support sri lanka foundation srilanka srilankafoundation challenge anneka

Please help us in any way you can to provide help to poor families, orphans and sick animals in Sri Lanka who have lost so much by giving them back their livelihoods

Support Sri Lanka Foundation

REGISTERED CHARITY No 1111896

Visit Sri Lanka this year to help the people directly re-establish their livelihoods. Tourism means jobs for so many families.  Thank you for all your support.

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Welcome to our website.

2011 brings another year and still our work continues.

New Project

June 2011

Galle Montesorri Restoration Project (Raise the Roof!)

Sarah Coad a local student is planning to do a tandem parachute jump to raise money to help rebuild the roof on a Montessori called Little Friends in Galle and is looking for sponsors.  The roof was damaged in the tsunami in 2004 and there are no funds available to repair it.  So the children can only use half the building whilst the other half is open to the elements.  Not only is this a dangerous environment for the children it is also damaging their limited equipment.  Sarah visited Sri Lanka last year and helped in an orphanage to return again this February where she discovered this building and the children in need of help. 

Anybody wishing to donate should contact Nicki on 01926 883553 or give a donation via your mobile phone using Just Text Giving quoting SSLF05 then the amount in pounds to 70070.

Sarah and her friend Charlotte with some of the children

Roof of the Little Friends Montesorri, Galle, in need of repair

Project update - Clinic Open

May 2011

Construction has been completed at the Weragampita Family Clinic with the finished building opening on May 13th.

This is the second family clinic we have been involved with. The building was built by funds raised in Dubai by the Dubai Round Table, St. Georges Society and others whilst the medical equipment including waiting room chairs, doctors tables and chairs, scales, examination table and lamp, equipment trolley, sterilization equipment and other items where provided by a very generous donor Sue Richards in memory of her husband Tony who passed away last year with cancer.  535 mosquito nets where also handed out to every new born/young child and these were financed by us with donations received from local people here in Whitnash and Leamington Spa.  The official opening of the Weragampita Clinic took place on May 13th and was opened by Alan Rooke from Dubai.  Unfortunately we were unable to attend.  The clinic replaced an open sided tin roof structure and will serve five surrounding villages inhabited by very poor families.  We are delighted to be able to work together with other charities in this way and look forward to being involved with another new clinic in the following months. The clinic will be financed now by the government and staff are already providing a valuable service.

Please see PowerPoint presentation here of the opening ceremony and many pictures of the interior. Also pictures of the previous clinic we worked together on and the Nursery we funded the play equipment for.

Click Here to download and view the presentation.

Project update

March 2011

Construction is moving on a pace at Weragampita Family Clinic with completion and opening on schedule in May.

Project update

February 2011

Significant progress has been made in the last month at Weragampita Family Clinic despite the heavy rain in Sri Lanka.

Project update

January 2011

Foundations have now been laid for the Weragampita Family Clinic. The project is moving on very quickly.

SUMMER 2010

We have been busy again going to shows fund raising.  With terrible world disasters happening we are finding it hard to raise funds as people are donating to other disasters. We would like to thank everyone who has supported us and our prayers are sent to people suffering throughout the world, particularly Pakistan at this time.

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Our current projects in Sri Lanka are going well and below are some photos we have just received of school children receiving milk and a healthy daily meal.  Other children are receiving trauma counselling.

I received a phone call the other day from a Sri Lankan lady called Nelum living in Scotland who had set up a charity called My Wish Foundation to help terminally ill children in Sri Lanka and was looking for our help.  She told me about a little girl called Tharuni whose wish was to visit a zoo, her wish was granted and she had a lovely day at the zoo.  Eleven days later she sadly died of cancer.  I was very touched by this story and passion to help terminally ill children and to give their families respite care which just is not available in Sri Lanka.  She was also looking for funds to help feed the families who attend the cancer ward at the hospital in Colombo.  Anyone wishing to give to help this charity can do so by requesting this with their donation.

Tharuni enjoying the elephants at the zoo.  She sadly died of cancer 11 days later.  With your help we can give a wish to other terminally ill children.

