Dave Cooke founded Teams4U in 2006 after experiencing the atrocities of the Beslan crisis in 2004 when over 300 people were killed in a school attack in Russia.
At Christmas 1990, stories of the dire Romanian orphanages under Ceaușescu‘s dictatorship hit the news. Dave Cooke was moved by these stories and mobilised a team to ask the residents of Wrexham to donate Christmas gifts and materials to give to these children. This triggered a huge outpouring of generosity..Read More
1995
1995
1995
Several years later Operation Christmas Child had become a global appeal. It was taken over by Samaritan’s Purse who had a large infrastructure with which to organise the appeal. Eventually, Dave left Samaritans Purse but continued to do humanitarian work.
2004
2004
2004
After the Beslan terrorist attack in 2004, Dave was asked to lead a team of volunteers to help survivors with the healing process. Dave saw the impact that teams of volunteers can make and went on to found Teams4U.
2006
2006
2006
Teams4U was officially founded in 2006. The first volunteer team held a sports camp in Liberia helping young people to make good choices regarding drugs and alcohol and teaching about HIV and AIDS. In 2006 Teams4U also began working with Ben Omoding in Uganda and with Dima Natchyna in Belarus,..Read More
2009
2009
2009
Teams4U completed a large project in the Crimea, building a paediatric health clinic.
2010
2010
2010
2010 Teams4U started working with Mardy Mean in Cambodia who went on to set up the Happy Hearts school.
2012
2012
2012
Teams4U starts its shoebox campaign. Teams4U also starts working with Helga Sellu in Sierra Leone, and starts rolling out HIV testing in Uganda.
2015
2015
2015
The Develop with Dignity programme started in Uganda.
2020
2020
2020
Teams4U was given a substantial covid-19 recovery grant by the Welsh government for its work in Uganda.
2022
2022
2022
Teams4U launches a large humanitarian response to the war in Ukraine, sending over 100 tons of humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
2023
2023
2023
Today, Teams4U is committed to working with partners to develop sustainable solutions to issues and giving ordinary people the opportunity to participate in humanitarian work.
“Teams4U is all about drawing alongside children, showing them someone cares about them and believes in them. We want to be dream-makers, the kind of people that challenge these often forgotten-about kids and ask them what they want to be, what do they want to do? We are about helping remove the obstacles that can prevent these kids from achieving their hopes and plans (such as our education programmes in Romania and Develop with Dignity programme in Uganda) but we want to go deeper than that. We want to help these kids believe in themselves; sow that one seed that says they can achieve what they want to achieve.”
“Teams4U is all about drawing alongside children, showing them someone cares about them and believes in them. We want to be dream-makers, the kind of people that challenge these often forgotten-about kids and ask them what they want to be, what do they want to do? We are about helping remove the obstacles that can prevent these kids from achieving their hopes and plans (such as our education programmes in Romania and Develop with Dignity programme in Uganda) but we want to go deeper than that. We want to help these kids believe in themselves; sow that one seed that says they can achieve what they want to achieve.”