A bit about us:
We rescue orphaned & vulnerable children.
Est. 1993
Christian Care Centre T/A Lily of the Valley Children’s Village has been serving vulnerable children in South Africa for over 30 years.
Children are our future & we believe in building brighter futures for the most vulnerable & helping them to reach their dreams!
Nurture, educate, empower:
Lily of the Valley is a home & safe haven for children who have been marginalised by a broken society. Since 1993 we have been giving these children a second chance in life by investing directly into their lives, treating them as individuals, and raising them to be young adults who achieve their God-given potential.
Photo: 23 homes built between 1998 -2002
We care for up to 85 children and young adults, placed in our care through the Department of Social Development. The children’s ages range from 6 months to 21 years. Each child shares a home with up to 5 other children and they are looked after by a House-mother.
Most of our children are orphans or have no family to support them. They often come at a young age to Lily and stay for a long time in our care. Some are mentally and/or physically disabled and approximately 70 % are HIV+.
All of them have experienced trauma prior to arriving at Lily. At Lily we strive to create an environment in which the children can flourish by providing a home, a surrogate family, and a profound sense of belonging.
Who we are?
Lily of the Valley provides children and young adults with the holistic care they need to unlock their true potential. By raising them in a Christ-centered, healthy environment and ensuring that we impart the values and skills they need to succeed, they are able to grow into well-adjusted and contributing members of society.
Our experience & positive ties with government mean that we’re able to work effectively within our community. Ultimately, our hands-on work gives partners & supporters a tangible way to invest in the future generation.
Our beliefs
Everything we do is informed by our Christian beliefs. We are dedicated to serving the needs of our children and young adults, but never lose sight of our goal of serving Jesus and raising our children to have faith in Him.
We aim to see all activities that we do at Lily grounded in our faith in Christ because we believe that God should be the centre of all that we do.
OUR VALUES:
Our values define who we are & everything we do filters through them
OUR SISTER VILLAGE
iKhethelo (formerly Makaphutu Children’s Village) was established almost 30 years ago. iKhethelo is governed by the same CEO’s and Governing body.
OUR MANAGEMENT TEAM
Graeme & Tami Wright
CEO & ASSISTANT CEO
Graeme and Tami Wright are both qualified school teachers with over 25 years of experience working with children in the UK & South Africa. They have been the CEO’s of iKhethelo Children’s Village since 2016. On 1 September 2021, Graeme and Tami stepped into a new role as CEO’s of both iKhethelo and Lily of the Valley.
Graeme and Tami are passionate leaders, with big hearts for vulnerable children. Their expertise in education and working with orphaned and vulnerable children is invaluable.
Thula Mncwabe
VILLAGE MANAGER
Baba Thula has been with Lily since May 2014 as Operation’s Manager. In April 2019 he took on a new mantle as the Village Manager, where he’s in charge of the day to day Village requirements, as well as the more important role of ensuring the wellbeing of the children. He plays an active role in their daily issues and helps the support team in developing the children.
Danny Tennet
BUSINESS MANAGER
Danny is one of our newest staff members, joining our staff team in February 2024. Danny has dreamed of working with an organization who is passionate about making a difference in children’s lives and so he is so excited about this new position. Danny brings a lot of new skills to the team, especially with his vast experience in finance, business, IT and communications background.
Danny is also currently studying an MBA amongst other qualifications he holds. Welcome to the team!
Zodwa Mncwango
HEAD SOCIAL WORKER
Zodwa has been working with children, youth and caregivers since November 2010. She is heading the social work department and her duties include caring and protecting children from all kinds of abuse, training staff on child protection policies, providing therapeutic services to children and youth and to ensure that all children’s basic needs are met. Zodwa is very passionate about her social work duties and she enjoys caring and empowering the children and youth to make a difference in their lives.
BOARD MEMBERS
Alasdair Yuill
CHAIRPERSON
Alasdair Yuill who has recently retired from business has been the Chairperson on the Board for a number of years. Alsadair is passionate about seeing children reach their full potential in life.
