Pahar Trust Nepal (PTN), a charity with long-standing connections to the Isle of Man, is celebrating the end of a successful year-long fundraising campaign.

The trust was established in 1993 by two ex-servicemen of the Queen’s Gurkha Engineers, Tom Langridge MBE and Chandra Bahadur Gurung.

Soon afterwards island resident Howard Green MBE became a trustee and in 2005 he took over the position of chair - a post which he held for many years before becoming president in 2019.

He continues to have an active role in supporting and promoting the trust today.

Since the PTN was founded, more than 34 projects have been funded exclusively from the Isle of Man - through a combination of donations from businesses, churches, schools, rotary clubs and individuals; and grants for several projects awarded by the island’s Council of Ministers’ international development committee.

Most of the projects were the building of schools, with a further Isle of Man-funded school currently under construction in Nepal giving children there the opportunity of an education that many take for granted.

The ’30For30’ campaign was launched in January 2021 to mark the 30 years since the first school in a Himalayan village in Nepal was funded and built by what became the Pahar Trust Nepal.

schools

The aim of the campaign was to raise £50,000 to help 30 schools in remote and impoverished areas of Nepal’s Himalayan foothills to improve classroom facilities and resources for pre-primary school children aged one to five years old.

There were a number of specific fundraising activities throughout the year including:

l Freestyle February - which encouraged people to take on challenges related to the number 30 during the month to raise money.

Many got involved with activities such as running, trekking and blanket crocheting to selling beautifully crafted ceramics and a laughter yoga session.

l Nepali Nights In - this brought friends and family together to cook and enjoy a Nepali feast at home.

Nepali chefs and a drinks expert created exclusive recipes for the event.

l Tiffin Week - included the PTN’s executive director, Alan Sweetman, and The Galleries centre manager, David Wait, tackling the challenge of ’climbing’ Everest on stepping machines.

For a donation to the campaign, people could try freshly made, authentic Nepali cuisine, including Momos (steamed dumplings) and Sel Roti.

The PTN has now announced that the funds raised from these events and others organised by individuals and teams have overtaken the £50,000 target - which has now reached almost double the original amount.

Thanks to subsequent match-funding from local municipalities in Nepal and additional funding from the legacy of a long term supporter, the campaign will make an even greater impact than initially predicted.

The original aim of the campaign was to provide varying support to each classroom, whereas now PTN can commit to refurbishing each of the 30 classrooms.

Isle of Man PTN trustee Maggie White said: ’We are very grateful to all our supporters on the Isle of Man who engaged with PTN’s 30For30 campaign during 2021 and contributed to its success.

’It is exciting to know that work has already started on the first of the 30 planned early years classrooms.’

The campaign supports the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal to ensure all children have access to quality early childhood development (ECD) so that they are ready for primary education.