of $250 from their Club. She also spoke to the girls at Sancta Sophia College and is looking at setting up a fundraising relationship. Frensham Year 9 was also a wonderful and attentive audience at their recent Global Forum. A big thank you to Frensham for their donation towards UFF also. Annabelle will be heading to Uganda on 16th September for 3 weeks to assist with the community consultation, student selection criteria and curriculum planning.

There are various branding opportunities associated with our upcoming purchases for UFF. Whilst we do not directly brand areas of the education centre, we are happy to apply sponsorship logos to our UFF vehicles and in our office in Uganda (or Sydney). Please contact us at info@uff.org.au if you are interested in putting your name to part of the project.

 

Schools for Schools Program

13th July 2010

Volunteer, Emma French, is working hard to launch our Schools for Schools Program. This program focuses on representatives of United Future Foundation reaching out to local Australian schools to discuss the project and the education system in Uganda.

We would like to extend a huge thank you to Marayong Heights Public School which organised a fundraiser for United Future Foundation. The children donated gold coins and dressed in the colours of the Ugandan national flag. They raised $342.80 for our Foundation and raised awareness of the challenges faced by Ugandans who are unable to attend school due to financial and logistical restraints.

 

Sex and the City 2 Premiere

2nd July 2010

UFF hosted the launch of Sex and the City 2 and had over 500 excited women from all over Sydney come together for champagne and cupcakes at Hotel Cremorne, followed by the much-awaited screening of the film. The atmosphere was excellent and the film thoroughly enjoyed. We raised approximately $5000 so thank you to all who attended for your wonderful support!

 

Black Tie & Barefoot Ball was a fantastic success

16th May 2010

UFF is pleased to announce that our inaugural Black Tie & Barefoot Ball raised just over $105,000. There were over 640 people seated and approximately 60 volunteers standing in the room, making it an energetic and fun atmosphere! We look forward to hosting a similar (and potentially bigger!) event next May. Watch this space for details.

Thanks to all those who contributed to making the event such an amazing success:

A huge thank you to all our volunteers for your tireless work in the lead up to, and at the event. A special shout out to:

 

Tickets to Black Tie & Barefoot On Sale!

08 March 2010

Tickets to UFF's inaugural ball are now on sale. The Black Tie & Barefoot ball will be held on Saturday 15th May at the Hilton, in Sydney. For further information please see the events page here.

 

United Future Foundation Newsletter Released

15 December 2009

Catch up on all the latest news, fundraising initiatives and progress. Please download a copy here. Highlights include:

 

UFF's Christmas Party a success

12 December 2009

We would like to thank everyone who joined us on Thursday 10th December for a fantastic Christmas party at The Saint in Paddington. An excellent night was had by all and further funds were raised for the building fund.

A huge thank you to The Saint who donated finger food and $1 from every drink. Due to the merriment had by all, over $1000 was raised on the evening.

 

Dave hits the front page... again!

20 November 2009

Well, maybe not page one, but Dave’s work with UFF has received further coverage in the Hills Shire Times.

"If you told David Everett a few years ago that he would set-up his own charity and build a school in Uganda by the age of 23 he would have laughed.

But after leaving William Clarke College at Kellyville in 2004 and starting a degree in marine biology he decided to take a gap year and revisit Africa where he grew up. Read more...

 

UFF Video Released

01 September 2009

Annabelle and Dave have been working hard to complete an informational video about UFF and their objectives. Take a look...

 

Annabelle wins the Marie Claire Garnier Take Care Award

01 September 2009

Annabelle Chauncy, one of the co-founders of UFF, recently won $10,000 in the Marie Claire Garnier Take Care Awards. Annabelle has donated this prize money directly to UFF in full. It will be used to kick start our major fundraising campaign and allow UFF to begin purchasing the land for the educational centre in late 2009.

We would like to say a huge thank you to Victoria-Jane Otavski who nominated Annabelle, and also to everyone who voted to make this possible. We are thrilled with the result, bringing us one step closer to the school construction in 2010.

Congratulations to Annabelle on this fantastic recognition of her commitment and enthusiasm. Read the original article about Annabelle and the other finalists here.