UK Women Group Launches Fundraising Initiative to Support Others During Covid19 Pandemic
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UK Women Group Launches Fundraising Initiative to Support Others During Covid19 Pandemic

LUK Executive team
Standing-Fatima, Heather, Kim, Petra and Dee
Seated-Es, Flossy (founder) and Ra
Framed-Kudzai, Lillian, Charity, Priscilla and Bee.

The Ladies of the UK (LUK), a community of Zimbabwean women based in England, have started a fundraising initiative to support each family that would have lost their loved ones due to the coronavirus pandemic in the United Kingdom.
Dubbed the LUK Covid-19 response, the initiative started on April 13 and had managed to raise over £30 000.

“The initiative came out of the realization that we are losing a number of members in our communities “.. Founder Flossy Kandodo


Flossy Kandodo, the brains behind LUK which has a membership of over 12 000 women, said the idea came out of the realization that people in the Diaspora have been struggling to cope with the emotional and financial distress on their own during the covid-19 pandemic.
“If our member, her spouse or child dies, we give the family £1 000 just to support them. If a member’s child loses their father, payoffs are made to support the grieving children of single mothers. Each of our members, who can afford, is contributing £10. The response from our membership has been brilliant as we managed to raise £27 000 in five days only and many are still contributing. So far four payments of £1 000 each have been made to the next of kins of those who have passed away recently,” said Kandodo who is also a founder member of Girlchild Network in Zimbabwe.
“The initiative came out of the realization that we are losing a number of members in our communities and so far, we have lost four people. The initiative is set to run up to 16 May and if things do not change, we will move the date to June 15. There will be transparency in how the money will be distributed and if there is any change after the pandemic, we will decide what to do as administrators. There have been suggestions to either assist those that have been orphaned because of Covid-19. Some have also suggested that we help in rehabilitating a state-of-the-art maternity wing at Parinyatwa hospital. Being ladies, we know how hard it is to walk into labour and come out with nothing or having lost both. The decision on what to do with the remaining funds will be brought back to the group and admins will deliberate on the suggestions,” she said.
Kandodo added that LUK has administrators in each County of the United Kingdom and have a representative in Zimbabwe who helps in coordinating their efforts.
This is not the first time LUK has been involved in charitable activities in Zimbabwe and have been rewarded with numerous awards.
As recent as December last year, they successfully held a Christmas Ball to fundraise for the Chitungwiza Albino Children.
Kandodo said LUK was formed in 2013 for women in the United Kingdom to support and give each other confidence.
“When I came into this country in 2004 there was so much mistrust among the Zimbabwean community with people reporting each other to immigration officials or fighting over women or men. We support each other in all facets of life. Many businesses for black people were formed out of ideas that came out of LUK,” she said.
Meanwhile, another UK-based community organisation called the ZIM Diaspora has launched the Zim Diaspora Response Fundraising Fund (Covid-19) to support the procurement of personal protective equipment and support support for frontline healthcare workers in Zimbabwe.
ZIM Diaspora Fundraising Co-ordinator, Marshal Gore, said: “As a Diaspora or global community, we have never faced anything like this. The challenges, both for society as a whole and for us personally are unprecedented. We have embraced shared responsibility to support our government to tackle Covid-19 at this time of great need.”
The ZIM Diaspora Response Fundraising (Covid-19) has partnered with Tengai Online, who have also chipped in the fund-raising by matching every £10 raised with a pound.
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