Achievements

Achievements

Lai See’s journey started in 2008, 16 years later we have achieved so much, but we still need your help!

2023

We started the year by taking on two new schools in January as a replacement for ending our previous relationship with Saraswati school. The two schools, Shree Guhyeshwori and Janavikash are both government schools situated in very poor areas of Kathmandu. KIKN is funding 50 midday meals (tiffin) at each school (you can read more about each school in the full Annual Report linked below). This is also the time of the year when the Trustees usually decide if we are able to fund any of the school projects given to us during our annual visit. We were again fortunate to be given a grant of £10,000 from Futures For Kids (FFK) at the end of the previous year and together with our own charity funds we were able to  fund a record number of projects across all the schools.

In February, Kate, one of our Trustees ran the Brighton half marathon and raised over £1,500 for the charity. We are again grateful for all of the support from donors and supporters alike. In April we were lucky enough to get another visit to the UK by Uma, our representative in Nepal. Three of the Trustees were able to meet with her and get updates on the students and the schools. July saw us hold our 10th AGM combined with an afternoon tea. It was nice to have the opportunity to meet some of our regular sponsors and donors again at Durban Road and to go through our Annual Report and Accounts.

During the summer the charity changed its bank account to the Co-operative Bank plc, a major undertaking but successfully completed with all of our sponsors and donors being transferred across. Again we were very grateful for the co-operation of everyone involved to make this a success.

In November we held a very successful coffee morning fundraiser at Lewisham Council offices in Catford which raised over £1,000.

Due to the Nepal school term dates this year the second visit to Nepal by the Chief Officer and one of the Trustees, Kate Pottinger was not able to happen until the beginning of December. It proved to be a another very successful and enjoyable visit enabling the Chief Officer to see almost all of the sponsored children and visit all of the seven schools, including the two new ones, to see first hand all of the good work that KIKN has undertaken this year. You can read a comprehensive account of the visit in the annual report by clicking on the link below.

The year ended with our third Christmas text raffle that seems to have become a very successful fundraiser for the charity. We were also delighted that we received a large grant of £10,000 from Futures For Kids (FFK) charity that enabled us to undertake a number of capital projects requested by our schools, due for completion in 2024.

2022

This was the first year that the charity operated without the guidance of Lai See Chew. A new Chief Officer, Stephen Smith, was appointed in January. With the backing of all the Trustees and, most importantly, all the sponsors and donors we got down to the business of continuing the work of the charity as normal. In March we were lucky enough to get a visit to the UK by Uma, our representative in Nepal. This proved particularly useful for the Chief Officer in helping to grow the necessary close working relationship in this, the first year of working together.

In July we held our first live event post-Covid with our 9th AGM combined with an afternoon tea. It was nice to have the opportunity to meet some of our regular sponsors and donors again at Durban Road and to go through our Annual Report and Accounts.

In October we held another one of our very successful KIKN Quiz Nights at the Clarendon Hotel in Blackheath where we raised in excess of £1,000 to go towards our breakfast clubs in the six schools.

November saw the very first visit to Nepal by the Chief Officer and another Trustee, Janet Davies. It proved to be a very successful and enjoyable visit enabling the Chief Officer to see almost all of the sponsored children and visit all of the six schools that we work with and to see first hand all of the good work that KIKN has undertaken. It was also the first time for a couple of years that we were able to take out the sponsors letters to the children. You can read a comprehensive account of the visit in the annual report by clicking on the link below.

The year ended with our second Christmas text raffle, an innovation coming from Covid lockdowns, that seems to have become a very successful fundraiser for the charity. We were also delighted that we received a large grant of £10,000 from Futures For Kids (FFK) charity that enabled us to undertake a number of capital projects requested by our schools, due for completion in 2023.

2021

A very challenging year for everyone connected with KIKN. It started with the terrible news of Lai See’s illness. Yet again, all our usual fundraising events during the year were cancelled due to further Covid lockdowns and in October the sad news of Lai See’s passing after her brave battle with her illness had a dramatic impact on everyone.

