Link was founded in 1989 and enjoys the support of our patron, the Most Reverend Desmond Tutu. Our current programmes stand to affect over 480 schools and more then 200,000 school children. Link operates as separate legal entities in the UK, South Africa, Ghana and Uganda. Link believes education is a fundamental human right and the key to breaking the cycle of poverty. It enables individuals and communities to realise their full potential.

The schools with which Link works are very deprived and poorly resourced. In South Africa, 24 percent have no water supply within distance, 61 percent have no telephone and 83 percent are without libraries. Only 41 percent of Ghanaians went to secondary school and in rural Uganda over 50 percent of women are illiterate. The overcrowded classrooms and lack of adequate resources adds to the difficulties involved in delivering an adequate education.

Link's projects are always planned and implemented in partnership with the local education authorities. They focus on building the capacity of decentralised education departments and on whole school and teacher development. The aim is to improve management and community ownership of schools as well as teaching standards. Link works within existing systems and structures so that progress is far-reaching and sustainable for the future, and so that learning from our projects informs national education policy.

Our project teams in S. Africa, Uganda and Ghana are:

• Helping Departments of Education improve their planning and delivery Forging better links between schools and local departments
• Providing training to teachers in areas such as maths, science, language and methodology
• Offering follow-up support in teacher's classrooms
• Supporting school managers and governors as they plan their school's development
• Helping schools involve their local communities in school fundraising
• Providing annual grants to schools to help them meet their needs
  

Link Community Development UK (formerly known as Link Africa) is based in London, where a dedicated team focuses on fundraising, publicity, school linkages and recruitment of volunteers for short-term placements in Africa. Our work is funded by the Community Fund, the Millennium Commission, USAID, grant-making trusts, national/international corporate bodies, fundraising events, individual donors, UK schools and Cambridge University student committees.

FURTHER LINKS:

• College SAFE donations to LINK
• Get involved with LINK
• Webpage dedicated to SAFE in LINK's own website