Spring 2022 Newsletter
At the risk of repeating ourselves, we again wish to applaud the staff of Hope who have continued to go above and beyond to keep the children and themselves safe during the pandemic. While they are a long way behind in terms of vaccinations and getting things back to normal, there is some light on the horizon. Children have gone back to school – just in time for exam season in March, including most recently, the Kindergarten children. Older children have returned to college, work and placements. There are regular small outbreaks at Hope, all of which are quickly and efficiently contained to minimize spread, and isolation is still the order of the day.
Throughout all of this, the staff and children have coped with cheer, good humour and endless patience. To our dedicated staff, particularly mothers, we extend once again our grateful thanks. With them, we look forward to brighter days ahead.
Meanwhile, life goes on. The children continue to do well, both at school and college. Several have started vocational courses of their choice and exam results continue to improve year on year. Children have an excellent work ethic, whether engaged in academic or vocational pursuits and this is wonderful to see. They seem to know that their future depends on doing well in their chosen fields.
Solar Panels in the Sunshine
Thanks to a very kind donation from a charitable trust, we have been able to invest in solar panels that will generate all the power needed to run the offices and kindergarten at Hope. There is wall to wall sunshine every day so it makes good sense and fits very well with the ethos of Hope where they place a high priority on green living of all kinds. Very grateful thanks to the foundation who made this possible.
Easy Fundraising
Congratulations to all of you who do their online shopping via Easyfundraising, raising £4,252 so far for Hope, at no cost to themselves, with a special mention of Rachel G. and Morag who are at present at the top of the leader board. If you too would like to join in, follow the link below.
Miss Hope
Staff and children at Hope always make a huge effort to mark international world days with their own ideas and events. The recent International Women’s Day was no exception. They organised an inter-house competition with each house choosing two girl representatives. The chosen girls had to dress up in their best finery and submit to a rigorous interview, giving their views on a range of topics, including their plans for the future.
As is usual with these events, though all participants were highly commended, there had to be a winner and runners-up. The above photo shows all the participants and prize-winners with their prizes. Particular thanks to house-mothers for their help and enthusiasm.
Congratulations Manjusha!
We extend our congratulations to Manjusha from Mundakkal house who got married on 6th February. It was an exciting event as it is the first wedding from this particular house and for mother Sajeela. Because of restrictions, it was a very modest affair but greatly enjoyed nevertheless.
Welcome Aaravu!
We offer our congratulations to Unnimaya and husband Jineesh on the birth of their second child – a boy called Aaravu. Unnimaya is a “graduate” of Alice House.
Moving On
Ajith from Youth House, looking very smart in his new uniform. He has just started his in-house training in hotel management at a hotel in Thekkady. Wishing him every success.
And we also said farewell in February to a good friend of Hope. Graham Gibbon has, for many years, run an annual plant sale in support of Hope with his partner Eva at their home in Somerset.
Graham would start collecting plants from his garden and from garden centres from early autumn, nursing them until early June when he would have a magnificent display to give to family, friends and neighbours, in exchange for donations, raising thousands over the seven years of plant sales. Our sincere sympathy on his passing to his family and friends. Thank you, Graham, and Go Well!
Goodbye to Old Friends
With a heavy heart we say goodbye to Alfat, our junior social worker, as she moves on to pastures new. She has been a much-loved member of staff for several years and, with her enthusiasm, resourcefulness, kindness and patience, together with her ever-present smile, she will be sorely missed by all of us. We wish her well in her new post in Dubai.
Similarly, Hope staff and children said goodbye to another good friend, Tuc-tuc driver, Ravi, who has taken good care of generations of children and staff as he ferried them round. He sadly died very recently. Visitors to Hope will remember him as the kindest friend the children could wish for and he was held in high regard all round. Our condolences to his family on their loss.
And we also said farewell in February to a good friend of Hope. Graham Gibbon has, for many years, run an annual plant sale in support of Hope with his partner Eva at their home in Somerset.
Graham would start collecting plants from his garden and from garden centres from early autumn, nursing them until early June when he would have a magnificent display to give to family, friends and neighbours, in exchange for donations, raising thousands over the seven years of plant sales. Our sincere sympathy on his passing to his family and friends. Thank you, Graham, and Go Well!
And Hello to New Friends
Hope is delighted to welcome two new members of staff. Anjali replaces social worker, Alfat and Kadambari takes over from retiring house-mother Pushpam. Though coming to Hope as a newly qualified social worker, Anjali is already familiar with its work and ethos through previous placement/work experience.
Kadambari comes to Hope with many years of experience as a house mother with the international organisation SOS and is already an invaluable member of the team.
Great North Run
Though this is still a long way off (11th September), preparations are well under way. We can introduce you to the five intrepid souls who are undertaking the challenge to raise funds for Hope Community Village. Four are new to GNR and the fifth is our stalwart trustee, Cheryle Berry, who has been a regular for many years. We will be asking for your support for their efforts closer to the time and we know you will be as generous as you can. Here they are:
Running for Hope
In addition to the above, Hope supporter Richard Green gets his own place every year in GNR to run for Hope. Here is his story: Richard has been a long-time supporter of HOPE through his friendship with a number of the Trustees. He is supporting HOPE after witnessing the drive and the energy of the leadership since the founding of the charity.
He was drawn to continue running in the GNR after experiencing the warmth and support of the local people in Newcastle and he has tried to make it an annual event, supporting HOPE for the last 4 times. He would like to commit to running the GNR for the next 2 years if his body holds up!
Richard is also setting himself a target of walking the Dales Way this year from Ilkley to Bowness, hopefully in 4 days, and he would like to walk all of Wainwright’s Fell walks in the Lake District but probably not all of them this year!! It’s a good job he has a static caravan near Silverdale! The trustees of HOPE are always extremely humbled and grateful to receive the support of such committed and inspirational people and all our fundraisers face the continuing difficulty of endlessly calling on friends and family for support and they are increasingly using social media to broaden their contact base. We know you will support them.
Recycle4Charity
A marvellous way to recycle your printer ink cartridges easily while helping Hope. Visit their website, sign up to support Hope (ID number C72548) and request a box or envelopes. Collect from friends, family and workplace too. Collection is free and easy.