We also need funds to help with the neutering and spaying of homeless cats and dogs along with the usual veterinary care they need.  Again if you would like your donation to help the homeless cats and dogs please mention this when sending in your donation.  We also help sick elephants and other animals too.

We have to say a huge thank you to a lady named Anne who has donated £300 to finish off the house we have built for the Hemachandra family.  Unfortunately building materials have increased in price so we were not able to finish the kitchen area so now in the new year they will be able to finish off this project.  The family are extremely grateful to everyone who has helped them and are very excited at the prospect of cooking in their new kitchen and not having to use the old one in their temporary built shed which was their home for two years after the tsunami..  Thank you so much, I love this family and wish you could all meet them too, you would also fall in love with the three very handsome young lads growing fast into young men.  As soon as we get photos we will share them with you.

I have a say a huge thank you to everyone who has supported us during 2009 and hope you will continue to help us in the coming year.  There are so many ways you can raise funds for us and below I have listed just some of them:

Have and out of uniform day at school, do a charity car wash, have a coffee morning or cheese and wine evening.  Organise a raffle, or hold a car boot sale, do a jumble sale or a bring and buy sale.  Run a marathon if you are really fit! 

If you are local to us, we would be happy to bring along our promotional exhibition boards, souvenirs and flyers.  We can also provide a talk about our work we charge £30.00 for a 1/2 hour presentation which goes to our work in Sri Lanka.  We also bring along a quality tombola.

We are asked for help all the time and are especially asking for help to help the terminally ill children and their families, to enable us to continue our help with the under privileged children in Tangalle, an infant school needing a toilet block and many more.

P.S.  Looking to buy  presents on line?  Please visit our online web shop.  Every purchase you make means a donation to us which means every purchase counts!  Thanks for that.  Remember the items are the same price if not cheaper than in the shops.

P.P.S.  Looking for somewhere to go in 2010 for your annual holiday?  Please think about visiting Sri Lanka - you will not be disappointed.  Go and get some brochures from the travel agent to tempt you!  You can also visit our web pages for more info on the beautiful country.

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Another humanitarian trip - 26th July - 9th August 2009

Jonathan and I have been back now four days.  We hadn't seen the island of Sri Lanka for three years (although we are always kept informed and are constantly in touch with friends and projects there), what a difference!  I usually come back from Sri Lanka feeling upset and inadequate because so much was needed over there but this time I return feeling elated and for the first time I feel at peace!  Of course there will always be the need for outside assistance but wow how this country has come on since the tsunami.

Sri Lanka's beautiful beaches

The first thing that struck us was that life has got back to 'normal'.  Whilst no amount of rebuilding or money can possibly put right or give normality back to these tsunami affected people they have been strong and resilient.  The coastal towns are hustling with people going about their day, many have got jobs and are up in the darkness of the early hours to catch the bus, cycle or walk to work.  The ghostly images of the devastated houses which had been left eerily damaged by the powerful wave  have been repaired - somewhat crudely but the owners wanted to go back and now many have two homes - the original one and a new one provided inland.  The government had prohibited the rebuilding of homes within 100 metres of the sea but people have ignored this and rebuilt!

Images taken near Galle.  The men sitting on the poles are fishing!

The end of the unrest is also very encouraging news and everyone is talking about it.  Sri Lanka is probably the safest now than it has been  for decades.  The check points are frequent, there are troops at almost every road junction actively stopping vehicles and asking for ID. The people are happy to co-operate and it is only a short amount of time now before the remainder of the terrorists have been flushed out of hiding.  We must not forget the suffering which is still going on in the north of the country with thousands of men, women and children displaced and confined to IDP camps (internally displaced people) but the government appear to be working hard to release these people and money is being provided to help rebuild their homes.  It was also encouraging to hear that the North of the island will now concentrate on growing more of the islands rice production.  This will mean employment and an income for these people. We pray for continued peace and for these people to stay strong.

