Welcome to this afternoon's webchat. We are joined in the studio today by Sharon Gould & George Anang'a.

Let's start with our first question, which is from Sally who wants to know:

What is the history of the UN International Day of Families? What is your involvement in the event?

Sharon said:

The United Nations tends to select specific days to draw attention to specific issues and people in different parts of the world, for example June 16 is Day of the African Child and May 15 was selected to be the day of the family, which gives organisations like Plan the opportunity to focus attention on the family life in many different parts of the World.

Jenny wants to know:

George and Sharon, why did you get involved with Plan UK?

George said:

I have worked for Plan for the last two years and I've known about Plan for the last twenty years of my life. What impresses me about Plan is that it focuses on children in their communities and supports the opportunities to reach their full potential.

Jenny wants to know:

George and Sharon, why did you get involved with Plan UK

Sharon said:

I used to be a television Producer and decided that it was time for a change. I did quite a lot of research and came across Plan and was very impressed by the work that they do worldwide and felt that some of the things that I did in my previous job I could transfer to help make a difference to children's lives.

Sharon said:

For example helping to raise the profile of the organisation through newspaper pieces and video and I went to Banda Aceh after the Tsunami to let people in the organisation and the wider world know what the needs were and help to fundraise.

Harry wants to know:

How many children have you been able to help so far? Do you have annual targets that you work towards?

George said:

Plan worldwide currently supports over 1 million sponsored children and because of the nature of our work we support a whole community, this translates to well over 5 million children worldwide at any given time....

Harry wants to know:

How many children have you been able to help so far? Do you have annual targets that you work towards?

Sharon said:

Plan was founded in 1937 so over the years that's an awful lot of communities and children whose lives have been improved.

Tom wants to know:

How much does it cost to sponsor a child and what information will I receive in return?

Sharon said:

Sponsorship starts at £12 a month and it is a regular commitment and for that you will get regular communications through our world family magazine and letters from the child you sponsor, as well as regular updates from the community and the country involved.

Katy wants to know:

What are some of the results you've achieved as a result of child sponsorship? Do you have any success stories?

Sharon said:

I visited Togo two weeks ago and was in Kenya one week ago. I had a chance to meet some of the children supported by Plan, most of them had finished their education and are looking forward to building a better life as a result of Plan support. I've met Gordon, who is finishing his high school this year and is planning to be a computer engineer. He has been supported by Plan for five years. Gordon told me that he would not be able to dream so high if he did not get this sponsorship through Plan. Gordon's story is reflected amongst millions of children in Africa and probably Asia and Latin America.

Maria wants to know:

Meeting children infected with AIDS must be very upsetting. How do you cope? What drives you to carry on with your work?

George said:

Children affected by Aids are a very sad sight indeed, but what I find about them that is inspiring is their resilience and attitude to life. I visited Uganda a few years back and I met nine year olds heading families. If we support these children then there is definitely a future for all of us. I always cope believing in this....

Sharon said:

Many of the children affected by Aids are in fact doing an awful lot to help themselves and each other and often making the adults in their communities face up to what is happening.

Hilary wants to know:

Do you encourage people to get involved with Plan UK projects abroad? Such as helping to teach in schools etc.

Sharon said:

We do encourage people to volunteer, but in the UK. We very rarely send volunteers abroad and on the occasion we do it's for a very specialised piece of work. However, you can help by fundraising and also we do have lots of volunteers in our UK office and we couldn't exist without them.

Peter wants to know:

I know you are appealing for individuals to come forward and sponsor a child but what can businesses do to help? Do you have any corporate sponsorship initiatives?

Sharon said:

We do encourage businesses to help fund projects and also to help recruit sponsors. We have a corporate manager and if you are interested please phone the office on 020 7482 9777 and have a look on the website www.plan-uk.org where there will be some information about the sorts of things companies have done.

Janice wants to know:

Which area of Africa is worst hit by the AIDS pandemic?

George said:

The areas worst hit are East and Southern Africa. Currently we have high infection rate in Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa, though Plan don't work in the last two countries. Uganda managed to reduce the infection rate through concerted awareness campaigns over the years. Many countries in East and Southern Africa are now more open about HIV Aids than they were a couple of years back. Hopefully, this will make their situation better than it has been.

India wants to know:

Celebrity faces always help draw attention to particular causes. Have you worked with any famous faces in your campaigns?

Sharon said:

We do have celebrity supporters and in fact recently Kylie Minogue has been involved in a Plan project in Sri Lanka. Also Shobna Gulati, Kim Metcalfe and Kevin Whately are all great supporters of Plan. Shobna sponsors a child in India and also visited post the Tsunami last year. All three of them certainly help to interest other people in what we do. You can find out more about this on the website www.plan-uk.org

Martin wants to know:

Does Plan UK hold any events in the UK to highlight their work?

George said:

Plan UK has sponsor events. June 1st we will hold one in Manchester, where the sponsors will be able to meet the Plan staff and ask questions about the work that we do in the field. We tend to have these events every 5 months in different areas in the UK. We also bring over young people from the countries where we work, to share with their counterparts in the UK about the issues that they are involved in. Last year during the G8 summit there were young representatives from Kenya and Malawi who presented a report to the spouses of the G8 leaders about issues that are important to young people in the developing world.

Tracey wants to know:

I'm a teacher at a primary school and would be interested in finding out more about Plan. Do you do school tours or anything similar?

George said:

Schools can sponsor a child and they can also get involved in fundraising. More information can be got from our website www.plan-uk.org We also have speakers who visit schools. We also develop materials for lessons about global issues. You can get in touch with George, Education Adviser at 020 7482 9777.

Frank wants to know:

How do you decide which areas to work in? Do you do it on an annual basis or is your plan even longer than that?

Sharon said:

We make a decision on whether we need to expand our work by looking at the UN indicators for poverty. We try to be in the places where the need is greatest. We have started to work in Mozambique and there are plans to perhaps go in Liberia and Rwanda. It does take quite a lot of planning.

Kerry wants to know:

I'm 14 and would like to raise money to help sponsor a child. Do you have any ideas for fundraising that I could do with my friends?

Sharon said:

It would be great if you could do that and in fact we have a community fundraising department who have lots of ideas, so ring Kevin on 020 7482 9777 and he should be able to send you a fundraising pack.

Pippa wants to know:

I'd like to get involved in the work you do. I'm 21 and about to finish my uni degree in sociology. I have been considering working in a charity but don't know what roles are available or where to start. Can you please advise me?

Sharon said:

There are organisations on the internet which can help with charity jobs www.charityjobs.org.uk Also if you're interested in perhaps volunteering you can contact our human resources department on 020 7482 9777, because volunteering is a really good way of knowing what working with a charity involves and we are always keen to have volunteers in lots of different departments.

Sharon said:

Thank you everybody for their interest in Plan and do get in touch if we can give you any further information. Sponsoring a child is a really worthwhile thing to do as it helps build relationships across the world.

George said:

Thank you everybody for taking part and for wonderful questions. Working with children through sponsorship helps us to learn about our shared world and how we depend on each other. It is a helpful gesture and a learning process for both sides