About the charity
Help Beyond Tears was established in December 2022 by members of the South Sudanese community in Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire. Its founders knew first-hand what it means to lose loved ones to poverty and to childbirth that goes wrong far from any hospital — and they resolved to do something practical about both.
The charity is small, entirely volunteer-run, and works in two places at once: at home in the UK, and in the Republic of South Sudan, the world's youngest country and one of its poorest.
What we do
Everything the charity does falls under one of two objects set out in its constitution:
The prevention or relief of poverty in the UK and overseas — providing grants, items and services to individuals in need, and to charities and other organisations working to prevent or relieve poverty.
Preserving and protecting the health of women who are at risk of bleeding during birth in the Republic of South Sudan — by providing, and assisting in providing, facilities, services, equipment and training.
Why mothers
South Sudan has one of the highest rates of maternal death in the world. Many women give birth far from the nearest clinic, attended by relatives rather than trained midwives, with no equipment to stop a haemorrhage — and bleeding after childbirth is one of the leading causes of these deaths.
Most of these deaths are preventable. Basic equipment, simple supplies and trained hands at the right moment are often the whole difference between a tragedy and a mother going home with her child.
That is why the charity's second purpose is so specific: not healthcare in general, but the moment of birth itself — the facilities, services, equipment and training that keep mothers alive through it.
Governance
Help Beyond Tears is a charitable incorporated organisation (CIO), constituted on the association model and registered in December 2022. It is run by three unpaid trustees drawn from the South Sudanese community, supported by volunteers. It has no paid staff and no premises of its own.
Being small is deliberate: overheads stay close to zero, so that whatever the charity receives can go where it was intended — to people in poverty, and to mothers in South Sudan.
Contact
Enquiries about the charity's work, offers of partnership, and requests for assistance may be directed to the Trustees:
Help Beyond Tears
Email: help@helpbeyondtears.org,
ayay@helpbeyondtears.org
Landline: 01283 561153
Mobile: 07747 326327
Requests for help are treated in confidence. The charity considers every approach it receives, wherever it comes from.