Gift Aid proposal - review 2011

What you will read here is only a very small summary so please get in touch with us John or Anna if you have any questions about all this. Obviously the decision has to be supported by the majority for it to proceed. We appreciate that these three opportunities are different from where the money was originally intended, especially in the case of SAFE, but we wouldn't be proposing this if we didn't feel that these were great opportunities that we didn't believe in. All have come from partnerships with people we trust and have worked closely with. Lastly, should we all agree that the money be spent on these opportunities then we would obviously keep you all informed as to what happens and keep you updated on any progress.

If we don’t hear from you we will assume that you are happy for the money to be spent in this way.

1. Supporting the salary of a new manager at Seeds (£1000 Donation)

The last 6 months have been really tough for Seeds. They have had less international volunteers which has had a major impact on their income and their founder and manager, Yuri, is making plans to leave Peru. We have been working with Seeds to address this issue; finding more sustainable funding and a replacement for Yuri. They are making firm progress towards this but in the meantime funding a salary for the new manager presents a problem as Yuri currently doesn’t draw a proper wage.  We would like to offer to support the salary of the new manager for 6 months (approximately £1000) by which time they will be in a position to fund it themselves through new sources of income. We have drawn up a proposal with Seeds to ensure that all this happens (see attached if you’re interested).

2. Health Project in Bangladesh (£1000 Donation)

For the last 3 months I have been working with a small organisation called Chetonar Dak in a rural area of Bangladesh. They provide pre-school education and primary healthcare as well as a small sewing centre to help women develop new skills. The main focus of the healthcare programme is antenatal and postnatal care as well as care for the under 5’s.

The majority of their work is community based and carried out in the local villages. However a health worker is available throughout the day to see women who come to Chetanar Daks’ office.  Currently the building lacks a suitably equipped room for the check up which is carried out in the administration office. We are proposing that our money be used to renovate a room for the clinic; repairing the roof, putting in a latrine and purchasing all the necessary equipment. Chetonar Dak hopes that having a comfortable, private facility will encourage even more patients to come and utilise the service.

3. Low Cost Housing Project in Bangladesh (£1000 Donation)

While I have been working with CFC, John has been working with another small NGO in the area involved with low cost housing. It is called SAFE and it promotes new techniques which allow people to build stronger houses affordably - making them more resistant to local hazards like flooding and strong winds. For more information about the programme see http://annaandjohn.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/safe-background-and-activities.pdf.

Although these activities in themselves are very worthy of money, one of SAFE's main issues is its need to secure more sustainable long term funding. One very promising opportunity is to develop a local 'social' business to do just that: a small construction firm which serves the needs of wealthier members of the community and whose profits all go to fund SAFE. This way, SAFE is much less dependent on outside help and ultimately be able to deliver its low cost housing message much more effectively.

So we are proposing that some money (approx £1000) is spent helping to set up this business. The bulk of this is likely to be spent on equipment to make mud blocks - a new technology for this area which would give a competitive advantage to SAFE.