The end is in sight for Rotary Yeovil with its fundraising goal to rebuild a school in Nepal.
At the end of 2017, then District 1200 Governor Stewart Cursley, challenged clubs to come up with a project which would involve all 52 clubs.
Due to the Yeovil club’s association with Luke Simon from the charity School in a Bag and his current work in Nepal, a plan to re-build a school in one of the regions affected by the devastating 2015 earthquake was hatched.
The 7.8 magnitude earthquake destroyed 475 of the 545 schools in Sindhupalchok.
The Somerset club has hit the £50,000 mark to build the six-classroom Shree Saraswoti School in the mountainous Sindhupalchok region”
Working with School in a Bag partners, the Helambu Education and Livelihood Project and the Mondo Foundation, the Yeovil club set about a focused fund-raising campaign to secure the £64,000 budget needed to fully build, fit out and staff a school, which will accommodate over 200 pupils.
Thanks to the efforts of Rotary clubs, the generosity of individuals and philanthropic organisations, £18,000 was raised in the first nine months.
The Mondo Foundation was also able to secure around a further £30,000. This, combined with recent fundraising events, has seen the figure raised to exceed £50,000.
The 2015 Nepal earthquake killed almost 9,000 people, left around 22,000 injured and as many as 3.5 million homeless.
Past Rotary Yeovil President, Michael Fernando, admitted this was an ambitious project but they are determined to see it through.
He said: “The recent influx of funds has meant the end goal is now in sight and, with additional funds having been pledged, we hope to reach the total by the end of this year.
“The school will benefit children in Nepal for generations to come and we are looking forward to visiting the finished school to see the plaque which will honour Yeovil for its contribution.”
