Registered Charity 1060188
Pappa Fund
At the Pappa Fund we’re raising money and, through our trusted agents in Rameswaram (The Raksha Trust), we're supporting Health, Education and Emergency Relief Projects on the Island. Many fisherman's families still subsist on less than £2 a day and struggle to give their families a decent future. Please join us by supporting our efforts to make a measurable difference to the lives of impoverished villagers.
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Who we are
Our Roots
Since 1995, the Pappa Fund, based and operating in Marshfield, has been helping the most disadvantaged people on Rameswaram Island.
Our target is those in greatest need, regardless of race, religion, caste or gender and to help those who help themselves.
With so much to do, we focus on health and education, with some emergency relief when there is severe hardship.
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Everyone who helps is an unpaid volunteer.
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More than 99.5p in every £1 donated goes to India.
An enabling charity
We work solely through the Raksha Trust, run by local people, who understand what is needed and how to provide it. They have an excellent track record of delivering successful projects and enjoy our complete confidence in their standards, ethics and their approach to to identifying and satisfying community needs.
Health Programmes
Tele-medicine
Working with the Meenakshi Mission Hospital, some 100 miles away in Madurai, we provide a high quality data and video link from the small clinic in Rameswaram town to the hospital hub manned by five doctors. They provide a rapid and excellent diagnostic and on-line prescription walk-in service. Around 400-500 patients are seen each year. This helps people overcome the barriers of distance and transport costs. If treatment is required at the hospital those referred enjoy a 50% discount on their fees.
Personal casework
Very often people present with serious medical problems, most recently several with kidney failure. Raksha Trust can guide them through the process of seeking Government grants and provide advice on how families and organisations might help them meet the high cost of treatment. A small contribution to costs might be made but the costs are high and our resources quite small. So we have to spread our resources carefully.
Medical and eye camps
From time to time Raksha Trust is able to bring Doctors and Opticians on coaches, with nurses and equipment, to the island to avoid patients travelling to Madurai. These are well used and enable large numbers of people to be seen quickly.
Education Programmes
John Lane Scholarship
Through scholarships, named in honour of one of our founders, we have funded impoverished but very talented students through their engineering, science, law and other degrees. In 2022 we had 17 graduate students who have so far completed or are still undertaking their courses. All those chosen have succeeded.
Benches, desks, clean water and education materials
While the supply of uniforms and text-books has improved greatly since 1995, there is still a need for the things English schools take for granted. Where there is a need Raksha Trust helps where it can.
Emergency Relief
At times the Raksha Trust is called upon to help families whose palm leaf thatch huts have burnt down or are falling down. Recently this involved grandmothers, with grandchildren whose parents have died, and are poor daily wage workers. In these recent cases this has meant providing better housing than the decrepit huts they survive in.
Fundraising is essential to our aims and we are always looking for new ways to raise money.
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Many people donate through monthly Standing Orders which is really great as this ensures a steady income stream. £10 a month goes a long way.
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Gift Aid Declarations make this even better.
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We have also benefitted from a couple of legacies in wills which has been a brilliant boost and enabled more graduate scholarships to be offered.
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And we hold events which are good fun and raise awareness as well as funds. A recent 'Concert with Curry' night was sold out and everyone had a great time.
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If you have a fantastic fund-raising idea let us know or, better still, join our small team of volunteers.
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Rameswaram is an island, town and municipality in the Ramanathapuram district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is separated from mainland India by the Pamban channel and is about 40 kilometres from Mannar Island, Sri Lanka. It is in the Gulf of Mannar, at the tip of the Indian peninsula. Rameswaram Island, is connected to the mainland by the Pamban Bridge. Rameswaram is the terminus of the railway line from Chennai and Madurai. Together with Varanasi, it is considered to be one of the holiest places in India to Hindus, and part of the Char Dham pilgrimage.
Registered Charity 1060188