Rose's house

Rose’s House was the first of our foster houses, purchased in 2005, with the support of the Cheridan Raithby Charitable Trust, and the Rose Jeffries Memorial Fund.

The start of foster homes at Open Arms

Before our foster houses existed, Open Arms had to find a home for children who had no family to return to. An orphanage took the children in, but when they had no more capacity it was clear that we needed our own solution which would keep children within families. We learned of a successful model in Soweto (South Africa) where children lived in family homes within a regular community. This has given children who need a home the chance to grow up within a family, with a Malawian culture, and have access to education. 

Aubrey, Wilson, Norman, Blessings and Moses live in Rose’s House.  Their House Mother is Hilda, whose husband and children are part of the Rose’s House family.  Attending a good school has been a part of the boys’ lives since they moved in, and they receive tuition to help them achieve their best.  An IT Classroom was built at Rose’s House, where all the children from the Foster Houses come for weekly lessons.

Lancing College has had links with Malawi since 1982. Every other year a group of Lancing pupils spend five weeks in Malawi, where they get stuck in helping with construction work in schools and hospitals, as well as getting directly involved with the work done by local charities. 

When the Rose’s House boys became teenagers they started to join in with the Lancing College expedition, climbing Mount Mulanje together, experiencing the wonders of Liwonde National Park and making lasting memories with new friends.