A LEADING charity is urgently appealing for Dudley people to help child in poverty in Ghana.

ActionAid is looking for sponsors from the region to make Sayibu, aged nine, the child of their town.

Sayibu lives in Ghana and communities like the one she lives in often struggle to find food. At least seven in ten people depend on farming but in the northern poverty belt where ActionAid works there are regular droughts and floods which can ruin crops leaving families with little to eat.

ActionAid spokesperson, Jane Moyo said: “For just £15 a month, child sponsorship through ActionAid can help bring about real, long-term change.

“You'll get two letters a year from the child you sponsor, and updates from the country to tell you how the money you donate is changing lives. That could be through building classrooms, supplying clean water, delivering basic healthcare and even offering small business training.

“We’re hoping this focused local appeal in Dudley will help us change Sayibu’s future for good.”

ActionAid’s work in Ghana helps to get children into school. Child sponsorship helps to build and furnish schools as well as provide basics like books and school uniforms. This work is changing the future of children for the long term.

ActionAid sponsor and comedian and author, Mark Watson said: “People often feel with charities that they're pouring money into a far-off place that will never solve any of its problems. With child sponsorship you get to see the relationship between your donations and the real improvements in a specific person's life. It's really rewarding as well as being desperately needed.”

Visit www.actionaid.org.uk/fundraise/what-are-our-fundraisers-and-activists-doing/2014/12/04/give-a-child-a-future-this for more information, to sponsor a child directly visit http://www.actionaid.org.uk/city.