Protecting her family through knowledge and nets
October Newsletter 2026
This year has brought together so many of the projects CRESS funds; expanding and developing them. The team on the ground are seeing individuals and communities being empowered and uplifted by the knowledge and support the funds you have raised and donated to CRESS. So a HUGE thank you comes with this report from all of us.
CATT WORK EXPANDS
Training of new CATT Counsellors by ACTI - also supported with...
In May, with funding and technical partnership from Action for Child Trauma International (ACTI UK), CATT (Childrens Accelarated Trauma Therapy) counsellors participated in training to strengthen the capacity of community-based actors to identify and treat trauma in children. The training also certified a cohort of counsellors for supervised deployment, and creates a foundation for scaled CATT delivery across Arua, Imvepi, and Rhino Camp settlements, and Kerwa + Wandi Sub-Counties of Yumbe district. We now have 20 additional counsellors in the field.
"The CATT training opened my eyes to the science behind trauma and gave me practical steps to help. I used to be afraid to ask about painful memories; now I know how to create safety and how to help a child tell their story in a way that reduces fear. I will carry these skills into schools and community centres and I believe we will see real change in children’s lives.” — Dickson Duku, Rhino Camp Imvepi Refugee Settlement
New CATT counsellors after completing ACTI training
New Vehicle
Thanks to a very generous donation CRESS has been able to fund a white, 2014 Toyota Land Cruiser to strengthen the organisation’s field operations. It can transport up to nine staff members, including the driver. It is also fitted with a roof rack capable of carrying up to 150 kg of equipment and programme supplies. It is well suited to the challenging roads and remote project locations across the West Nile region. It will transport CAF staff from Arua to Imvepi and Rhino Camp refugee settlements and Mijale in Yumbe.
The vehicle will significantly improve staff mobility, programme supervision and the timely delivery of materials to the communities CAF serves. We are deeply grateful to CRESS UK and its supporters for helping CAF reach vulnerable communities more safely, reliably and effectively.
Health Work FUNDED BY BIG GIVE 2025
As well as helping fund the CATT work (above) your donations to The Big Give Christmas Challenge 2025 has helped us transition from a clinic in Rhino to a preventive community health program. In Rhino camp, we deployed a in October 2025 and established structured and consistent service delivery. In March 2026, this clinic was transitioned to Medical Teams International (MTI), the UNHCR-appointed lead health partner.
CRESS has transitioned to a Preventive Community Health Program model. This shift reflects a deliberate move toward a more sustainable and cost-effective approach that aligns with UNHCR and OPM (Office of the Prime Minister) systems. The new model emphasises preventing illness and disease, and leverages existing community structures such as Village Health Teams (VHTs), savings groups, schools, churches and local leadership to deliver health interventions at scale.
Through this transition, CAF is now positioned as a community-based preventive health partner within the refugee response system. The organization plays a critical role in strengthening mental health and psychosocial support through Children’s Accelerated Trauma Therapy (CATT), reinforcing the community health structures, complementing the MTI-led clinical health system, and delivering scalable, integrated health and resilience programming that addresses root causes of vulnerability.
CRESS medical team: (left to right) Lulu, Bethy, Apangu. and Asaba
Education in Camps
Sponsored Student Story
From Late Nights to a Lifelong Calling: Charles's Story
For Charles, becoming a doctor was never going to be easy; but that never stopped him from trying. Growing up in a family with limited means, Charles knew early on that if he wanted a future in medicine, he would have to earn every inch of it.
"It wasn't easy," he recalls. "I had to sleep for three hours a night and spend most of my time reading." That discipline paid off: Charles placed among the top 10 students nationally who qualified for a place to study medicine at Busitema University, a public university in Uganda. "Many wealthy people in Uganda have the money to send their kids to study medicine, but are limited by the grade requirements, which are extremely high," he explains. Knowing what the opportunity meant, he made sure he earned it.
That opportunity became real because of CRESS UK. "They have been instrumental in ensuring I stay in school," Charles says. "They send our tuition on time and are really committed to seeing us finish our education, so that we can change our society and communities; which we definitely will."
What keeps him going, he says, is reflecting on where he started; and the simple, humbling fact that someone he had never met chose to pay his tuition. "I want to be in a position to do the same someday."
Charles is on track to complete his degree in 2029, followed by a year of internship in 2030, after which he will be a fully trained doctor. He hopes to serve communities that often face poor treatment and neglect in hospitals; communities that will now have one of their own inside the system. He also plans to sponsor at least 10 students through their own education, just as CRESS UK did for him.
Big Give 2026
Date for your diary
Between 1st – 8th December 2026 (midday) we hope to raise over £16,400 with our Big Give Christmas Challenge 2026. Every £ you donate will be matched by our match funds up to the total!
This year, the funds raised will go towards agriculture, health and savings inputs to accompany the training and mentoring given to our livelihood groups. We also hope to put money towards a new motorbike for the health workers and transport costs for the project staff who visit, train and mentor the groups and volunteers who are making such great strides in improving lives within their communities.
We hope you will support us - you can read more about it and donate when the time comes here: https://donate.biggive.org/campaign/a05WS00000GiIhZYAV
CRESS Christmas Cards
We have another beautifully designed Christmas card this year designed by Jane Alyson Smart.
They are available from Caroline and The Hub in Broad Chalke!
Cost: £5 for 8 cards.
Or send online from : https://www.dontsendmeacard.com/ecards/charities/cress/christmas
Amazing Legacy Help
This year we were thrilled to receive a legacy donation which we will use to give CRESS a firm base into the future, which will mean we can keep developing skills for self-sufficiency & sustainability for displaced people in Uganda.
We are constantly overwhelmed by the amazing support you, our donors, give CRESS. We understand that you appreciate the closeness CRESS has with CRESS Africa and the impact we can show that your donations make to the individual lives of so many. We want sustain the charitable work CRESS is able to do as Caroline begins to step back over the coming years.
With this is mind the legacy will help employ Emily Ward one day a week. Emily, who also lives in Broad Chalke, has been supporting Isaac Soro as he develops his skills as Executive director, as a volunteer. For the next year she will be seeking to grow our family of regular donors to support CRESS' work into the future
Trip Plans
Emily Ward will be heading out to visit and monitor the projects in Uganda for CRESS at the end of November.
She says: "I’m excited to travel to Uganda for the first time to meet the CRESS Africa team and their partners in the refugee and host communities who are making such an essential difference to renew lives and create hope and opportunity for the future. The team are doing incredible work to sustain, innovate and grow their impact, and I’m looking to learn as much as I can about what they do and how they do it. There’s lots that can act as a model for other organisations - we can spread the word about CRESS, and inspire others to help people in other places."
THANK YOU
As
