Our History
2000
Founded
Act4Africa was founded by husband and wife team Martin and Kathy Smedley, to try to stem the wave of HIV/ AIDS infection ravaging Uganda at the time. The first Act4Africa team of health education community youth leaders worked in Jinja, using the Theatre for Development approach to communicate Act4Africa’s messages to the rural communities it served. The team took a series of TfD programmes into communities and schools, educating and informing about HIV/ AIDS and the stigma surrounding it.
2006
HIV testing & counselling
Act4Africa started providing mobile HIV testing and counselling services.
2010
Tackling gender inequality
In 2010 we began to address a cornerstone of the HIV/ AIDS epidemic: gender inequality.
2014
Kathy Smedley
Sadly, in August 2014, our co-founder Kathy Smedley passed away. But her legacy and inspiration continue to stay at the heart of everything we do.
2017
Kathy's Centre
We constructed Kathy’s Centre in Kathy’s name, a multi-functional community health and education centre in the Mayuge district, Uganda. Today this centre continues to be the heart of all of our work.
2020
Supporting Uganda
In 2020 we began to focus on empowering and training our Ugandan team. We hired a communications officer to help bridge the link between UK and Uganda to help us with our communications - a key moment in our history as we continue to train and employ beneficiaries wherever possible. In 2021 a new borehole and hand pump were installed in Buwolya village, Mayuge, Uganda, brining clean water to the entire village.
2023
Post Covid
Post covid we began a new approach, to seek support from UK voluntary communities and to recruit a new cohort of UK lead volunteers and interns. Our UK fundraising and finance team begins annual visits to our Uganda team to strengthen the bond between UK an Uganda.
2025
Strategic Growth
We continue to build upon our history as a charity, but our approach begins to look more strategically to the future. Our website is relaunched and while our H.E.A.L approach remains unchanged, we decide to streamline our programmes and focus all efforts on She Leads, our Kindergarten, and Grains for Growth.