Allavida was established in August 2001 as a merger of Charity Know How (CKH) and Alliance magazine, both of which were formerly part of the Charities Aid Foundation. In the period 1990-2001, CKH made almost 1,000 grants towards increasing the skills, knowledge and experience of NGOs and community organisations throughout Central and Eastern Europe and the Newly Independent States. CKH also introduced longer-term training and development programmes which have become the foundation of some of Allavida’s work today.

In 2003, in response to Allavida’s expanding work in East Africa, a regional coordination office was opened in Nairobi. From 2007, the Nairobi office became the administrative hub of Allavida’s network.

In December 2006, Allavida helped create and launch the Alliance Publishing Trust as a new independent charity to house and publish Alliance magazine.

At the end of 2008, Allavida in UK will close and hand over all assets to the Board of Allavida (Kenya) which is established as a company limited by guarantee with a non-profit status. The Kenya-based staff members of Allavida (UK), who currently work in Allavida’s branch office in Nairobi, will become the founding staff of Allavida (Kenya).

Why is Allavida closing in UK?

Allavida set out in 2001 to take on the legacy of Charity Know How and its work on strengthening civil society in Eastern Europe. Allavida also took on from CAF the publication of Alliance magazine.

Having expanded geographically from 2004 to include East Africa, the mirror image was for Allavida to gradually transfer management of programmes to partners in Eastern Europe. Allavida’s focus evolved too: from training and grant making for capacity building, to building the field for effective philanthropy, social investment and social enterprise.

In 2006, Allavida’s Board adopted a new vision and plan that saw Allavida becoming a ‘virtual’ institution, with limited presence in UK, and an operational centre in Nairobi. Partner organisations in other regions would be linked and their work and community partners profiled via Allavida to the philanthropy and social investment world in a process that we called social brokerage.

As part of that new vision, Allavida decided that it was time to create an independent trust to house and publish Alliance magazine, and in December 2006, Alliance Publishing Trust (www.alliancemagazine.org) was launched.

To continue with the Allavida transition process, at a board meeting on 23 May in London, Allavida’s board took the decision to transfer leadership of Allavida from UK to Kenya, believing that having consolidated work in East Africa, Allavida’s vision will be better driven by a truly African organisation. The Board sees this as a genuine transfer of power and resources, but at the same time wishes to ensure that over the following 18 months, Allavida UK would do everything possible to assist the new institution establish itself not only in Kenya but as a key intermediary in the growing field of international social investment and philanthropy.

To effect this transition, the Allavida Board instigated a consultation process in Kenya and the UK that led to the Board inviting a group of leading civil society, financial sector and other professionals to consider forming a new charitable organization in Kenya, ultimately to become Allavida.

Once that such group had been identified, Allavida and the ‘shadow’ Board in Kenya proceeded with consultation and registration in the hope of registering Allavida in Kenya by end March 2008 at the latest.

Given that Andrew Kingman, Allavida’s current CEO, had decided to leave Kenya at the end of December to take up new challenges in Mozambique, Allavida’s UK Board and the Board of the proposed Allavida (Kenya) together led the recruitment of a new CEO. Allavida’s current board agreed that Andrew Kingman will continue to provide support as Executive Secretary to Allavida UK throughout 2008, and will be available to support both the new CEO and Board in Kenya.

Allavida in UK will continue through to the end of its 2008-2009 financial year, with the Board, volunteers and contracted agents working closely with Allavida in Kenya to help the new board and management take on the vision and network that has evolved in recent years.