Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Got tools to donate?

If you have unwanted tools gathering dust in a garage or shed, we’d love to hear from you. We accept the full range of tools on the  wanted list — hand tools, power tools, gardening equipment, sewing machines, and more — in any condition that’s still usable.

Getting your tools to us is straightforward. Call us to arrange a local collection, or drop them off at our hub by appointment. We’re based in Devon and serve donors across the area.

To arrange a collection or drop-off, call  or email the Amigos main office.

All tools are inspected, cleaned, and refurbished by our volunteers before being packed and shipped to Uganda — where they’ll help trainees and community members build trades, start businesses, and earn a living.

Gardening / agricultural Forks, spades, hoes, rakes, hand forks and trowels, loppers, secateurs, shears, cultivators, sickles, shovels, axes, bow saws, trimmers and strimmers, ladders/step-ladders, wheelbarrows, pressure washers, lawnmowers (all types)

Builders’ tools Spirit levels, sledgehammers, bolsters, cold chisels, all types of hammers and trowels, pin and lines, tape measures

Carpenters’ tools Sliding bevels, braces, clamps, hand drills and bits, rasps, all types of hammers, all types of planes and saws, rules, screwdrivers, carpenter’s squares, vices, oil stones, screws, nails, bolts, Workmate benches (good condition)

Electricians’ tools Hand drills and bits, all types of electrical pliers and hacksaws, electrical screwdrivers, soldering irons, volt meters and multimeters, wire strippers, utility knives and blades, plastic toolboxes

Mechanics’ tools Allen keys, files, vices, feeler gauges, wheel wrenches, all types of hammers and pliers, drifts, metric socket sets, spanners, adjustable spanners, cantilever toolboxes, hacksaws and blades, oil cans

Plumbers’ tools Basin or tap wrenches, Stilson wrenches, wire brushes, breast drills and bits, various grips, holesaws

Power tools Hand and bench drills, sanders, planers, jigsaws, circular saws, bandsaws, chop saws, lathes, rotavators, welding machines, generators, bench and angle grinders, routers

Garage workshop Hydraulic jacks, axle stands, battery chargers, large engineering vices, crowbars

Sewing machines Manual, electric, treadle, industrial, overlockers, accessories, patterns, instructions

Knitting machines Manual and electric, knitting wool, needles, accessories, patterns, instructions

Haberdashery Needles, cottons, all kinds of fabric/material, buttons, zips, tapes, spinning wheels, embroidery equipment

IT equipment Fully working desktops/laptops (minimum Windows 7), computer cables

Other Bibles (any version); bikes in good condition (for resale); small musical instruments in full working order (for resale)

We do not supply the stake for the plaque. Postage of this would be too expensive. We recommend some treated baton or a tree stake that should last several years, these will be availiable at most DIY stores. The plaque could also be mounted on a shed, on a fence or the side of the house for people to see.

The garden plaque is has a laser engraved logo on chestnut wood that has been treated with an outdoor stain. Chestnut is a hard wood chosen to withstand the weather. After a while you will need to treat your plaque with a wood preservative or varnish to keep it in good condition. The frequency of treatment will depend on the plaques location and how much strong sunshine it receives.

Twin your garden with a garden in Uganda ands receive:

• A sustainable wooden plaque to display in your garden
• A certificate with a picture of your garden twin and its location (you can personalise the certificate making it a great gift option)
• A packet of seeds

This will be sent as a gift parcel to the person you give us details of in an Amigos totes bag if you choose this as a gift.

Your donation will fund training in sustainable farming methods for families in rural Uganda so they can increase crop yields, enjoy a surplus to sell and start small businesses. This will help households cope with climate changes, feed their children properly and send them to school.

£60 provides three years of sustainable farming training and support for one family. £120 provides the same for two families.

Garden twinning makes a great gift. If you wanted to twin the garden for a friend or relative please put their name and address in when you start the donation and select yes in the box that says ‘is this a gift’. We will then send the garden plaque and welcome pack with certificate directly to them.

Yes. We run trips to Uganda and we can arrange for you as part of a group, family or individual to visit the community and also take in more of Uganda including a Safari. See our ‘visit Uganda’ page for more details.

Amigos will provide 4 updates each year from the community so that you can see how they are getting on. These will be emailed to you and might have photos, videos, interviews and more, to help the community come alive to you.