In February we held an online film event showing a documentary film titled ‘I Am Belmaya’ – about the life of a Nepali girl made over 14 years. The proceeds were shared between KIKN, the filmmaker, and Belmaya. With schools in Kathmandu closed for much of the year we started a coronavirus relief appeal in June after receiving reports of how difficult conditions were becoming for the families of the children. We successfully raised over £9,450 in donations including a grant of £5,000 from FFK, which enabled us to feed the 90 children at Ishwor School for a month, funded food and rent for the 9 sponsored children at Lubhoo, as well as funding a number of other vital one off projects.

In September 2021, the Chief Officer, as Founder of the Charity, wrote to all sponsors, donors and major grant funders to advise them that she was terminally ill, and to ask if they were willing to continue supporting KIKN after her death. There was universal support for KIKN and assurances received that funding would be ongoing, with the Trustees continuing to run the charity in the spirit with which Ms Lai See Chew had led it during the previous ten years.

Sponsor’s letters were again sent in a parcel by DHL together with some other items for the children. Despite the pandemic conditions we still managed to provide a full set of clothing for all the children.

In October, an online memorial fund was set up in memory of Ms Lai See Chew, who sadly passed away on the 8^thOctober 2021. A total of more than £4,000 was received from all sources.

Our last fundraiser was a completely new event for the charity. We decided to hold an online Christmas text raffle as we had a number of previously donated prizes available. It proved a tremendous success.

2020

It proved to be a very challenging year  for the charitable sector, including KIKN. The Covid-19 lockdown in the country meant that many of our fund raising events during the year were cancelled, thus reducing our income.

In January we managed to increase the number of Breakfast Club places at two schools, Shree Buddha and Adarsha, from 50 to 75. We also purchased 12 new computers and classroom furniture at Shree Buddha School together with refurbishing a Nursery room with money we received at the turn of the year from one of our major grant funders, Futures For Kids.

We held our annual Chinese New Year Open House in mid-February 2020 before a lockdown was declared in the UK. The schools in Kathmandu followed suit and closed a few weeks later in March. KIKN  started to receive calls from the schools asking for help for some of their poorest families in the following weeks.

In April, with the help of a donation from one of the Trustees we provided some food parcels for 9 of the KIKN sponsored children at Lubhoo School. Over the summer with accrued breakfast club money, together with unexpected generous donations from KIKN’s 2 big donors, Futures for Kids and the Horseman Trust, we were able to organise 2 rounds of food relief programmes to all the six schools we support. An appeal was made to KIKN supporters in July and by August a sizeable amount of money had been raised thanks to our wonderful donors and supporters to enable KIKN to make a third round of food relief to all the schools we support.

A total of £36,000 was spent  delivering the much needed food to 2,400 families, benefitting  just under 6,000 parents and children inclusive. It was an excellent example of effective team working and efficient organisation orchestrated between UK and Kathmandu. KIKN is very proud of the achievement.

We also provided 11 hand sanitiser and temperature reading machines for the schools and were able to help set up a new engineering course at Shree Buddha School.

KIKN now has 2 graduates and 5 undergraduates going through the education system. The degree spans from Teaching, Nursing, Charted Accountancy, Hotel Management, Pharmacy and Business Administration.  There are 4/5  pupils poised to start in 2021, dependent on their results. The courses will include Law, Journalism and Teaching.

With the lockdown restrictions, Lai See was not able to make the annual trip to Nepal in September. 2 big parcels with sponsors’ letters and gifts from sponsors were sent to Kathmandu via DHL so the communication between the children and their sponsors was maintained. They were well received as always.

2019

KIKN has had its best year yet. Through diligent housekeeping and successful fundraising  during the year, KIKN  was able to take on 2 additional Secondary Schools. They are Shree Buddha Secondary School and Adarsha Secondary School.

