Pattaya Street Kids’ Support Project

Annual Report. April 2008

About the Charity

The Pattaya Street Kids’ Support Project was formed in March 2000 as a simple idea to help a few kids living on the streets of Pattaya Thailand. Since then the charity has grown and now also promotes a Student Scholarship scheme for children from very poor families living mainly in the slums of the city.

The charity is registered with the Charity Commission the United Kingdom and in Thailand also works in partnership with the Mercy Project a Thai registered Foundation which administers the scholarships on our behalf.

Special points of interest:

·This year sees an increase in the number of our Scholarship Students.

·Individual sponsorship increases.

·Huay Pong Home boys’ dormitory refurbished in joint Rotary Clubs' project

Education for the kids - Their Future

State education in Thailand is free to all children, but each family must be able to afford to buy school uniforms, books, and pens and to be able to get the child to school. For many of the families living in the Chomchun airat (slums) it is almost impossible to find the money needed for these items and that is where the scholarship scheme steps in. Each child recommended for a scholarship is interviewed with his or her family to make sure that they understand the commitment they will need to make to ensure that they gain the most out of their education. All of the children on the scheme realise that with an education they not only improve their own future prospects but also those of their family.

Chairman’s Report

This is the fourth year that we have operated as a Registered Charity. It seems like only yesterday that I met with our founder Don Ford, who at that time had been operating alone helping to support the street kids in Pattaya.

During the past year we have as projected, increased our education programme via your donations and sponsorship. The year 2007-2008 has seen several of the children’s sponsors visiting them in Thailand.

The Charity has been involved in a joint project with The Rotary Club of Worthing, and their Australian counterparts The Rotary Club of Hawthorne Melbourne.

The project was for the refurbishment of dormitories at the Hauy Pong Children’s Home. Don Ford has been closely involved in this and was kept very busy during his visit in January and February helping to oversee and manage the work in Thailand. I would like to offer our grateful thanks and gratitude to the Rotary on behalf of the children.

In 2008 over 600 children and scholarship students attended our New Year parties. These were held at the Hauy Pong and Mercy children’s homes. The parties were funded by the kind donations of our supporters; donations also go towards the running of the Day Care Early Learning Centre, this being run by the Mercy Project. The Day Care Centre is in one of Pattaya’s largest slum areas and gives support to the children there.

This will be my last report as Chairman of The Pattaya Street Kids’ Support Project. Mrs Kath Hutt will take over as Chair for 2008-2009. I will of course still be involved with the Charity as a trustee.

I take this opportunity to personally thank all of our supporters, without you we could not operate.

With grateful thanks

Jim Tourle

Treasurer’s Report

I have been fortunate enough to visit Thailand twice during the year under review and have been able to see how money donated has been used. There is no doubt in my mind that every penny has made a difference to the life of the children, be it through education, food, clothing or just helping the kids enjoy some really special days.

Thanks to the generosity of our supporters we have been able to take another twenty students onto our scholarship scheme and at the time of writing we are looking for individual sponsors for some of these children, which will then    enable us to take more children into the scheme. Details of those children needing sponsors can always be found on our website. Many of the students have been delighted to receive a visit from their sponsors and most visiting sponsors have had the opportunity of meeting their student’s family and seeing their home.

We have continued to help with support at the Mercy Home in Pattaya where Fred and Dianne Doell care for twenty-one children who are considered at high risk. The numbers at the home often increase without warning when other children are literally dumped on their doorstep. Visitors to Pattaya are always welcome to visit the home and to see the loving care and attention the children receive.

We continue to support work at the Ko Pai slum infant day care centre where thirty-eight children attend from Monday to Friday and are cared for whilst their parents work. The Ko Pai slum is home to some of the poorest families in Pattaya so continuing support is essential and the education that the centre provides will enable the children to enter state schooling (if funding permits) when they are four years of age.

We would like to thank our bankers, Barclays Bank PLC for making a donation to our education project to meet the first year education costs of ten children. This will enable these ten children from the slums of Pattaya to take their first step into education and put them on the road to a brighter future.

Don Ford

Joint Rotary Clubs’ Project At Hauy Pong Children’s Home

We were approached by the Rotary Club of Worthing, UK and the Rotary Club of Hawthorne, Australia with a view to the two clubs carrying out a joint project to refurbish an old dormitory to house thirty boys at the Hauy Pong Children’s Home.

Over a period of six months we organised the supplies needed to bring the interior of the dormitory up to a comfortable standard for the boys with new beds and bedding, a computer, a DVD player and homework tables. It is hoped that monks will open the new dormitory with a blessing during the Thai festival of Songkran during April.

The joint project was funded by donations totalling nearly £4000 and we also contributed a further £1000 for sports equipment, clothing, DVDs and two freestanding cooling fans.

What The Future Holds

There is little doubt that continued support for the scholarship students will enable them to progress through the state education system and give them the opportunity to improve their future employment prospects that will take them out of the slums.

At the Hauy Pong Home more and more children are now attending state schools and given an opportunity to follow a vocational course, something that will stand them in good stead for when they have to leave the home when they are eighteen years old.

 

The Mercy Home will continue to need support to feed and clothe the kids and to send them to school.

All of these things take money and we hope that we can count on your continued support to help make a difference to the lives of these children.

As in previous years the trustees of the charity have personally met all expenses associated with running the charity so 100% of donations have been used for the benefit of the children.

100 Years From Today

It will not matter how big your bank account was, the sort of house you lived in, or the kind of car you drove. But the world may be a little better because your help touched the life of one child.

Can You Help?

·£5 a month will pay for a child to attend school

·£5 will help us feed 2 children for a month

·£2 will buy a child a pair of shoes

·£3 will buy a child a T –Shirt and shorts

·£7 will buy a Mosquito net

100% of all donations are used for the benefit of the kids. We do not make any deductions for administrative or travel expenses

Pattaya Street Kids’ Support Project

(Registered Charity No. 1104335)

12 Dankton Lane

Sompting

West Sussex BN15 0EA

United Kingdom

Phone: +44 (01903) 763286 (UK)

0871356245 (Thailand mobile)

Email:     streetkids@ntlworld.com

Website: www.pattayastreetkids.org

To make a donation:

By cheque to: Pattaya Street Kids’ Support Project

Credit direct to our bank:

Barclays Bank, Chapel Road, Worthing UK

Sort code: 20-98-74

Account No. 50943711

By PayPal: Quote Email: streetkids@ntlworld.com

A Sponsor's visit To Pattaya - February 2008

Having heard a number of glowing reports about the PSKSP I was both curious and a little skeptical: how could they do so much with so little, compared to larger charities?  I found out  a few minutes  after arriving at the Mercy Project offices, when I was asked if  I 'd like to make peanut-butter sandwiches that we would take that morning to inmates at Banglamung prison.  It took me less than a loaf to feel like I was a part of, and not just a donor. 

As odd as it might sound, my times with Don and the Mercy

Project folks at the schools, slums and prisons were  hands-down the most rewarding and enjoyable days of my Thailand visit.  I was so impressed with the way the organizations worked together.  Neither wastes a penny, they all give freely of their own time... and genuinely care about these kids.

We now sponsor three students and have the satisfaction of knowing that not only are we giving them the tools to build a better future, but that also that it's probably the best-spent money we'll lay out this year.  We thank PSKSP for the opportunity.

Mark W

California, USA

Our Annual Accounts for the period April 2007 - March 2008 have been independenlt examined at available for viewing here.