Nicki at the tsunami memorial and a new one built by the Japanese

I have to say thank you to so many people who gave up their time  to take us to visit our projects we have funded for the past four years.  To our dear friend Manel from Wecare Sri Lanka who works tirelessly to help the needy, particularly children.  At an age when she should be enjoying retirement (I know she wont mind me saying that!) she is not only working many hours, she travels from Colombo down to the south of the island regularly which takes a good 5 hours and trust me the roads are not like ours!  One of the good things which has made a difference since the tsunami is the main coastal road from Colombo down to the south - a modern tarmacadem road which makes the journey not so torturous!  Manel also spends a lot of her own money which she should be saving for her pension on projects which need financial backing when she has been unable to raise sufficient funds for. She is passionate about her countrymen and appreciates she comes from a humble background but life has been somewhat kinder to her. 

Our team in Sri Lanka

Thank you to Gamini our friend who acts as our driver, interpreter and cameraman!  Gamini who is still struggling to make ends meet - he is a tour guide based in Hikkaduwa but will travel anywhere.  He still says tourism is slow in his area.  We try and send tourists to him whenever possible.  Thank you to the two families who gave him some work just as we left - you know who you are as hopefully you will be reading this!  On this trip Gamini also became chief dog feeder!  Another thing he can add to his list of jobs!!  We gave him bags of dog food and he spent one morning going around the poor villages near Hikkaduwa giving the homeless dogs a welcome meal.  See more about Gamini on  the Visit Sri Lanka section.

Gamini and his very pretty family

Thank you to Champa at KACPAW dogs home for the fantastic work she is doing.  She presently has 80 dogs in her immaculate kennels but is finding things hard now-a-days.  My heart goes out to her, she has been working extremely hard with other charities from UK and Netherlands and arranging neutering programmes throughout Sri Lanka.  A lady very close to my heart she needs a medal for quietly soldering on for the sake of the dog.  We left a large donation with her which will be used to neutering approximately 100 homeless dogs in Matara area later on in the year.

Some of the pups and dogs at KACPAW

Last year we provided outdoor play equipment to Urubokka National School.  We wanted to visit there to meet the children and teachers.  We were so overwhelmed when we arrived.  The whole school (some 400 kids) were lined up either side of the school drive waving Sri Lankan flags and cheering!  We couldn't believe it!  See our projects for more  photos.

Jonathan, Manel, Nicki and some of the children at Urubokka National School

Paramulla Medical Centre which opened in December 2008 is now fully open and in great demand.  We dropped in to see it.  See Our Projects for more info.

Polhena Nursery is just around the corner from the medical centre so we paid them a visit also.

Jonathan with some of the kids at Polhena nursery

For the rest of our news please visit - our projects and fundraising pages. 

For more info on this trip visit the diary section for my diary.

Thanks for your interest and remember - please make Sri Lanka your next holiday destination.  Ignore the tatty bits and enjoy the beauty this jewel in the Indian ocean holds.  See amazing animals, beaches and scenery, eat fabulous food, experience a taste of history and culture and meet friendly and helpful people. See the Visit Sri Lanka section for more info.

We still urgently need funds - like any charity we are suffering with the credit crunch.  Merchandise and tombola items have to be purchased (not enough are donated) and also materials for projects have increased immensely.  Please, spare us a few pounds and where necessary please gift aid it as we receive an additional  28p from the tax man!  We are not one of these charities that will continually hound you for more money once we receive a donation from you, in fact we don't send out mailings - we keep our expenses to a minimum. 

Please remember we are very proud to make this guarantee that 98p in every pound you donate will go to Sri Lanka.  We take no salaries and any travel expenses come out of our own pockets.  The charity DOES NOT FUND its humanitarian trips to Sri Lanka, we pay for them out of our own pockets. Jonathan and I (Nicki) are so passionate about helping these people and their animals that we will often use our own money when necessary.

Our pounds still go further in Sri Lanka for example it costs just £5 to neuter, treat and inject a dog in Sri Lanka.  £1.00 will feed a family of four for a day.  We are currently funding a school who need more money than we have raised (see fundraising) and are very keen to give them what they need.  A nursery school needs a toilet block which we have no funds for.  Presently 5 - 7 year old children are forced to walk to the secondary school next door when they need to go - often proving too far!

