Saracens are helping to turn the Tide on AIDS in South Africa

Saracens and Starfish Greathearts Foundation are today (Tuesday 13th January) launching a partnership to help turn the tide on AIDS in South Africa.

[UKPRwire, Wed Jan 14 2009] Saracens and Starfish Greathearts Foundation are today (Tuesday 13th January) launching a partnership to help turn the tide on AIDS in South Africa.
Over 1.5 million children’s lives are deeply affected by the AIDS crisis in South Africa and Saracens are supporting Starfish Greathearts Foundation - a charity dedicated to rebuilding these children’s lives.

Guinness Premiership rugby side Saracens will be touring South Africa later this month for matches against the Stormers (January 25) and Boland (January 28) and while in the country, the squad will visit a Starfish project at Wola Nani to see at first hand the work of the charity in empowering communities to deliver sustainable and professional services to children made vulnerable or orphaned by the impact of HIV / AIDS.

The visit is the first of a number of initiatives between Saracens and Starfish which will include charity events and a themed day for the club’s match against Bath on March 15 when a percentage of the ticket value will go to the charity.

When somebody gets AIDS, many people are affected, not least the children. No country in the world has a higher AIDS incidence - with over 5.7 million people affected and means over 1.5 million children's lives are being shattered by the crisis, leaving communities overwhelmed with orphaned and vulnerable children.

Gavin Salmon, UK Chief Executive Officer, Starfish Greathearts Foundation said:

“We are delighted to be building a new partnership with Saracens and Premier Team Holdings. As an international charity supporting thousands of children orphaned by HIV/AIDS in South Africa, we rely on the financial support of companies to continue our lifesaving work. The Saracens partnership will enable us to reach many more children and raise awareness of the devastating impact of HIV/AIDS in South Africa.”

“These children have the potential to grow up and contribute to South African society. If these orphaned and vulnerable children are not cared for, nurtured and educated, they will become a lost generation.”

Saracens and England Captain Steve Borthwick said: “We are delighted to be able to support Starfish and their work to help children who feel the effects of HIV / AIDS within their family or community. Starfish does fantastic work with more than 36,000 children in South Africa and I know the players want to do all they can to support their work when we visit Wola Nani in a few weeks time and the other events which are planned as part of this partnership.”


Notes to Editors:
• Starfish Greathearts Foundation is a charity that supports children in South Africa who have been orphaned or made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS
• Starfish Greathearts Foundation is a registered charity in England and Wales (Charity Commission number: 1093862) and has sister organisations in South Africa, United States of America and Canada
• Starfish has a global turnover of more than £2,000,000 globally
• Based on a wide range of data, including the household and antenatal studies, UNAIDS and the World Health Organisation in July 2008 published an estimate of 18.1% prevalence in those aged 15-49 years old at the end of 2007. Their high and low estimates are 15.4% and 20.9% respectively. According to their own estimate of total population, this implies that around 5.7 million South Africans were living with HIV at the end of 2007, including 280,000 children under 15 years old
• The estimated 5.7 million South Africans living with HIV in 2007 make this the largest HIV epidemic in the world
• It is estimated that 1,577,200 children aged 0-17 years are directly affected by HIV and AIDS through circumstances such as HIV infection at birth or through sex, living in a house with a sick or elderly caregiver, being abandoned, living in a house that cares for many children or who are multiple bereaved or frequently mobile (2008 UNGASS Country Progress Report)
• By 2010 an estimated 2.3 million children will be orphaned in South Africa, of which 1.7 million children will be orphaned due to AIDS (ASSA Report 2003)