Helping-Hand Appeal 2026

Freedom to flourish

The Helping-Hand Appeal is an annual collaboration between the Family Ministries Unit and International Development UK.

The focus of the 2026 Helping-Hand Appeal is Women and Girls - working with women around the world to ensure they have equal access to rights and opportunities, and the freedom to flourish.

Group of Bangladeshi women sitting on the floor

Everyone has the right to live a life free from harm.

Yet, worldwide, one in three women will experience violence in her lifetime.

Gender-based violence takes many forms and is most often perpetrated by men against women and girls. It is not confined to one country, culture, class or generation, but women living in poverty are disproportionately affected.

When girls are forced into child marriage and pregnancy before their bodies are ready, they face life-threatening risks.

When women are treated as inferior, dehumanised or controlled, the truth of who they are is denied. Every person is created in God’s image – equally loved and valued.

Violence against women and girls has always existed. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

Around the world, The Salvation Army is walking alongside women and girls as they claim their rights, expand their opportunities and find the freedom to flourish.

It’s about challenging unjust attitudes and practices that keep women and girls trapped in violence and poverty. It’s about honouring the dignity of every person. It’s about creating pathways to freedom.

Will you stand with women and girls as they reclaim their future?

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Money raised for the 2026 Helping-Hand Appeal will support international Women and Girls projects.

£75 could help establish and train a community-based Child Marriage Prevention Committee.
£180 could fund a human rights seminar for women experiencing sexual exploitation.
£450 could provide educational support for twenty-five children.
£1,125 could run the Children’s Drop-in Centre for six months.
£2,250 could run the Children’s Drop-in Centre for an entire year.

Here are a few ways you could raise money for Helping-Hand 2026 either individually or as part of a team:

COMMUNITY MEAL: Organise a dinner event and sell tickets. Highlight this year's Helping-Hand Appeal by showing the video or sharing the flyer, and you could feature Bangladeshi dishes to tie-in with the featured project.

COOKING CLASS: Partner with local chefs to offer cooking classes. Participants can learn to cook healthy and sustainable meals while supporting the Helping-Hand Appeal.

CRAFT WORKSHOP: Host a fun, hands-on workshop where participants learn simple crochet or cross-stitch patterns. Charge a small fee for the class and provide starter kits that include essentials like sewing needles, thread, and fabric.

QUIZ NIGHT: An easy one to host in a venue, corps building or at home. For an evening of relaxed entertainment, ask groups for an entry fee and find your quiz questions online. Show the Helping-Hand 2026 Women and Girls Introduction video halfway through to remind people why they are there.

SAVE AND GIVE: Donate what you would normally spend on getting the car washed / buying a coffee / getting a takeaway … and watch the pounds mount up!

GENEROSITY JAR: Keep a container/jar in your home or on your group's registration desk where people can pop in their spare change throughout the Appeal.

SET UP A FUNDRAISING PAGE: Setting up a fundraising page gives you the opportunity to share your activity/event, give an easy way to your supporters to donate and share updates! Set up a fundraising page.

DONATE: You can use the form below to make a donation to the Helping-Hand Appeal. Thank you for your support!

Bangladeshi Salvation Army Officer facing woman with back to camera

Donate to Women and Girls projects

Stand with women and girls as they overcome exploitation and find the freedom to flourish

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The Helping-Hand Appeal was the inspiration of Colonel Olive Booth during the Second World War. Soon afterwards a regular pattern developed and the worldwide Home League began donating money to a variety of Salvation Army projects, particularly those overseas. The resources produced enabled funds to be raised in creative and challenging ways alongside learning something about the partner territory in which each project is situated.

This current collaboration between Family Ministries and International Development commenced with the 2001 Appeal ‘Living Water’ and has, since that time, raised in excess of £2.5 million. The Appeal supports The Salvation Army's international projects in the areas of anti-trafficking, clean water, food security, and women and girls.