SPRING 2009

We are still quietly soldiering on trying to improve the livelihoods of the poor, sick and needy and thank you for looking and supporting us. 

We are excited about the new medical centre which has just opened in Paramulla near Matara which will cover three adjoining villages.  We have funded the equipment for this facility. 212 mothers will be sent home with a mosquito net and essential items provided by us.

(see our projects)

We are currently raising funds for new projects in 2009.  Please remember your small change can make big changes in Sri Lanka.

We pray  for continued peace in Sri Lanka and hope all it's people can live in harmony.

SUMMER 2008

Well another wet summer - how depressing!  It's no good for our fund raising so we are feeling rather deflated. To make matters worse I (Nicki) am recovering from a knee operation so two of the fund raising events we were going to had to be cancelled.  I am on the mend now thank goodness.  Anyway back to business!

We had a great Peace Festival and also a successful stand at the Guide Dogs for the Blind Gala Day, for once the weather was kind to us.  We have met a wonderful couple, Sam and Mark from a charity called Dog Star Foundation who do an amazing job in Sri Lanka helping sick and homeless dogs.  We were delighted to meet them and hope we may be able to help them in the future.  Please see their web site:

 www.dogstarfoundation.com

It is a very sad time at the moment in Sri Lanka and it seems to be one step forward and two steps backwards.  Sri Lanka has been experiencing the worst rain fall in years causing mass flooding which has resulted in deaths and loss of buildings.  As if this country isn't suffering enough!

I am afraid I have to mention the unrest at the moment which is becoming more of a problem.  No activity has been reported in the West coast but the Foreign Office is advising caution and no travel to the North and East coasts including the Yala National Park.  The country so needs tourism but we urge anyone to please be very careful and avoid public transport.  If you decide not to go there this year how about donating something to us?  We will ensure it reaches someone who needs it. For further information about travelling to Sri Lanka please have a look on the Foreign Office Website: www.fco.gov.uk 

On A good note - we are delighted to inform you that the Family Clinic we are involved in is under construction and soon all the equipment which has been provided by us will be installed and the centre can then open.  For the first few days we will be sending home the patients with 'goody bags' which will include mosquito nets, powdered milk, baby items (if appropriate)  please see 'Our Projects' for more information.

Thank you's

Thank you's are so important but it is impossible to thank everyone who supports us but we do try.  A big thank you goes to Meryl at The Big Shed in Harbury Lane, Leamington Spa for donating two printers for us to use in our fund raising office.  One of them prints A3 which is fantastic as we do not have one of these.  Thanks Meryl. See our link page.  If you are local and need an item of furniture - in fact anything, Meryl will have it I'm sure!

Latest news/projects

We have just provided a Primary School with wonderful outdoor play equipment and the perimeter wall has been beautifully decorated with bright and colourful paintings.  The children and parents are over the moon and very grateful to everyone.  Urubokka is a very poor and remote area in South Matara and the children had no play equipment so we are very happy to bring you this news. Grateful thanks to

Wecare Sri Lanka for their assistance. (See Our projects for photos)

Also:

We have provided a livestock ramp to a slaughter house in Kandy to help the animals on their final journey be unloaded kindly from the transportation lorries.  Before this they were cruelly herded out and forced to jump out, often breaking legs!  Grateful thanks to Home and Abroad Animal Welfare for their assistance.  They have been doing a wonderful job providing shelter from the blaring sun for these animals and we are humbled to be associated with them.  Please visit their website for pictures.  www.haaaw.org

Also:

Family sponsorship - we are delighted to provide financial support to another needy family living in Polhena.  A donation of £300 has made such a difference to this family of 5 (mother, father, two girls aged 13 and 12 and a boy aged 4.  The father earns 200 rupees a day (about £1!)  The mother is too ill to work. This aid now ensures the children get an education and a healthy diet.  Would you like to make a difference to a family?  Just £300 is all we are looking for.  100% of your donation will go to a family in need of help.  Please contact us if you are interested. (See Our projects for photos)

Also:

SOFA (Save Our Friends Association) helping homeless and sick dogs received £200 from us to help feed and provide medicines for their needy dogs this Spring.  Again they were very grateful and thank everyone for their support.  We have to remember that money in Sri Lanka goes much further than over here - for example 60p pays for a rabies injection!  My dog had a rabies injection last year and it cost £90 with all the paperwork!