Alasdair Yuill
TEAM OF DIRECTORS
Gill De Beer
Business Owner
Bernard Gasa
Retired Headmaster
Ps Vika Gwala
Local Baptist Pastor
Nelli Dlamini
Medical Field
Laura Naidoo
Medical Field
Marcus Wilkinson
Business Owner
Paul Praschma
Wealth Management
Brendan Stapleton
Business Owner
SOME OF OUR PARTNERS
We value partnerships & below are just some of our partners that have made a huge impact in our children’s lives. As the African proverb goes, ‘ It takes a village to raise a child,’ we really do need all the help we can get to raise 120 children. If you would like to be a partner or find out more, please get in touch.
LOVE USA
LoVE USA, the official representative in the USA for Lily of the Valley and iKhethelo Children’s Villages, was developed as a way for donors oversees to become involved in and respond to the AIDS crisis in South Africa. Since 2004, LoVE USA, founded by Sharon Clack, has been a life support for the children’s villages, financially, physically, and spiritually for many years.
BROWN ACADEMY
We at Brown believe in giving back. We have dedicated ourselves to raising support for children in need through benefit concerts and fundraising events.
For over 10 years, Brown Academy has made a huge difference at Lily by raising funds for Education & many needed resurces for the children at Lily.
LOV FRIENDS E.V.
Lily of the Valley Friends was started by a group of volunteers who had spent time volunteering at the village & relaised that they could make a difference in the children’s lives through raising funds in Germany.
We are so grateful for all our German friends & the difference they have made.
DSD
Lily of the Valley is registered with the Department of Social Development and receives a monthly grant for each child in our care. Funds coming in from the government covers 2/5 of the monthly amount it costs to look after a child. The remainder of the funds is required from other donors.
ROOM IN A BOX
We are so blessed to have partnered with Room In A Box who raise funds to renovate the rooms of children in homes. Room in a box have already transformed 9 of our children’s bedrooms & have a vision to transform all our children’s rooms as funding allows.
SBA
SBA has also come on board to help us with our childrens home renovations by donating applicances, such as fridges, gas stoves, freezers. They have also spnsored towards our renovation costs by providing new kitchen cupboards and decor. We value our partnership with SBA & all they are doing to make a difference.
RAINBOW CHICKEN
Rainbow chickens have been a sponsor for the Lily for many years. We are so grateful for the huge monthly donation of frozen chicken for the children. This means we dont have to go our and buy chicken, saving our food budget hugely! Thank you Rainbow Chicken.
ST HENRYS SCHOOL
We are so grateful for St Henrys who have come on board to provide so many fun activities for our children. We enjoy visits from the students who collect donations, make cookies, run fun sports days, games and craft activities for the children. Thank you for making a difference!
EUROGERM
Eurogerm is another amazing company who has helped us get our new soccer field project up and running by sponsoring a TLB to dig the pitch, new poles and fencing to go around & will also be helping us with our house renovation project.
ENERGY DRIVE
We are so grateful to have Energy Drive on board with our Education IT Vision. We have recently opened our new IT Centre with 10 new computers, projector, pull down screen, tables, chairs and all the renovations to make this project possible happen – all sponsored by Energy Drive! Thank you!
SA CHILDRENS CHARITABLE TRUST
The South African Charitable trust is located in the UK & has been a huge financial support for Lily. We apprecaite Victoria and the team for raising awareness and financial support for the village in the UK, Thank you!
HIGHBURY SCHOOL
Thank you to Highbury Preperatory School. We have been so blessed by the Highbury Grade 6 classes who have raised funds and donated appliances and clothes to the village. Thank you for all your support!
L&G TOOLS
Thank you to L&G Tools who have jumped on board to help convert all our baths to showers at the village. We are on a big water saving drive, and L & G Tools will be helping us achieve our water saving goals for 2023/24. Thank you for all the equipment already donated!
INVESTEC
Thank you to Investec Wealth & Investment International for your support towards Education. Education is the key to breaking the poverty cycle & we are grateful for your support.