Upskills+ Foundation update and how you can help

Sep 19 2025

Following two more successful visits from families, governors and staff to the Upskills+ Foundation, we received the devastating news on Sunday morning that another fire had devastated a large swath of ‘Happy Land’ Tondo, and in this instance, the Upskills+ Foundation building itself.

Please see the message from the Founder of Upskills+ Foundation, Jane Walker MBE:

I am heartbroken to share that a second fire tore through our community in less than 6 weeks apart, leaving 3,000 families homeless and around 12,000 people homeless. Mothers, fathers, and children have lost what little they had.

This time, our own centre was also badly hit. The livelihood room, which has been a source of hope and dignity for so many, was completely destroyed. Much of our roof is gone, and without urgent repairs, we cannot continue serving those who need us most.

We desperately need to be operational again - this is the moment when the community turns to us for help, and we cannot let them down. Any support you can extend now will directly allow us to restore our capacity and stand beside families who have lost everything.

With deep gratitude,

Jane Walker

You can help us as an institution support Jane and her work through our Disaster Relief Fund. This week, we will be sending a further Php 250,000.00 in funds out of it to support the urgent need for rebuilding and cooking equipment, and, as always, your help in keeping that fund healthy is always hugely appreciated.

To make your donations, please visit the Finance Office and state that this is for the Disaster Relief Fund. Thank you to the generosity of families that so far this year have contributed Php 120,278.80 to this fund. Now more than ever, your donations can truly make a difference.

It is worth making clear that our recent donations of Php 200,000.00 were not in vain. The area that received these funds was not affected by the recent fires, and 6 weeks on, thanks in part to the donations from our community, we have homes built back better, stronger and more resilient than before.

Finally, a further way you can help is by providing some cooking equipment to the donation area by the Children’s Gate. We are asking for donations of pots and pans and wooden spoons at this time to supplement the cooking equipment being provided via the Disaster Relief Fund.