Consett NHS fundraiser launches Sri Lanka appeal to help villagers in 'appalling conditions'
An NHS fundraiser has launched an appeal to help villagers in Sri Lanka, who are living in 'appalling conditions'.
Jayne Lofthouse, a team secretary from Consett, County Durham, is a dedicated fundraiser, and this is her next project.
Jayne, who has previously raised funds for a local donkey sanctuary and twice taken aid out to Poland for the people of Ukraine in the past, is hoping that people will help to support another project close to her heart.
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She is setting her sights on improving the lives of people in Sri Lanka, alongside her group of friends, by providing basics such as toothpaste, sanitary products and stationery.
She said: "The first time I ever visited Sri Lanka was back in 2017, and I just fell in love with it. The country is so beautiful, and the people are so friendly.
"They will do anything for you, even though they have very little themselves, and that’s why I want to try and help. Every little bit of support helps, and it would be lovely if people across our region could provide a little help too, it doesn’t have to be much."
Jayne, 57, has been to Sri Lanka four times in total, and the friends, who call themselves One Good Deed, spent months fundraising for donations of clothes and sanitary products before their most recent trip.
The group also raised £500 towards the cost of upgrading nurse accommodation at a hospital for villagers, which has black mould, rickety beds and bare concrete floors.
Jayne added: "During our most recent stay, I was introduced to some of the nurses. They all work hard, but the hospital conditions are awful, clean, but dilapidated.
"It was a very humbling, very moving experience – and made me all the more determined to help out. The staff are all trying their best to help people, despite having very little money.
"It was also really moving to meet some of the children we were donating items to. They were over the moon and had learned to say Thank You, and they even sang to us in English."
Now, just weeks after returning home from Sri Lanka, the One Good Deed are planning to fundraise again, to provide hygiene products and clothes for village children. As well as hosting coffee mornings once a month at Lanchester Methodist Church Hall, they are organising a Christmas Fair at Lanchester Community Centre, which will take place on December 14.
Jayne added: "When we gave the families what we had collected this year, you’d have thought we had given them the world. They were so grateful for every little thing.
"These people live in appalling poverty, just scraping by. A little gift of sweets or clothes can mean the world to them, which is why this fundraising campaign is so important to me."