If you wanted to write to your community we will make sure that a letter or email gets to them. Letters and emails will be a great source of encouragement and show the communities that people are praying and care for them. Amigos staff will deliver messages on their next trip. It is easiest to send an email to communityprayer@amigos.org.uk making it clear in the subject line which community you are emailing. We can then forward the email to staff in Uganda for them to print and take with them. You can attach a photo to the email if you wanted to, this will be well received.

You can also post something to our office in the UK. Amigos Worldwide, 3 Boutport Street, Barnstaple, Devon. EX31 1RH. We will take the letter to Uganda the next time someone is travelling. This is a slower method but it will get there eventually!

Yes—on the form you can choose which community you want to pray for, each with a different area of need as a focus, including:

• Youth
• Orphans and widows
• Women and mothers

We have selected these groups as they are among the most vulnerable in Uganda.  In each community we will work with a farming group which is made up of a cross section of the community of around 40 people and their families.

Amigos works through rural churches to deliver conservation farming training known as Farming God’s Way, helping communities grow more food and build sustainable livelihoods. Amigos also work with the community to improve sanitation standards, train in business skills and help change mindsets that have been impacted by generations of war, poverty and disease.

Spending the first year listening to the community and deepening our relationship with the church, we support them in what they want to do so that people gain skills for a hope-filled future. Our experience has shown that clean water, conservation farming, conflict resolution, growth mindset and business training are what communities identify as foundational issues.

Amigos have been running school trips since 2009 without a significant incident. From the moment of collection at the airport in Entebbe we ensure the group safety is the priority. Uganda has been a safe and stable country for many years now. The groups stay on Kira Farm which is on a secure compound with security guards 24/7. Outside of Kira we travel with  a fully vetted transport company who operate safe vehicles with vetted drivers. Any accommodation is in a secure compound and has been used many times before.  Amigos have been signed off by an external verifier against BS 8848 – the standards that show safe trips are being run. All our policies, risk assessments and other documentation can be found on our website to demonstrate our comprehensive approach to safety.

Please just send us an email to info@amigos.org.uk or give us a call on 01271 377664. We can discuss the different options with you and give you an idea of costs based on what type of trip you want, and how long for. We design our trips to suit you.

We understand that sponsors’ situations change, and there may be a number of reasons why you have to end your sponsorship. Please get in touch with us and we’ll be happy to help.

Please contact us personally, as well as cancelling your Standing Order with your bank. We will, however, need to find another sponsor for your child/family as soon as we can, so please let us know if you decide to end your support.

Amigos Worldwide does everything possible to protect sponsors and children. We investigate any concerns you may have around social media.

If you have been contacted by your sponsored child, please let us know as soon as possible as our child sponsorship team in Uganda can investigate.

We have a duty of care to protect our sponsors and sponsored children, which is why we manage all correspondence on your behalf. Please don’t respond to the message – simply continue communicating with your sponsored child through the normal letter writing process.

We want to do all we can to protect our sponsors and our children, which is why we manage all correspondence on your behalf and will investigate any concerns you have about social media.

As a child sponsor, you’ll have a unique connection with a child and their family. But to ensure that your donation is spent as effectively as possible, child sponsorship funds are split between helping your sponsored child go to school, and the caregiver gaining skills to improve their income. We will train the caregiver in a number of stills including conservation farming, business, health and hygiene to name but a few. We also aim to leave a community with clean water, and a mentoring programme for school children.

If you would like to send a cheque to Amigos, please make it payable to Amigos Worldwide, write your child’s name on the back and send it to:

Amigos Worldwide
3 Boutport Street
Mermaid Walk
Barnstaple
Devon
EX31 1RH

Gift Aid is a great government scheme that allows charities to reclaim tax on donations made by UK taxpayers, which means your donations will be worth 25% more to Amigos at no extra cost to you. If you Gift Aid your donations we can claim back from the government 25p for every £1 you donate, boosting the value of the donation by a quarter.

Sponsorship costs a minimum of £20 a month. 91% of this money is spent directly in Uganda. The remaining 9% is spend on UK costs i.e postage, printing, IT and office supplies. Your ‘giftaid’ is used to help with running costs.

This can happen, but it’s rare. Sometimes, for example, a caregiver dies, leaving another family member to look after the child. This means the child may move to a different district that Amigos doesn’t operate in, but we will still do our best to support the child as much as possible. Our hope is that a child/family is sponsored for the duration of the programme (around three years), but rest assured we will contact you as soon as we receive news of a change in circumstances.