Reaching the Unreached
 
UK Tel : 01434 634571
Registered Charity No: 1091295
 
 
 What are people doing to support RTU?  
 

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!

 
 

Scroll down to view other activities.

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

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? 

 
   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

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.

 
 

One of our trustees, James Playfair, dances for RTU! October 2009

Having returned from a trip to RTU about a year ago I wanted to come up with some sort of fund-raising event which might catch people’s imagination. Preferably, I hoped, one that would not involve any form of strenuous activity or sponsorship!

As it happens, Mrs Playfair and I have been going to ballroom dancing classes since Natasha Kaplinsky won the big prize all those years ago. We are still light-years away from dancing as she did but maybe there was an idea there. It would look good on the poster:   Tea Dance for India……..

So, on October 3rd, in St Michaels Church, Broad Street, Bath we had tea and cakes, a raffle (with   prizes given by local businesses), live music and amazingly – lots of ballroom dancing!

St Michaels has close connections to Bath Abbey. As a city centre church it has been modernized both in appearance and in its ministry and so can be rented for events such as concerts, book launches and on this occasion - dancing. If all the pews are taken out you are left with a large space as big as a ...  ballroom. Having used as many connections as we could (all our friends, our work, the Abbey community, book club even!) and made a pain of ourselves we were at one stage concerned that we might have sold too many tickets.    

Some people we know, we now find, can dance beautifully. Most though just came along for the sake of RTU and to have some fun.  And they all joined in (really they did) even though most of them had never even tried anything like it before!

No problem. Our dance teacher had very kindly agreed to give her time and gave lessons so that everybody could have a go!   So, with 150 of us trying the basic steps to the cha-cha-cha... we really did have dancing in the aisles – sadly, maybe, not a sight you often see in church!

 

 

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 ). 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.

A supporter in Gloucestershire sends toys to India. October 2008, April 2009

"More than 700 soft toys collected by children at Rodborough Primary School are being sent to an orphanage in India thanks to the help of the Gloucestershire Freemasons..."  Read the full story about the latest cuddly consignment, in the Stroud News and Journal for 23rd April 2009.

 
 
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