Accounts 2005/6

We recently  submitted our accounts up to the end of 2006 to the Charities Commission.  With our partnered  charity Sri Lanka Direct.org the total amount raised by both charities was £47,000.00!  Sri Lanka Direct raised more than half of this amount so very well done Graham and his team.  Not bad don't you think for two small charities ran by volunteers?

Nicki Farthing - Founder and Trustee.  6th December 2007.

We are very proud to inform you that this charity is ran by volunteers who give their time for free.  98% of donations received go to our causes the other 2% is spent sparingly on necessary expenses such as stand fees where applicable or tombola prizes and merchandise.  Any other costs are paid for personally by either Jonathan Frost or myself Nicki Farthing.  We have great pleasure in helping where ever we can and with continued help from you we CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

Summer Update - 23rd August 2007 

by Nicki Farthing (Founder)

I am happy and relieved to report that the aid has now been completely delivered to needy children and people in the worst tsunami hit areas in Sri Lanka including areas on the East coast to people affected by the civil unrest.  Thank you to everyone who helped with this operation.  We WILL NOT be sending over any more aid in containers due to the difficulties and expenses incurred.  We will concentrate on raising money to help the poor families, orphans and sick children as before.  

I am also very happy to report that we have now raised the money needed to pay the additional container costs (see below).  It has been disastrous year financially due to the terrible weather and recent outbreak of foot and mouth which meant events we had planned to attend were cancelled!  Our last fund raising event was in June at the Leamington Peace Festival where thankfully the weather was relatively kind to us with only 2 down pours over 48 hours!  This was a very successful event for us and as usual we are very grateful to the organizers of this event for supporting  and believing in us.

We welcome any contact or news from our readers.  We will help answer any questions you may have or put you in touch with other organisations who are also helping.  We travel to Sri Lanka annually so have first hand knowledge and experience of what is going on over there.  We have Sri Lankan contacts who source projects needing support and we try to help where other organisations are not. 

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(older news)

Container update -28th Feb 07

I write with mixed feelings, but I am relieved to tell you that the container of aid has now arrived in Colombo, Sri Lanka with special thanks to Mr Aruna David of Regal Distribution for his assistance by rescuing the container from Southampton Docks and dealing with the necessary paperwork.  We also need to say a big thank you to Sue at Image Line for her valuable assistance and for Martin Roebuck of International Freight Weekly for his help.  Unbelievably the Sri Lankan Government have taxed us just just under £2000 to import the aid!  What a mad world we live in.  To make matters worse they have confiscated the printers, fax machines and telephones!  We have had to pay the fees amounting to £2000 out of our own pocket so desperately need your support to help pay us back.

For us its a very sad start to 2007

As I write this update to you I can hardly believe this has happened to us but it would appear that the shipping company we paid to ship the container has not honored its commitment and the container is sitting in the docks incurring storage charges in Southampton.  We are trying to get our money back but the company refuse to answer their phones or return our emails.  It's hard to believe that there are companies out there who will willingly take money from a charity knowing it can not provide the service.  We are now having a launch a new appeal to raise in the region of £1800 to send the container!  Can you help?  Can you do a collection for us at work?  Can you hold a car boot on our behalf?  Anyway you can help us raise this money will be so appreciated.

Nicki Farthing (Trustee and Founder and very upset!)

FOLLOW UP FROM OUR URGENT APPEAL

With hard work and generous donations we are delighted to inform you that we have raised over £1000 to ship our container of aid in the New Year.  The children can look forward to computers, school equipment, books, toys, clothing, shoes and bikes.  The adults can look forward to kitchen equipment, bikes, sewing machines, T.V.'s, radio's and mobile phones.  Our grateful thanks to everyone.  The container will be packed on Friday 5th January 2007 all being well.  We are busy doing the final bits of packing.  Watch this space for an update in the New Year.

