About Us


Club Union de los Pibes has moved!


Please see new details and information at our ** new website ** 



Thanks for your support!

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Club Union de los Pibes is a small, voluntary organisation in Buenos Aires. We offer lessons (art, English for kids and adults, drama, cooking and many others), help out with homework and generally aim to provide a safe and stable environment for a few hours a week to children who know very little stability in their daily lives.

We always welcome new volunteers to help out, teach, lead an activity, play and be there for the kids. No language or teaching experience necessary!


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OUR AIMS

Club Union de los Pibes is a non-profit project that aims to provide children and adults in the southern neighbourhoods of Buenos Aires with a place to come together and strengthen their community. The main objectives of our project are to teach the children the importance of community, to provide them with educational support and to help instil in them the values and self-confidence that will encourage them to make positive choices about their futures. 

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OUR HISTORY

On March 3rd 2008 a club was created to meet the needs of those working families, living in the southern areas of Buenos Aires, who were worried about their children being on the streets while they worked and who could not afford to pay for childcare or other activities outside of school hours. The Club was started by a group of volunteers from various countries who wanted to help the community. They came together to work with the children of La Boca, to give them the opportunity to learn English, to help them with their schoolwork and to offer other activities that the children would not otherwise be able to enjoy. Above all they wanted to provide them with a safe, supportive place to learn and play. 


In 2009 the Club was in danger of closing but Rossi, who had been working at the club as a director, knew that the kids didn’t want to lose their Club. She found the public library in Barracas (where we did not have to pay rent) and she continued her work unpaid so that, with a little fundraising, the Club could continue. Rossi asked the kids to name their Club to mark this new beginning and they chose the name El Club Unión de los Pibes (The Kids' Union)!! 

In 2010 Club Unión de los Pibes met two or three times each week and hosted various trips for the kids to enjoy. In October 2010, Club Unión de los Pibes became recognised by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs in the UK as a charitable company.


2011 was a difficult year for the Club. Unfortunately we were unable to renew our agreement to hold the Club in the rooms of the public library so we started looking for a new home. We had an amazing response from volunteers past and present (and their friends and families!) and we raised enough money to put down the initial deposit to rent a space of our own. Despite our best efforts, we were not able to find a suitable space but we hope that this will be easier once we have worked through the process of registering of the Club as a charity in Argentina. Without a home, it was hard to arrange regular meetings but our volunteers still met and arranged activities with the kids in public places/parks and outings such as to the Natural Sciences Museum.


In 2012, we have decided to meet regularly on Fridays at 17hrs00. The venue may change week to week but the day and the time will remain the same. We are exploring the idea of holding the the club sessions in the conventillos in which the children live.


Our aims are to formally register the club as a charity in Argentina and to raise enough funds to move to a building of our own where we can be open all week and grow to be more of a community centre than just an after school club. It may take some time but your help and support along the way to achieving this goal will be greatly appreciated. 


El Club Unión de los Pibes has created a global network of volunteers, for the most part foreign to Argentina, who arrive in Buenos Aires wanting to do something to help the local community. We thank them for their support, as without them the Club would not be possible.