Introduction
Welcome to this first quarterly update from The Nepal Initiative. Our aim is to keep donors, partners and other supporters informed about our fundraising efforts, donations, and activities in Nepal. We hope you find this update helpful and engaging.
Fundraising
We raised a total of £35,374 in the first quarter of 2025. Donations comprised regular monthly contributions for child sponsorship, as well as a number of one-off donations for specific campaigns (e.g. education, child rescue) and for general purposes.
TNI fundraising, Q1 2025
Donations
We donated a total of £19,513, the majority of which (49%) went towards regular monthly support of the 41 children we sponsor at Light House Foundation Nepal (LHFN), with the balance split between education, activities, healthcare and child rescue.
TNI donations, Q1 2025
Activities
We believe it is important to give our sponsored children opportunities to experience a wide range of activities – including sports, music, art and dance – not only for their general enjoyment, but also to discover where their talents may lie outside the classroom. Some highlights from Q1 include:
- In February, Esther Sunar (age 12) travelled to Thailand, along with one of the boys from LHFN, and won a silver medal at the Thailand Karate Cup: International Karate Championship.
- In March, Manisha Thapa (age 14) was named “Queen of the Marathon” after competing in a full marathon in Kathmandu.
We are currently sponsoring specialist coaching for several children who have shown above-average ability in areas such as singing, football, cricket, and mountain biking.
Infrastructure
In January, we provided funds to repair a serious leak in the roof of the girls’ hostel, and in March we refurbished the tables and benches in the dining area. Our next plan is to repair the damage to two of the bedrooms caused by the leak mentioned above.
Healthcare
In August last year, we launched an annual health check-up programme for all the children at LHFN, in partnership with a clinic in Kathmandu called Ek Ek Paila (founded by a group of Nepali doctors to provide high quality healthcare to those who cannot afford it otherwise). We had noticed that the children were only seeing a doctor or dentist when issues became urgent, so we are now monitoring their health more regularly to catch and address problems early. As you might expect, there was quite a lot of follow-up required after the initial checks, including getting glasses for 21 of the children!
Rescue
We have historically focused on supporting children already in the care of LHFN. However, we are now beginning to support the rescue of girls who have been trafficked, either within Nepal or into India.
In February, we helped fund the rescue of three underage girls from a brothel in Delhi, followed by three more girls in March. The details of this work can be emotionally triggering, so we will only share further information upon request.
We are now seeking to raise $2.3 million to rescue 300 girls over the next 18 months and to build the infrastructure and services needed to support them (and others in the future) after their rescue. If you would like to learn more, please get in touch—we have a detailed fundraising presentation we’d be happy to share.
Governance
In February 2024, Nepal was placed back on the FATF grey list (having been removed in 2014), which includes countries that are under increased monitoring due to concerns about weaknesses in measures to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing.
This development highlights the importance of maintaining strict governance over all funds we send to Nepal. We already follow robust giving guidelines (as required by the UK Charity Commission) and take great care to ensure that every penny we donate is used as intended. We are happy to provide donors with further information about our policies upon request.
The Nepal Initiative was successfully registered as a UK charity on 18 November 2024, and we have now completed the migration of our activities from our Singapore non-profit organisation to the new UK entity. The move is already proving beneficial, with nearly £1,000 raised from the UK government through Gift Aid (as of 22 April). Being registered as a charity in England and Wales also brings greater credibility and recognition than we previously had with our Singapore-based organisation.