KIKN set up its 7^th Breakfast club, sharing  the resources between the 2 new schools in September. Shree Buddha School has over 650 pupils with a very large under 4 population. The school has over 60 young children in its Nursery class – they call it ‘play group’. They age from 18 months to 6 years. The school management board is forward thinking. They have been successful in canvassing the local businesses to support the school. Funding for free uniforms for the 650 children was secured. KIKN’s funding for 50 children’s breakfasts  is being stretched to feed 100 children!

Adarsha Secondary School is an inner city school with just over 300 pupils. It has a small nursery class of approximately 25 pupils. It has limited play space in the school grounds. Cooking utensils and eating bowls and cutlery were purchased for the schools.

Lubhoo School started its vocational training in April. KIKN had class furniture built in readiness and contributed to a new Reference library required by the course.

Iswor School was given 90 sets of uniforms at the school’s request. The annual food distribution took place for the third year running. In view of the feedback and possible violence ( from a handful of poor desperate mums), KIKN will replace this annual event with giving warm winter jackets in the future. The request for help with safe drinking water for the children  and electricity bills were acquiesced .

Neel Barahi School was given funding to purchase 10 new computers to start the process of replacing computers purchased 9 years ago.

Saraswati School  was given funding to furnish a multi- purpose room with furniture and carpet. It is used for school activities and serves as a room for part of the Breakfast club space for the older children. New class room furniture was built to replace old broken down desks and benches.

To date, KIKN has its second graduate in July 2019.  2 new entrants for University, one to study Pharmacy and the other Hotel Management since October. The third one is being assisted by an American charity to enable her to embark on her ambition to be a doctor. KIKN now has 4 undergraduates with 14 in the pipe line at  A-level classes. A challenging   year ahead.

Last but not least, KIKN is very proud to announce that we were nominated for Queen’s Award for Voluntary Services ( QAVS ) in November. This award is similar to an MBE for individuals. KIKN will be informed in May 2020 if we have been successful.

2018

KIKN continued to thrive with enthusiastic support from the ever loyal supporters, namely Futures For Kids, the Horseman Trust and many others without whom many of KIKN’s projects would not have happened.

KIKN adopted our 6^th school – Saraswati Secondary school in January 2018 . With the introduction of our 6^th Breakfast club, KIKN was able to create access to education for an additional 100 children  from another rural deprived community.

Ishwor School had all the desks and benches replaced and renewed in the 5 class rooms. The salary of the Nursery teacher was increased to support her in her development, thus benefitting the children.

Lubhoo School had its Science lab upgraded. It was approved for  starting its vocational training for Diplomas in Engineering courses in April 2019.

KIKN continued to pay for the salaries of 2 computer Science teachers at Neel Barahi and Jana Sudhar Secondary schools. The Karate teacher’s salary is  continued at Neel Barahi. With the changing needs in the schools, KIKN was able to reconfigure and redistribute our resources to increase the breakfast club at Neel Barahi from 100 to 150 children. Consequently, KIKN  is now feeding just under 600 children on every school day, easing the access to education for children coming from poor and deprived backgrounds.

KIKN had 3 undergraduates studying Education (to be a teacher), Accountancy and English Literature (in education field for disabled children). There were 10 children studying in A-level classes  with a further 7 entering in October 2018. The budget pressure is on for the foreseeable future.

2017

Once again KIKN has had a highly succesful year. It is worthy to note that KIKN’s two major funders, namely, Futures For Kids (FFK) and the Horseman Trust, continue to increase their funding to enable some of our projects to come to fruition in the schools.

KIKN adopted it’s fourth primary school, Ishwor Primary School, in September 2017. It is the most deprived school we are supporting to date. There are around 80 children, 30 of which are from beggars families. A breakfast club for 50 children was set up with the support of one of KIKN’s general sponsors.

