Rebuild Kerala
Dear Members and Well-Wishers,
As you are probably aware, MAUK have been busy raising funds to help victims of the Floods that devastated our beautiful Kerala and took the lives of many of our brethren.
We have promised to keep you informed regularly about our efforts . We now write to give you with an update as Phase 1 of our relief efforts ended on 30 September 2018.
Realising the magnitude of the disaster, MAUK was one of the very first organisations to swiftly evaluate the situation in the affected area through our members/volunteers who have been on holiday in the area and our local contacts.
In the initial days following the floods, MAUK volunteers collected essential non-perishable items including food, medicine, clothes and dry cleaning products and forwarded it to members of the Loka Kerala Sabha who arranged cargo and distribution facilities. Our task was made easier by the coverage we got from BBC London News. We have also used our social media pages to request for support. As it was not MAUK practice, we did not provide a live update of our efforts through social media during this stage.
We have also written to the Disaster Emergency Committee (DEC) requesting them to launch a nationwide appeal and to the BBC for wider coverage of the floods.
Three days following the Floods, MAUK launched a fundraising appeal through Charities Trust fundraising platform – sponsorme.com. Through this page, we have raised £16,489 from 241 donors and £3552 through gift aid. In addition, 11 year old Ryan Kunnummal from Birmingham also raised over £650 through his sponsorme page.
We changed this year’s Onam celebrations into a fundraising event and have raised in the region of £10,000 from 217 donations received for this event.
We are happy that we met our target of Rs. 25 lakhs (approx £30K), which was met in Phase 1 but are very much aware that this amount is only a drop in the ocean when compared with the amount, effort and will needed to rebuild Kerala.
We had a few members come forward with potential projects we can undertake with the small amount we have. To discuss these ideas and gather more suggestions, we have called for a consultation meeting at Kerala House on Sunday, 21 October 2018 at 3 PM.
If you are unable to attend this meeting, please email us at info@mauk.org or call MAUK Rebuild Kerala team on 07960 212 334. We will publish our plans for Phase 2 incorporating the feedback we received through the consultation process.
We take this opportunity to once again thank each and every individual and business that donated to MAUK Kerala Floods Relief Effort. We can all agree that rebuilding Kerala is a mammoth task that will take years. To enable and empower MAUK to play it’s minor part in this Herculean task, we request your continued help, support, advice and guidance. In return, we promise to use the funds efficiently and effectively, update you regularly and have clear audit trail for the money spent.
Rebuild Kerala Team.
MAUK