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Sri Lanka Fund
Alan was born in Sri Lanka and his family have a history in that country dating back to 1901. Alan and Cathy first visited Sri Lanka together with two of their children in 2004. They fell in love with the country and the people. Soon after their return, the tsunami hit the area with devastating effect.

At that time, Alan and Cathy organised fund raising events. As Cathy had been researching Sri Lankan folk tales, the fund raising took the form of storytelling evenings, featuring traditional tales from Sri Lanka.

Since then, Alan and Cathy have returned to Sri Lanka every year. They have made progress in learning Sinhala, the main language of Sri Lanka (Tamil is also spoken). They have also acquired extensive knowledge of the country, the politics and problems. They have many friends and contacts in the south of the island and eternal gratitude to a fisherman called Sunil, who rescued their daughter from a near fatal swimming incident.

They are now embarking on a plan to establish a charitable project in the south of the country which will provide quality English teaching and teacher training, swimming instruction and, of course storytelling. As part of the project, they plan to organize quality volunteering opportunities with skills being exchanged in both directions. They also hope that both Sinhalese and Tamil children attending the lessons will represent a beacon of young hope for an end to the hostilities that have cost their country so dearly.

This project is currently at early stage but it is hoped that the first lessons will be underway by the end of 2008.

All money raised by will be used in the most efficient way possible.

GALLERY