Frishta News - Issue 4 - November 2005
Welcome to the final issue of Frishta News for 2005. In this edition we look back over the main milestones of this year, look ahead to some planned events in 2006 and also have a special focus on our Frishta web site.
Review of 2005
2005 was another great year for Frishta and there continued to be many firsts for us as we are such a young charity:
- our first fundraising dinner dance was a tremendous success and many of you have complimented us on it and asked when the next one will be held – see below.
- a personal high (or was it a low?!) was trudging round the London Marathon in aid of Frishta.
- we were able to link up with the Healing Touch Society in India and appoint the internationally renowned Architect Christopher Benninger who will design the Frishta Children's Village.
- Frishta provided financial support for education and vocational training for Shardha and her orphan family in India
- we celebrated our 3rd Birthday on 28th October.
Kashmir Earthquake Relief Work
You will no doubt have heard of the recent earthquake in Pakistan and N. India on 8th October? Frishta's 'sister' charitable Society in India, Healing Touch, that is partnering with us to set up the Children's Village, has been providing emergency relief to the survivors. Extracts from a report about the work from John Cyriac are below...
'The doors opened for us at Healing Touch to enter into Indian Occupied Kashmir to reach to the earthquake survivors from 16-22 Oct. We organised medical relief and were able to reach up to the interior villages near the Line Of Control with the great help of our Indian Army. I took a team of Doctors and was able to attend to about 1,000 patients, giving them medical check-ups and medicines.
Then later, Shaheen (John's wife) went from 27-30 Oct with a team of workers and distributed 500 blankets, 500 cooking pots, woolen socks, caps, soap, tea, milk and sugar. With winter fast approaching the condition of the locals is very bad, but we pray we will be allowed to sustain this work in the future.
Also, on 12th Nov we are holding a medical camp in Panchkula (nr. Chandigarh, Punjab) for poor people who live in the slums.'
www.frishta.org.uk
Raj Mistry has done a fantastic job in enhancing the content, style and 'usability' of our web site. There are a number of new additions we would like you to take a look at by clicking on the links (or alternatively logging on to www.frishta.org.uk):
Every Click
Frishta has teamed up with everyclick.com, a charity search engine and shopping web site
- Surfing: by registering with everyclick.com, and nominating Frishta as your chosen charity, just by using their search engine for information and products you will be benefiting Frishta. So dump Google and Yahoo and use everyclick instead! - Shopping: If you use the web to purchase goods, why not shop with everyclick.com as well? Frishta will receive a small commission at no cost to yourself. The site includes all the main eRetailers like Amazon, as well as web sites for many High Street stores, travel agents and insurance providers, etc, etc., so why not add everyclick to your favourites, or even better...
Make Frishta your Home Page
To take advantage of everyclick and benefit Frishta, why not make Frishta your automatic Home Page by clicking on the link and following the simple instructions. Happy surfing.
Raising funds for Frishta can be great fun!
Over the summer, one enterprising church youth group decided to dedicate their kids holiday club to Frishta. For the last seven years, the New Life Masih Ghar church in Hounslow, W. London, has organised a very popular weeklong kids holiday club during the summer school break. They didn't normally charge admission and looked at it as a service to the community. The church's youth club provided a lot of the manpower along with adult volunteers.
This year, the group was looking for a way to raise funds for street children in India and serve the community at the same time. They decided that the best strategy was to capitalise on the good relationships they already had with the families of the children who come to their kids club.
Their strategy was three fold:
- They would charge a £1 admission fee for each child each day. They usually have around 100 kids a day. This money all went to Frishta.
- They informed the kids about the work of Frishta all week and invited parents and children to donate funds.
- They organised a fun fair on the last day of the club, when the volunteers had pies thrown in their faces, water balloon 'fights' and all sorts of fun & games were on offer, all for 50p a ticket.
The end result was that a large number of families got to hear about Frishta, young and old got to experience the joy of giving, the club ended on a wonderful high and over £900 was raised. The youth group asked parents if they were happy that the kids club included raising funds for children in India. Without an exception, they all were very happy that we gave them this opportunity and are hoping we will do it again next year. Sounds like a good plan to us!
Frishta 2005 Christmas Cards
Our Frishta Christmas Cards are going fast! Why not spread Frishta's vision to your family and friends and help add a small amount to our funds at the same time? We have three attractive designs and sizes, in packs of 10 cards & envelopes with Frishta's logo and web address printed inside: Golden Trees (108mm x 108mm, £1.99 + p&p), Star Over Bethlehem (185mm x 83mm, £2.49 + p&p) and Following The Star (140mm x 140mm, £2.99 + p&p). Post and packing £1 for up to five packs, bigger orders on request. See below for pictures of each type and click on the image to see the actual size.
2006 Charity Calendar
An A3 size charity calendar featuring 12 charities including Frishta has been printed and is available for purchase at £5 incl. p&p (order by email from info@frishta.org.uk). A professional artist has painted an illustration for Frishta – I could describe the picture for you, but I'm not going to, you'll have to order your own copy to see it!
2006 Holidays
A reminder that Frishta has teamed up with www.TimeOutDoors.com to provide a host of charity challenges, with exploits such as trekking climbing and many, many more. So if you are still thinking about 2006 holidays, why not visit the www.TimeOutDoors.com web site and search for the Frishta sponsored events.
2006 Events / News
- We are planning to hold a Dinner & Dance event in London in March 2006, when we will be launching the design and layout of the Frishta Children's Village. Further details will be in our January eNewsletter.
- We are currently researching the various grant making trusts and foundations and will be applying for funds in early 2006. If you are aware of a possible source of funding for Frishta, please drop a line to info@frishta.org.uk
And to close
As we look forward to Christmas here in the UK, spare a thought for those less fortunate than ourselves. One in five of the world's population live in abject poverty. If in our comfort we feel uncomfortable about this, there is hope for the world's poor. India, with more than 350 million people living off less than 55 pence per day, has the largest number of poor people of any country in the world. Success in eliminating poverty in India will be absolutely crucial to success in making poverty history worldwide.
Finally, thank you for all your help and support to Frishta in 2005. We simply can't do any of this without YOU! Best wishes to you and your family for a happy Christmas and peaceful New Year.
Nigel Studley
If you have any comments, questions, offers of help or you no longer wish to receive our Newsletter, please email us.
Mark 10:14-16