Bridges Nepal UK Trust Newsletter 1

We are pleased to let you know that after almost a year Bridges Nepal UK Trust is now fully registered.

We received the Charity Registration Charity Number 1180806 notification on the 23rd November 2018.

Our Bank Account is now operational:

  • Bank - CAF Bank
  • Account Name - Bridges Nepal UK Trust
  • Sort Code - 40 52 40
  • Account Number - 00032219

HMRC Charities Number ZD00116 for Gift Aid registration was received on 16th January 2019. We have Gift Aid Declaration Forms available for you to maximise any gift to us.

We have opened an Account with Stewardship Services 20262292 and are registered with CAF Online 21000756838 to permit those that use these services the option to give online.

Other developments in 2018:

We are grateful to many of those receiving this Newsletter for your contributions that amounted to over £7000 during 2018. With our registration now complete we are able continue the distribution to Human Trafficking Prevention and Recovery Projects in Nepal.

In October and November two of our Trustees separately and at their own expense visited our partners in Nepal and identified the key project areas that funds could go to. It became evident that the partners are wanting to work in two districts (Nuwakot and Dhading) in established villages and new villages that are being developed due to destruction of the villages former site by Earthquake Landslide (Bhadragaun Lapa Camp) and Monsoon Landslide (Ghawar Camp).

Beehives for income generation
Our partners Bridges Nepal NGO have been researching the needs in these locations and have been able to grant to some villagers Beehives for income generation.

2019 Grants and Fund Raising

We shall be distributing your generous gifts in the next few months to allow work to proceed on some of the projects detailed below. Our partners in Nepal have established a small team of associates to assist in delivering these projects. We are continuing to fund raise for all of these projects as they contribute to the Prevention of Human Trafficking from these two districts that are particularly susceptible to Trafficking. Our target for 2019 is to raise a minimum of £10,000 to allow the work to continue.

Sanitation and Water Supplies

Of particular note was the work envisaged in two newly established villages. These villages have been previously assisted by our partners Bridges Nepal NGO with the provision of houses securing their accommodation and thus assisting the prevention of trafficking their daughters.

The two villages currently do not have toilet facilities, so it is proposed to initially furnish toilets at Bhadragaun. The purpose built toilets would be healthier for the village and the environment. Transportation for this project is high as rocks have to be carried up to the village to form the base of the toilet. A hole at least 10 feet deep needs to be dug for correct drainage of the waste.

The cost including tin and wooden structure, toilet pan and transportation is £250.00 each. Our long term goal is to supply a toilet to the 35 homes in Bhadragaun over a number of years.

There is also still a need for secure water supply to the villages, this is a multistage process of adding household water filters to the manual porterage of water to the village:

A typical biosand water filter design
Local girl with water container
A village water supply plan

Income Generation

If people find a secure source of income it allows them to resist the options of Trafficking their children. There are plans to:

  • Create tailoring shops in the nearby towns of the two new villages. The cost to seed each tailoring shop is approximately £2000 to establish a self-sustaining business
  • Female empowerment through training, 2 Community Centres (£2000 each) and seed funding for 4 Self-help group micro loan schemes (£150-200 each)
  • To facilitate beehives to people in other locations. Cost including equipment and transportation £100.00, eight families are targeted for this scheme.

Education Support

If children complete primary and further education, it empowers them and gives them opportunities beyond the risks and lure of being trafficked. Therefore, our partners are promoting assistance to ensure children are able to attend education

  • School clothing, equipment and fees for the extremely poor in village schools. (£65 per child for up to 25 children per year in Dhanding District.)
  • Many children in Tinchett village do not have the correct size shoes to wear and some children do not have any shoes at all. This can cause problems with their feet as they are growing rapidly. Some of these children have no parents as they died in the earthquake, so they are in most need. £350 would provide shoes for the entire School at Tinchett and additional gifts would allow this scheme to spread to two other potential villages.
  • Provision of Books for School Library to Ruby Valley Lapa School (£1000)
School class
Children lined up at school

How to help

The Old Testament Prophet Amos spoke of justice to a people that were trading people and self seeking at the expense of the poor at a time of earthquake and destruction. At the end of his writings he brings a hope for the future for the people of the land from God that mirrors the work that our partners are hoping to bring to the people of Nepal,
"In that day I will restore their fallen shelters I will repair its broken walls and restore its ruins and will rebuild it as it used to be,....new wine will drip from the mountains and flow from all the hills,... says the Lord Your God.

To share in the fulfilment of this promise please consider sending a one off gift or make a regular donation through one of the accounts detailed above. If your gift can have Gift Aid applied to it please request our Gift Aid Declaration form.