AN independent charity that for more than 25 years has been helping to transform the lives of thousands of the poorest and most vulnerable people in Africa and South Asia has opened offices in Cropthorne.

APT Action on Poverty, aptenterprise.org.uk, is a UK based charity dedicated to reducing poverty by supporting people into business and enabling them to take control of their own lives.

Beneficiaries include poor rural farmers and livestock owners, street traders selling things like lamp oil, fish or other basic items, blacksmiths, tin smiths, tailors, shoe makers, carpenters, metal workers and other craftsmen and women.

APT’s CEO Andy Jeans has been with the charity for 12 years. He said: “I have worked in charities for 30 to 40 years and joined APT because it was helping people to improve their own lives and work themselves out of poverty.

“We are focussed on livelihood programmes in some of the poorest countries in Africa like Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Uganda and despite the fact we only employ seven people we work with about 20,000 people overseas through our partner agencies.”

Alex Daniels, who works in programme development, explained the work APT contributes to can often be all about self-reliance and changing attitudes.

She said: “Discrimination, stigma and huge inequality are our biggest challenges, for women in particular. I have lived in Sierra Leone and from my experience the work we do is very real. We get to know the people we work with and they tell us ‘if it wasn’t for these projects we would be dead’.”

Andy added: “We travel overseas frequently and regularly visit the people we are serving. In Western Kenya, for example, we are working with a community severely affected by AIDS and it can be very emotional when we see the impact of this work.”

The charity’s head offices in Cropthorne have been set up following a move from Blockley, near Chipping Campden. The move coincides with the launch this week of a £100,000 appeal to help APT expand its work by empowering thousands more women to overcome the violation on their rights and gain livelihoods.

Andy said: “We urgently need support from the public to continue helping women who are unable to provide basic food, medicine and education for themselves and their children. “We want to help thousands more women, such as victims of gender violence, to gain the confidence and skills to improve their lives.”

Human rights lawyer Elizabeth Minde and food technologist Lillian Kisanga, both from Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, were visiting APT this week to add their support to the appeal.

‘Mama’ Minde, as she is affectionately known, is a founder and managing director of the Kilimanjaro Women Information Exchange and Consultancy organisation with more than 15 years of experience as an advocate.

She has published several papers on the violation of human rights against women, HIV and AIDS together with factors affecting women‘s involvement in cooperatives.

She said: “These past 16 days we have been at a conference in London which brought together many people from all across Africa, all partners of Skill Share International. We were able to highlight what it’s like in our country and explain what is working well and where improvements can be made.

“We used the opportunity to visit our development partners at APT because the charity helps to do a lot of very useful work with the poorest and the most marginalised people in the community, especially women who are the poorest of the poor. We feel the projects are making a lot of difference with them.“

Lillian Kisanga explained the appeal will help support projects in Africa such as in her home state of Kilimanjaro where there are projects underway to support women economically through processing fruits and vegetables.

She said: “We help to build women’s understanding of business and empower them to know how to deal with issues in their local authority. APT helps us to strengthen the local organisation capacity.”

Elizabeth added: “We want people to be able to control their own destiny, their resources and the processes which affect their lives. This is one of the most powerful things we do.”

To contribute to the appeal or for more information on APT Action on Poverty call the new head office in Cropthorne on 01386 861294 or visit the charity in person at Nicholas House, Heath Park, Main Road, Cropthorne WR10 3NE.