In addition, help was given to all the schools to continue to improve their facilities. Classroom furniture is purchased incrementally as funding comes through. A PA system was installed in two schools. The commitment was to continue to fund the five breakfast clubs, feeding just under 500 children, five salaries and the education of our 40 sponsored children above all else in the schools.

At present there are four in sixth form and four in university with a further six entering sixth form in 2018. The budget pressure for the increased educational costs was met by the generosity of FFK and the Horseman trust.

2016

A very successful year for the charity. With the help of a very generous donation from one of our sponsors early in the year we were able to take the important step of supporting another school, Lubhoo, a small school with 220 children in a poor part of the Kathmandu Valley. During the course of this year we have been able to set up a breakfast club for 100 of the children, purchased 20 computers with desks and chairs and also the requisite solar panels to operate them at all times. We have also been able to provide a basic Science Lab. As a result of taking on a third school we have also been able to increase the number of sponsored children by 7 from the new school bring our overall total of sponsored children to 40, which we have now declared is the maximum we can support with our available resources. Educationally, the results of the children continued to be very good and we had another two undergraduates starting at university.

2015

The year was eclipsed by the devastating earthquake in Nepal on 25 April. KIKN put out an appeal. It was generously supported across the globe. We raised over £16,000 in 2 months. We were able to provide immediate help to our sponsored children and their families by providing some funds to have an additional meal a day and deposits to rent another room where it is safe. With your help we were able to have water purifying plants installed in the school and orphanage and provided help to repair and rebuild the orphanage and houses of some of our sponsored children. The repair work is still continuing almost 9 months later. KIKN was able to start another breakfast club for an additional 100 children @ Jana Sudhar School for the next 12 months with some of the Appeal funding.

In the meantime, KIKN continued to raise funds to provide the ongoing support to the 2 schools with new Science Labs, the purchase of 12 additional computers and its associated furniture for Jana Sudhar School. We were fortunate to be able to keep all our projects going, alongside the relief work we undertook. The number of our sponsored children went up to 34 with some of the children achieving academic success and in others, winning medals in international Karate tournaments.

It has been a challenging year, yet it brought KIKN a higher profile resulting in more funding streams being secured for the coming years.

2014
The charity was able to increase the number of sponsored children again up to 31. There was another very successful year of fund-raising activities, including the Chinese New Year celebration, Charity Cricket Match, Cake sales at Lower Marsh and Annual Dance. With the help of a further grant of £7,000 from Futures for Kids (FFK) solar panels have been installed at Shree Neel Barahi School to enable the computers previously purchased to be used when there are power cuts. The charity has also funded 50% of a computer teacher’s salary to enable the school to recruit to this post. Continued funding for the increasingly popular karate, dancing and english lessons. Increased funding to enable 100 children to take part in the Breakfast Club.

Commenced funding for a breakfast club for 80 nursery children at Jans Sudhar School and provided funding to furnish the school library and computer room. Begun funding a quarterly contribution to rent and subsistence food provision to the Om Disabled Childrens Home.

2013
The charity was able to increase the number of sponsored children to 29. There was another successful year of fund-raising activities, including the Chinese New Year celebration, Charity Cricket Match, Cakes sale at Lower Marsh and Annual Dance.

2012
The charity held its first AGM on 17th November, when we reported on our first Annual Report and Accounts and launched a DVD video. It has been a very successful year, when the charity has held several fund raising activities, namely Chinese New Year celebration, Curry Evening, Charity Cricket Match, and pre-Christmas dance. In addition KIKN attracted some very generous donors/ Friends which has enabled the charity to further its work in Kathmandu.
The charity now sponsors 26 children, half of whom attend the Neel Barahi School.
The charity purchased 11 computers for the school, and 2 for the orphanage. The dancing and Karate classes have been increased to 4 and 3 classes respectively. The charity hopes to further increase the number of classes in 2013 to benefit most of the children in the school (with 700 pupils).
The charity has started breakfast club for 3 of its sponsored children. It is hoped that with more money raised, we will be in a position to provide breakfasts for the 50 + children who comes to school hungry each day. The orphanage has had new beddings for its 8 orphans, thanks to the help from the charity.

