STOP PRESS: Ben Nevis, car boots and helping sick street kids - all the latest news HERE!

Thousands of homeless children, many aged as little as three years, sleep on the streets or in the drains of Santa Cruz. They have to steal or beg for their food in order to survive.

My name is Annie Syrett and in late 2006 I spent nearly six months in Bolivia as part of my degree course, working with Alalay, a street children’s charity in Santa Cruz. I returned after graduation and continued working as a volunteer with the kids until May 2010.

Alalay has very little money, with much of the funding raised locally in Bolivia – the few staff are often unpaid for long periods and when times are particularly hard, medical aid has to be rationed for the kids.

Which is why I am determined to help them, and why I started this registered charity in the UK called “Friends of Alalay (Santa Cruz)”. It is unusual amongst charities in that ALL of the money raised goes directly to help the children and nothing is spent on administration.

Money raised will only be spent on projects that are formally agreed between the Bolivians and us.

Donations will be used to help the Santa Cruz Centre become more self-sufficient: by improving education and skills development; by growing more food in-house, maintaining some livestock and training children in animal husbandry; by training in building work; textiles and so on.

When I am in the UK I speak regularly at primary and secondary schools, churches and other groups of all ages about the plight of the street kids. Please do get in touch HERE if you'd like me to talk about the street kids at any event.

Personalised Alalay gift cards are available for any occasion throughout the year - a photographic-quality card which includes a picture of an ex-street child with a short statement about their personal history, along with your personal message, and says that the recipient of the card has helped care for a street child in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. For more information please click HERE.

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LATEST NEWS FROM ANNIE:

I returned from Bolivia in May where I had once again been working with the street kids and setting up my main projects for 2010.

This year's projects include:

1) Producing documentary films for publicity and awareness about the street children and their new lives at Alalay.

2) Renovating a cabin at Alalay's out-of-town centre (the 'aldea') so that small groups of UK school students and teachers can visit Bolivia and spend several days in joint activity with the ex-street kids, such as drama, dance, music, art, English, Spanish, helping in the new vegetable garden and so on.

3) Setting up a fully equipped medical room within this cabin for caring for sick children at the aldea.

4) Establishing a programme to teach English to street kids at Alalay in 2010 - English is vital for their future education and job prospects.

5) Introducing new bursaries to help older kids through their vocational and university training

6) Buying a herd of pigs for the street kids to care for and sell

It is so good to see so many people in the UK who are enthusiastic about providing help to less fortunate young people in Bolivia. The following are just a few up-to-date examples of their amazing help and a fuller list can be seen on the "News" page which can be found HERE

Work has just begun on the new ‘Casa de Bristol’ (Bristol House) cabin, which is going to be renovated to create a new volunteer’s cabin and medical centre for the kids.

A good friend Emma Byrne is currently climbing Ben Nevis to raise much needed funds for Alalay – please do support her hard work HERE

The Jones’ family have raised a lot of money selling items at a car boot sale – please do get in touch HERE if you have any more fundraising ideas. Remember every penny helps to give a street child a brighter future.

A few weeks ago I had a very warm welcome at St. Peter's Ladies Guild where I spoke at their meeting. The ladies were incredibly kind and generous - choosing to donate to my charity and even buy some early Christmas cards!

The church council at All Saints Church, Clifton very kindly supported my charity as one of those adopted for the Lent period. An appropriate display was mounted at the church and last Sunday I was invited to their service to collect a cheque from them. I was amazed at the incredibly generous amount that the congregation donated, and am enormously grateful for this very practical help.

Ben, Michaela and Jenna, students from the North Bristol Post-16 Centre at Cotham School have raised further funds for Alalay as part of their Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award, through a brilliant music night at a local centre - three local talented bands played, many people attended and there was even a raffle - an excellent idea for spreading the word about Friends of Alalay!

I was fortunate enough to have three fantastic runners in the Bristol 10km run a few weeks ago - all of them ran really well, completed the 10km and have managed to raise the incredible sum of over £1,500 for the street kids! Any last minute sponsorship for Juliet and Sophie HERE and Oliver HERE. Every penny goes to the kids!

Year 7 and 8 children from Howell's School, Llandaf managed to collect enormous quantities of gifts and useful school materials for the street kids. They also wrote beautiful illustrated letters to each street child - in perfect Spanish! I took it all out with me to Santa Cruz and the kids absolutely loved it all.

Children at Aldercar Community Language College, Nottinghamshire have raised lots of money to help the street kids, from a non-uniform day and from selling Christmas cards.

In January I spoke at the Bristol Branch of the English Speaking Union (ESU) who were extremely supportive and for the third year running have made a very generous donation towards my work with the kids.

Yvette and Aimee Chivers, James Beeson, Micky Webb and Rob de Roy are treking the Inca Trail, Peru this September - more information can be found HERE

Many thanks to them all, and to the many people who have kindly set up standing orders - it is very helpful to be able to rely on some regular giving - and for all of you who have kindly given so generously. Remember, everything goes to the kids!