Heal: Health & Education for all

HEAL founder Dr Koneru Prasad has welcomed the generous support of a private jet charter firm, Air Charter Service, which has recently taken the charity under its wing.

The company, which has offices around the world, selected HEAL as its international cause for 2011 and has been in discussions about sponsoring new computer labs at the charity’s Paradise Village project in India.

Each year, ACS supports a selection of chosen charities, with a dedicated committee helping to organise an array of fund-raising events. All the money raised is matched by ACS, doubling the total amount.

As well as supporting Cancer Research and the Shooting Star Children’s Hospice this year, ACS has set itself a goal of funding an IT block within the new self-sustaining village in Thotapally, Andhra Pradesh.

To make this happen, the company set an ambitious target of £12,300, but were confident of achieving this thanks to the dedication and success of their charity committee.

“I believe that Air Charter Service are going to be a great asset for us at HEAL,” says Dr Prasad. “They have looked into sponsoring computer labs at the new Paradise Village and I know they are excited by the project and want to be involved.”

Tina Leach, ACS company secretary and treasurer, recently visited the Paradise site and the HEAL Children’s Village in Guntur and described what she saw as “absolutely inspiring”.

ACS, founded in 1990 by Chris Leach as a small specialised aviation company, now employs over 200 staff around the globe and counts Middle Eastern royalty, the British government, major multi-national corporations and non-profit organisations among its customers.

Their reputation was enhanced when they helped in recovery operations following the tsunami disaster in the Indian Ocean.

In a testimonial, Government Department of Transport official Alistair Darling wrote at the time: “The Prime Minister has asked me to pass on his thanks to you for your organization’s part in the response to the recent tsunami in the Indian Ocean.

“The industry’s role in the aid and recovery operations further underlines its importance in the world, as by far the quickest means of bringing survivors home and transporting vital equipment and expertise to the disaster scene.

“I, too, am grateful for your swift response, and would like to send my sincere thanks to all those involved in the relief effort.”

In September, an 18-strong ACS dragonboat team – named ‘No Plane No Gain!’ – took part in this year’s Great River Race down the Thames, completing the gruelling 21-mile course in a respectable time of just under three hours and raising almost £6,000 for HEAL along the way.

Among a host of different charity functions, a raffle was also held at the Air Charter Service staff Christmas party in support of HEAL and their other chosen charities.

LAST month the HEAL website reported on the remarkable fund-raising achievements of a group of family members, calling themselves The G8 Summits, who came up with a mission to climb the highest peaks in England, Scotland and Wales.

Nish Topiwalla, Heman Tailor, Kage Topiwalla, Mayur Jaldevi, Zach Tailor, Nil Tailor, Dom Tailor & Kamlesh Jaldevi, all related and with families of Indian origin, conquered their own Three Peaks Challenge and raised a fantastic £4,611 for HEAL in the process.

Well, the ladies of the family were not to be outdone and Usha Topiwalla, mother of Nish and Kage, came up with her own idea for boosting HEAL’s work with orphaned and disadvantaged children in India.

Usha organised a takeaway curry day at Barclays in Crewe – and the idea turned out to be real hot stuff!

Not only did the currys prove popular with hungry work colleagues, raising £1,150, but employers Barclays agreed to donate a further £750.

“This was a roaring success,” said G8 Summits organiser Heman Tailor. “I think this has been a phenomenal achievement by Usha and all the ladies involved.

“When we came up with the original idea of doing the Three Peaks Challenge and raising the money for HEAL, Usha wanted to do something too. She had the idea of making takeaway curries for her colleagues at Barclays offices in Crewe.

“Usha and Pushpa Jaldevi then proceeded to organise the event to follow our Three Peaks success. They started preparing the food from September 5, with Usha & Pushpa paying for all the ingredients themselves.

“They were joined by Nirmala Tailor, my mother, and Ruby Tailor, my wife, on September 8 and further prepared and cooked the food right up until 3pm on Friday, September 9.

“The menu consisted of chicken pakoras, chicken curry, rice, home-made naan bread and desert.

“They sold in total 115 meals – 110 to Barclays staff and five more to neighbours who could smell the food being cooked!

“In total this has raised £1,150 and Barclays agreed to match pound-for-pound up to £750, so the total raised will end up being well over £2,000 with the addition of gift aid.”