2011
The charitable company ‘Kids in Kathmandu Nepal’ was set up. It has enabled the trustees to fund-raise more widely involving local community groups who have been generous in their contributions in cash and kind. It enabled the school to have its first heavy duty photocopier and a computer, added to the school’s 7 existing computers.
As in previous years, winter clothing was purchased for all the sponsored children. The number of sponsored children was increased to 21
The open day has now become an annual event where all the sponsored children come with their mothers ( The fathers have never attended to date). All the children get on well through shared learning during their English language classes. They were treated to a nice meal with chicken and potato curry. They went away very happy with their winter coats, track suites, jerseys, undergarments, scarves, gloves, hats, socks and school uniforms. These items of clothing are replaced each September when Lai See visits Kathmandu.
New dancing and karate classes have been introduced in the school. Currently there are only 2 classes a week each. It is hoped that more classes will be introduced with increased funding in the future.

2010
Lai See maintained the original sponsorship of the 9 children at ‘Save Lives Foundation’ and further sponsored 9 new children; some of whom are from the state school- Neel Barahi , others through Uma Mathema’s (our local agent ) local knowledge of vulnerable and disadvantaged children living in the area.
10 emergency lamps and specially made tables were purchased for the newly sponsored children to enable them to study at home during the power cuts in winter.
Every sponsored child (18) has received educational materials and help with the school fees for each school term. They have also been given new school uniforms, bags and shoes.
We purchased 2 bicycles for use by the orphans at ‘Save Lives Foundation’ developing their balancing/cycling skills within a protected environment.
A sewing machine was purchased to help the orphanage to reduce expenses involved in providing clothing for the children at the orphanage
English Languages classes were introduced for the newly sponsored children from the state school.
The first open day was held at the orphanage, whereby all sponsored children and parents were invited to lunch. Lai See met up with the mums and renews their acquaintance each time they meet. A big parcel of clothing was given to every child by Uma’s children on behalf of all the sponsors in UK.

2009
Lai See started the sponsorship program for the nine children at the ‘Save Lives Foundation’ orphanage. Through the sponsorship, all their educational needs were taken care of, as well as winter clothing, adequate bedding and groceries. Extra tuition class for English language was introduced.
Lai See gained an insight into the plight of orphans in Kathmandu when she worked in the Nepal Children Centre – the largest orphanage in Kathmandu with over 300 children. Their ages range from 2 months old to 17 years.
With money raised from friends, Lai See was able to provide some play equipment for the nursery room where she worked for a month. With the help of Uma, the host mother at the orphanage, she was able to buy underclothing (2 each) for over a hundred children at the centre. She liaised with the local Rotary club through Uma Mathema which resulted in 2 wheel chairs being presented to the orphanage for use in the care of children with learning difficulties.

2008
Lai See raised funds from friends before her first trip to Nepal. She spent half the funds raised (over £500) on the orphanage (Save Lives Foundation) where she stayed. She was able to purchase winter clothing for the 6 children, 3 months’ supply of grocery, and assisted with the payment of school fees and the supply of educational materials. The purchase of an Inverter (battery-run generator) and its battery were the most useful items for long term benefit, according to Uma, the host mother.
Lai See worked at the HIV & Aids clinic at the Teku hospital. With some of the funds raised, emergency/resuscitation equipment was purchased for the A & E department, plus a printer. Furthermore, 2 electric heaters were purchased for the nurses working in the HIV & Aids clinic.
The equipment was formally presented to the Chief Executive (at the request of the Chief Executive) in the presence of senior management staff of the Teku hospital.
The 2008 trip was the life changing experience which spurred Lai See to undertake annual visits to Kathmandu to help the children she has come across.