OUR HISTORY
WeSeeHope was founded in 2000 by husband and wife, Phil and Wendy Wall.
At the time, Southern and Eastern Africa was the most affected region in the world by HIV and AIDS, and millions of children were being orphaned and made vulnerable as a result.
It was during a visit to South Africa in 1997 that Phil met a little girl called Zodwa, who had been abandoned by her mother. Having failed in their attempt to adopt her, but deeply moved and inspired by their experience, Phil and Wendy decided to take a unique approach to try and help other children like Zodwa. This was their catalyst for change.
They invested their personal savings and created an extraordinary fundraising challenge; they gave people £10 and encouraged them to turn it into £100, using only their talents, passions and networks to do so. Phil and Wendy’s 1010 Challenge raised over £2 million and led to the formation of WeSeeHope.
Today, we are proud to have raised £27.5 million in support of vulnerable children in Sub-Saharan Africa, and to have hit some amazing milestones along the way. In 2022, Phil and Wendy were both awarded MBEs for their services to our work with vulnerable children in Southern and Eastern Africa.
OUR STORY SO FAR
1997
Phil Wall met Zodwa and our story began.
2000
Phil and Wendy raised £2 million through their 1010 Challenge and WeSeeHope (then known as HOPEHIV) was founded.
2005
A reception was held at 10 Downing Street, hosted by Gordon and Sarah Brown, inviting influencers to support our cause.
2006
Our SEP Challenge was developed to encourage school children to fundraise through social enterprise.
2008
Our project office moved to Tanzania from South Africa, reflecting our expansion into Eastern Africa.
2010
We launch a new 1010 Challenge in celebration of our 10th Birthday.
2011
We were awarded a Radio 4 fundraising appeal to increase support for our projects.
2012
One of our amazing supporters, Sarah O’Neil, ran 12 marathons in 12 days as part of her ‘12 in 12’ fundraising challenge.
2014
We officially launched our first economic initiative, the Village Investors Programme (VIP), setting a target to form 500 savings and loans groups by the end of 2018.
2015
We changed our name from HOPEHIV to WeSeeHope and our international office in Germany was founded.
2016
WeSeeHope USA was founded.
2017
We started piloting our Child Headed Households Programme in Malawi to address the acute social and economic challenges children living without a parent or guardian face.
2018
Our VIP exceeded its targets, with 749 groups formed since 2014, impacting over 17,000 members and 46,000 children.
2021
Together with our corporate partner, Qlik.org, we developed two cutting-edge data dashboards that are advancing how we monitor, evaluate and improve our programmes.
2022
Our founders, Phil and Wendy Wall, were both awarded an MBE in the Queen’s New Year Honours List for their services to our work with vulnerable children in Southern and Eastern Africa.
