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RTU supporters around
the world are
always coming up with bright ideas for raising funds
or providing help for the work of RTU in other ways.
This page is a showcase for just some of them!
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Scroll down to view
a greeting from RTU Belgium.
AND to read about the
latest shipment of soft toys going to RTU from
Gloucestershire! |
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This example
highlights what a small group of enthusiasts can
achieve, and is also an introduction to a growing
RTU presence in Belgium. Any other takers for the
'RTU Fashion' idea? |
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Children
newly admitted to an RTU Children's Village often benefit from the comfort
that a soft toy can provide, at least for their
first few weeks. A supporter in Stroud, in
Gloucestershire, has been regularly sending supplies bought in
the town. In addition a local primary school organised a
collection which provided 3 large bags of toys,
mostly unused. Here some children at
Sirumalar, the Children's Village which cares for
all the HIV+ children, hold up their new cuddly
friends!
Dinky Toys - an old favourite for
British boys - have also been popular amongst RTU's
children. A box was sent regularly from Stroud!
Unfortunately, Indian customs
regulations mean that bulk supplies can no longer be
sent, as they require the same source and safety
documentation as we would in the UK. Understandable,
but a shame for the children. |
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Two teams cross Tamil Nadu
by rickshaw in aid of RTU, January 2009
The
Rickshaw Challenge invites participants to race across
parts of India in auto-rickshaws - with the opportunity to
raise money for their chosen charity on the way. The
Challenge website says "This is an amazing race for the
clinically insane. Don’t say we didn’t warn you."
In January 2009 there were
two teams heading from Chennai (Madras) to the southern
tip of India, and a lot of money has been raised for
Reaching the Unreached - thank you!
Kate and Heather (aka 'The
Indian Swiftlets'), from
south-west London, wrote to us: "Well, we made it! Driving
1150km in a temperamental, bright-pink rickshaw was quite
an adventure, especially without a map or compass!
Thankfully we met plenty of friendly locals who pointed us
in the right direction and provided us with delicious chai.
"We were lucky enough to visit a few schools and
orphanages (and sing to the kids - poor them!) along the
way. We would love to have popped in to the RTU India
offices but it was a little too
far off our route,
particularly as our clutch plate was practically hanging
off!"
Kate and Heather
raised just a smidgen under £3000, and much of it reached
us via JustGiving
- the ideal website to use if you want to raise funds for
us through you own off-the-wall activity. See their (now
closed) fundraising page at
www.justgiving.com/rickshawchallenge
Husband and wife Dave and Mel also successfully completed
the drive and "had a great time" as well as
raising almost £1300. According to their
Justgiving page they took part
"for whatever reason
(possibly mid-life crisis on Dave's part)"
- but also to support RTU. You can view their
refuelling practice photo at
www.justgiving.com/mel_and_dave
Lastly, if you like the idea of raising money by rattling
along some of India's 'interesting' roads, check out the
Rickshaw Challenge
here. |
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The
team behind RTU Belgium send their greetings. November
2008
“Hello to everyone in RTU UK. We've just had the
pleasure of meeting a trustee of RTU in the UK, and are
delighted to be in touch with you.
Our
charitable foundation, RTU Belgium, was created in May
2006 after a stay at Kallupatti, and up till now just has
three active members: Patrick, Brigitte and Suzy. We're
all volunteers, and at the moment we take on ourselves all
the administrative and travel.
After various events - lunch, film presentations, a
restaurant dinner - sponsored by ourselves, we've brought
together more than a hundred child sponsors. Another
activity is collecting towards day care support. As we're
not very practical ourselves, Suzy had the idea of
creating ' RTU Fashion '. It's a very simple principle -
we just sell on all the things that have been donated to
us (mostly women's fashions and accessories
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But Suzy is both hard working and talented, so she's been
very busy cleaning, mending, sorting, changing, sewing,
and selling - with more and more success. The result of
the last sale - 5000 Euros profit! It may not seem
so very much, but the euros add up, and there's no end to
her commitment!
Patrick looks after the contacts with India, and the
financial end of things - this year he managed to arrange
for donations to be tax-deductible. We also collect and
take to India small presents for the children (limited by
luggage allowance but...) and we work to maintain the
contacts between sponsors and children. And we've produced
at our own cost a brochure in French about RTU (it's
printed in Pondicherry).
It
may all seem a bit rough, but our enthusiasm overcomes the
many gaps!
Our
best wishes to you all
Brigitte, Patrick and Suzy.”
The RTU Belgium website is available by clicking
here.
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