Hi Everyone,

I have been given the amazing opportunity to travel to Thailand for 6 weeks next summer to volunteer in either government run orphanages, or privately owned orphanages to support abandoned children with disabilities. In order to do this, I need to raise £600 for the charity 4Life, which is the UK partnership of the Thai charity CCD; The Christian Care Foundation For Disabled Children. I will be paying for the expenses of the trip myself, so all the money you kindly donate will be going straight to this worthy cause!

A few facts:

There are an estimated 2000 children living in state run orphanages in the region of Pakkred, Bangkok. The majority of these children have been abandoned due to the stigma surrounding disability in Thailand. The atmosphere in these orphanages is of utter despair and is truly heart breaking; each ward has between 2-4 care givers, in charge of between 60-70 children! This gives them little time to give the children the love and care that they need, with them only being able to carry out the essentials of showering, feeding and changing the children. Many are left in their cots all day, every day, unstimulated and just merely existing. The children at the orphanages have an array of both physical and mental disabilities, from Cerebral Palsy to Downs Syndrome. Some children have minor disabilities, such as a missing finger or a cleft palate, however due to a lack of appropriate care and stimulation, their disabilities worsen. At present, CCD can only help about 600 of these children, but are constantly looking for ways to help the others that are in desperate need.

4Life:

The 4Life group helps in three main ways...

1) Rainbow House: this is a specialist residential home accommodating for up to 50 children. With excellent facilities and staff, the children are given the opportunity to lead a more normal life, with the ultimate goal of reuniting the children with their families or the possibility of adoption.

2) Day Care Centres: the children attend these centres to be educated, stimulated and cared for

3) Community-based Rehabilitation Centres: provide emotional, financial and educational support to families

A UK pound goes a long way in Thailand, so please consider giving to this amazing charity.

£3 can provide a 'learn to write' kit

£5 can buy a baby care kit, providing the essentials: milk, nappies and soap

£10 can provide books and school uniform

£30 can provide one month's education

£50 can provide a child with severe physical disabilities a full course of physiotherapy

Any donation you give will make a massive difference to the lives of abandoned children in Thailand. So please donate :) THANK YOU!!

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.