Last month, long-standing supporters Nigel and Pepie contacted me to ask how they might most effectively help our projects in Nepal. Nigel indicated that he wanted to make a substantial donation and that he would like to do this with, as he put it, "a warm hand" i.e. while he is still alive! I presented him with a number of options in the area of education, this being the couple's major interest.

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A few days later, I was stunned when Nigel called me back to say that they would be making a donation of £60,500 to cover the cost of building a new school block at Bhatighadi School and pledging a further £10,000 towards a Big Give matching appeal in October. This combined gift is far and away the largest individual donation we have ever received and comes as a great vote of confidence in our projects. It is also very encouraging in the midst of the financial crisis, where fundraising has never been so challenging as it is now.

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The impact of the Bhatighadi school building project will be massive at an under-resourced community school that is attended by 200 students, most of them girls. As you can see from the accompanying image, the girls are really crammed into the existing classrooms. The building has long since passed its sell-by date and will need to be demolished to make way for a new two-storey building. In the interests of the environment, we will be using some of the funds for refurbishing other existing classrooms. This will complement some of the earlier support that we have provided to the school including building and equipping a new computer classroom (courtesy of Guy's Trust), paying the salary of support teacher Jina Tamang (pictured) and issue of school rucksacks, reusable sanitary pads and warm clothing to the students. We are well on the way towards achieving our goal of making this school just as good as any private school in the neighbourhood - "levelling up" in modern parlance.

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The Big Give appeal will be towards the cost of providing extra (female) tutors at other community learning centres which we are supporting, but I will write about that nearer the time of the appeal.

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I look forward to hosting a visit to Nepal by Nigel and Pepie in the spring of next year so that they can see how their investment in Nepal's children has been spent. If you are interested in making a very specific donation, large or small, with warm hand or cold hand (through a gift in your will) just drop me a line so that we can explore possibilities. Generally speaking, we aim to direct donations received in wills towards building our disaster relief fund that will allow us to respond immediately and save lives when the inevitable disasters such as earthquakes and floods strike. However, we are very happy to discuss other options that might be more in line with your own passions.

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Thank you, Nigel and Pepie!