Fundraising dinner, Royal Garden Hotel, Kensington for a new school in the earthquake torn area of Kashmir

You will all remember the appalling earthquake in autumn 2005 in Kashmir. The devastation is still affecting people there. Last winter over 200,000 were still under canvass. 6000 schools and colleges have been destroyed or seriously damaged.

Our aim is to rebuild a school in one village, Bagh, in Kashmir which will serve both boys and girls from the ages of 5 to 18. The school will be called “The Kensington and Chelsea School.”

At a time of increasing world tension between communities and religions it is all the more important that people seek to bridge the divisions between us if there is to be a better understanding. Nothing could be more important than to help with the education of the young and for them to appreciate that people in the West do care about them.

At an earlier fund raising dinner for this project Prince Charles wrote in a letter to me

“Inevitably, memories of the tragedy have begun to fade, but in offering practical help to the victims to re-build their communities, it is possible to show them that they are not forgotten. I was delighted to hear about the project to rebuild the school in Bagh and I hope, and am sure, that it will help young people to build a future and to realize their potential.

The School will offer educational opportunities and hope not only to some of the earthquake victims but also to future generations. It gives me enormous pleasure to wish the project, and all those who will be helped by the kindness of its volunteers and supporters, every possible success.”

Are you willing to help?

On 28th June we are holding a dinner at the Royal Garden Hotel, Kensington High Street. The cost is £80 a head. Are you able to come? If not could you send a donation?

I enclose an invitation.

Cheques should be made out to Third World Solidarity, or if you prefer a registered charity, to Jhok Aid Project marked for the Bagh school. Jhok Aid will pass on sums received for building this school to Third World Solidarity.

Christopher Buckmaster
Former Mayor of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea