Helping Orphan's in India

The orphanage originally opened in 2007. It was funded by a couple from America but unfortunately in January 2008 they could no longer support the orphanage. Forcing it to close down, leaving an empty building and almost 100 children out on the street begging for their next meal. 

In March 2008, a lady called Suzanne Pillans visited the town and immediately started advertising and enquiring about people to donate and help the towns desperate need to get the children off the streets. 

In July 2008 Donna and Peter Foulds saw an advert asking for funding for an orphanage. At the time they were actually trying to think of something they could do to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. They both decided that instead of spending their money throwing a massive party they would like to do something to make a difference and decided they would like to help the town and try to get the orphanage back up and running. 

By October 2008 they already had the building back open but began to run it with a different system... they decided they could help more children by setting up a scheme called the foster parents system which basically means that instead of the children living in the orphanage they are fostered to a family (each family is interviewed thoroughly and living environments are checked regularly) and in return for caring for the child they get free education for their own children. With the new scheme in place they managed to help 143 children by the end of October 2008. 

The new system seemed quite popular in the town, as education was very expensive in India and only readily available for the higher-class families. But the growth of the charity meant more expenses. By the end of 2008 Donna and Peter had bought new desks, educational material, security mesh for the building, uniforms and hygiene products as well as paying for and registering the building as a school, Total costs were approximately £25k. 

By 2009 the school was all set up and running and working quite well. However, they then realized that the 8 staff that were looking after the school were not actually getting paid. They were volunteering to help the orphans but by doing this they got themselves in to financial trouble. This meant that Peter and Donna needed to find approximately £800 every month to cover the salaries of the teachers. So, they decided mid 2009 that they would need to set up a charity and try to get financial support to cover some of the costs. They are currently getting approximately £200/month from various sponsors. Although this is greatly appreciated, they do need a lot more donations. 

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