HEAL would like to thank and congratulate some of its intrepid supporters who have
recently completed challenging events to raise well over £4,000 to help hundreds
of disadvantaged children in India.
Our charity relies heavily on the support of people who invite family, friends and
work colleagues to donate to HEAL by way of sponsorship for an event or challenge.
Most do this by creating a fund-raising page online at justgiving.com, where the
addition of gift aid can greatly increase the value of donations to charities like
HEAL.
HEAL is gearing up again for Cycle India 2014
Of course, fund-raising can come in all shapes and sizes, and HEAL has benefitted
through everything from bedroom clear-out sales to biking across India over the
past 20 years.
Car washes and cake sales are great ways for young people to get involved, while
planning is already going ahead for HEAL’s next major Cycle India event early in
2014.
People do the most amazing things to raise money for the causes they love and
among the more adventurous over the summer months have been challenges undertaken
for HEAL by the likes of Yashu Shah, who embarked on a tracking adventure in
Nepal, and another trio of travellers who have incredible tales to tell of their
journey across northern India.
Back home in the UK, Karen Rhandawa successsfuly completed the Ealing Half
Marathon, while our good friends at private jet charter firm Air Charter Service
have once again been pushing themselves to the limit by competing in the Great
River Race on the Thames.
No Plane, No Gain - the ACS Great River Race team
“HEAL is in its 20th year of helping underprivileged children in Andhra Pradesh by
providing them with shelter, healthcare and an education and we are marking this
anniversary with our biggest project to date for which we are urgently seeking
funding,” says HEAL founder Dr Satya Prasad Koneru.
“HEAL already looks after hundreds of children in Guntur and elsewhere through our
poverty trap projects, but now work is already well under way on Paradise Village,
which will become home to another 1,000 severely disadvantaged children very
soon.
“So the efforts of our supporters who who help to raise money in whatever way they
can are more important to HEAL than ever.”
Yashu Shah, a patient at Dr Prasad’s clinic in Peterborough, said: “I have just
come back from my trip of a lifetime. I managed to climb up to 5,200 metres and
although it was very tough, the whole thing was a fantastic experience. Raising
money for HEAL along the way made it even more special.”
Tracking through Nepal
Karen Rhandawa admitted that the many donations to her justgiving page had kept
her going as she trained for her first half-marathon. “It was one of my most
challenging achievements. I was proud to run the Ealing Half marathon for HEAL
because they do such wonderful work in taking children out of poverty. And I made
it round in a good time of 2:13:27 too!”
And there is still time to sponsor medical student Amrit Dhadda, who this weekend
will run the Cardiff Half Marathon on behalf of HEAL. His justgiving page can be
found at www.justgiving/amrit-dhadda0
Thirteen of Air Charter Service’s fittest athletes, glorying in the name No Plane,
No Gain, took to the Thames to row a staggering 21 miles. Last year they managed
to raise £3,168 towards an IT classroom at the new HEAL Paradise Village. And they
are hoping to better that figure this year to pay for a library, with ACS
promising to match what their staff raise.
Our heartfelt appreciation goes out to the ACS Great River Race team of Christine
Echeverria, Nakita Ogugua, Nicklas Danko, Oli Stravrakakis, Brendan Toomey, Joe
Gallimore, Joel Fenn, Chris Mansell, Ben Dinsdale, James Clark, Ella Melhuish, Amy
Irwin and Thea Goalen.
Last, but not least, well done to Chatty, Jamie and Olivia, whose attempts to
travel across India in a second-hand auto rickshaw may not quite have gone to
plan, but still benefitted their chosen charity, HEAL.
An Auto Rickshaw Across India
You can read about some of their adventures on their unusual 12-day trip,
including entries such as Stowaways on a Train and Sleeping on the Streets of
Pushkar, in their blog at www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/AnAutoRickshawAcrossIndia/