We must acknowledge the generous help received by Colin at Cad Services in Catford, London and Mark Langham, The Manager of The Park Inn, in York for donating between them over 40 computers and other computer equipment.  Also a huge thank you to Kersley Grange Primary School and Allesley Park School in Coventry for their generous donations.  Thank you's are also sent to the many hundreds of donations from you all.  A large thank you to CCS Storage who gave us storage space and our neighbours for allowing us to store our items in their garages. It is very difficult to thank everyone personally but a special thanks goes to Save The Children, Leamington Spa branch for their support, Clarion Events for allowing us to have a charity stand at The International Caravan and Motorhome Show at Birmingham in October and 

E. G. Skett for their continued support in giving us free stands at our local Christmas Market.

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REPORT ON OUR LAST AID TRIP TO 

SRI LANKA MAY/JUNE 06

Rebuilding is noticeably happening but still slow, there are still many families living in tin roof sheds without homes to move to. We aim to make a difference to families still affected by the Tsunami, who are still living in temporary emergency shelters with little or no outside help.

We are busy fundraising to finance a nursery school and training of two teachers in Matara southern Sri Lanka. 

STOP PRESS 

We have just supplied the funding for the nursery equipment, photographs will follow. We have also trained two teachers.

We are sponsoring a 13 year old  girl named Sanuri. Just £15 a month ensures she receives a healthy diet and educational resource funding such as books and clothing.

We are very keen to find sponsors who would like to do the same, there are many children desperately needing our help.

Contact us to set up a standing order.

We are committed to funding the provision of toilets for 17 families. The families have been provided with new homes but without any sanitation.  We need to  raise funds to build these toilets as soon as possible.

We have met up with the Hemachandra family who lost their house and tragically their mother and grandmother. We are helping with the rebuilding of their house and the furnishing of the house once completed.

We are in the process of linking School children in the Midlands with 

Sri Lankan children.

We are accepting cash donations no matter how small.

We are also appealing for new soft toys and unwanted gift for our tombola stalls.

OUR THANKS TO ALL OUR SUPPORTERS

For your invaluable help and support in our fundraising

PRESS CUTTINGS

See a clip of our interview on BBC TV.

VISIT SRI LANKA IN 2007/8

Support the people as a tourist visit 'a land like no other' and help the people get their livelihoods back

Help us fundraise, book your holiday through our webshop 

There are a number of big name travel agents supporting our fundraising. With the arrival of Thomson Flights and Portland Direct in our webshop we now have more agents offering holidays to more countries.

If you, your family or relatives are planning to take a holiday have a look at  www.buy.at/supportsrilankafoundation and we'll earn commission! Yes, by simply booking your holiday via our website we will receive a donation for our causes.  That's great news.  HAVE A GREAT HOLIDAY!

Please help us in any way you can every little helps and with us goes a long way.

The People of Sri Lanka Need Your Help

Nearly 4 years on the Sri Lankan people are still in desperate need. They are living in difficult conditions in tents, timber or corrugated tin sheds with little or no means to restore their livelihoods. We founded this charity to aid the people directly in getting back their lives.  

The tsunami of 26^th December 2004 caused enormous devastation to Sri Lanka, Killing 31,000 people and displacing 500,000 people. 150,000 homes & 200 schools were damaged or completely washed away. Most of the coastal villages in the south and east of Sri Lanka have been completely destroyed. The devastation stretches 1000km, which is approx. 70 % of the Sri Lankan coastline. The most affected sectors are the coastal livelihoods, dependant largely on fisheries, tourism, agriculture and small businesses; total job losses are estimated at over 380,000. 

The need to do more to help these people has totally overwhelmed Nicki and Jonathan and they pledge to continue their support.  Support Sri Lanka Foundation has been set up with the desire to assist towards giving aid and helping to rebuild coastal parts of the country, enabling the people living in these areas to regain their livelihoods.