Jubilee event

During the Queen’s Jubilee weekend 6 of us in our road opened our gardens for neighbours and friends and raised over £1,000 to support those in need in Sri Lanka. Whilst none of us actually counted, as we were busy serving tea, cakes and Pimms, we think we had around 60 visitors. Below are some pictures of our very varied gardens on show. The funds raised have now been sent to Sri Lanka and being used to pay for much needed medication and nutritious food for up to 80 girls and women. As more funding comes in it will be used to purchase various forms of therapeutic support including counselling and vocational training for women staying in sheltered accommodation for their own protection.

General situation in Sri Lanka today

A new and positive development is the FCDO (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) announced last week that it’s no longer advising against all but essential travel to Sri Lanka. This means tourists can now purchase travel insurance as the country is open and safe for them to visit again.

However, whilst this is good news for tourists wishing to travel there, as well as for Sri Lanka who desperately need tourists to help boost its economy, there’s still a very long way to go for the country to get back to any form of economic stability. Here’s a recent BBC Sounds podcast with the background to the problems and up to date information on Sri Lanka’s deep economic crisis. It includes an appeal for £5 billion to maintain people’s basic standard of living for the remainder of 2022 https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w172yk7wm2026gw.

Upcoming event – hold the date and book now!

For anyone interested in water-based activities or/and Sri Lankan food please hold the following date in your diary! Friends, Andy and Sam, from Hampton Court Paddle Sports are organising a fundraising paddleboard/canoe/kayak event 5-8pm Friday 15th July at their riverside home in Molesey. You’ll be able to get out on the water for up to 3 hours and then be treated to a delicious Sri Lankan supper in their garden. Click here for the booking details but you’ll need to book early as numbers are capped at 50.

How else can we help Sri Lanka now?

As you’ve heard in the podcast above, the absolute basics are in very short supply at the moment in Sri Lanka and the cost of items such as rice, dhal, milk powder, fuel for cooking and soap have tripled in price. Women’s Development Centre and TFT are working hard to deliver training programmes to communities on home gardening, providing seeds to grow their own food and teaching them how to survive through minimising their costs of living. Food security and creating awareness of traditional methods of food preservation has now become one of WDC’s main training programmes.

There have been no changes in the government structure, taxes have been raised on all essential food items, inflation is at 33%, there is no cooking gas available to buy, and people are waiting in queues for days to purchase petrol/diesel. Some people’s salaries are now equal to their getting to work transportation costs!

Do you have any milk powder, paracetamol, nurofen you can donate? If you do and get it to me by the end of June I’ll arrange to pack it up and send it out the following week. It’ll go directly to help the workers at the NGO’s Women’s Development Centre, who are working in emergency situations to help people in need during these times of crisis.

NEXT UP – Update on Stage 2 of my trek across Sri Lanka. I’m raising a further £10,000 to help during Sri Lanka’s deepest economic crisis since their independence in 1948. It will include an exciting development on the route.

If you missed the last blog here it is.

Further sponsorship – If you’d like to help those in need in Sri Lanka at this incredibly troubled time, whilst being assured that every penny will go to those who need it, then please donate by clicking on this link Marcia Summers is fundraising for Their Future Today (justgiving.com). Don’t forget that if you’re a tax payer to declare ‘gift aid’ when doing so which will increase your donation by 25% at no cost to you. Alternatively, if you know anyone or of an organisation that may have an interest in this cause please forward this blog and above link on to them.