Make a donation

Every penny donated goes to the work in Kovalam with the UK costs being paid by the trustees.

You can make a secure online donation through the Virgin Money Giving website.

You can use your mobile phone to donate by texting VENK11 £5 (or £10) to 70070.

Or you can give to the Venkat Trust by monthly standing order. We rely on standing orders to meet our regular monthly costs such as teachers’ salaries, books, school fees and uniforms. Please contact us and we will send you a standing order form.

Could you sponsor a child?

Having a sponsor makes an immeasurable difference to a child and his or her family and there is always a waiting list of children needing to be sponsored.

Sponsors pay £12 a month. Half the money goes to the family for the child’s welfare and the other half is kept in a savings account for the more expensive years ahead when the child moves onto further education. Our sponsors find this ongoing relationship with a child half a world away gives great pleasure as they watch their ‘child’ grow up.

If you would like to become a sponsor, please email us.

Can you help the High School?

From a room in the name of your choice for £4,000, to a tenner for a classroom sign, there are lots of ways to play a part in building the splendid new Kovalam High School.

Happily, thanks to all the donations we have had over the past couple of years, we have the money – with some help from the Indian Government – for the building itself.

However, we still have needs for the large school grounds: a perimeter wall at £25 for five foot, a wrought iron entrance gate for £450, £20 contributions for the turfing and planting of the garden area or £50 for a five foot palm tree. Donations of £30 towards the cost of laying the sports area and the equipment needed for cricket, volleyball, badminton etc. are also needed.

There are also plenty of things we still need for inside the building: from desk and bench sets for five pupils (£66 each) to electric ceiling fans (£16 each). The decoration of one classroom costs £40, a blackboard £30 and shady trees for the garden are £25 each. Or you might like to contribute to equipping the Science Lab with Bunsen burners, microscopes, test tubes, pipettes, flasks etc. We’ll also need English and Tamil books for the library – £50 will buy a dozen and £25 a bookshelf.

Any amount for any item will be very much appreciated.