Charity gala raises Dh95,000 for school in Nepal

Children of the Mountain charity plans to build new school in a deprived area of Nepal.

DUBAI // A charity gala has raised Dh95,000 to help build a new school in a deprived area of Nepal.

Guests paid Dh350 each to attend the event, which was organised by Children of the Mountain and featured a silent auction and a raffle.

“We had about 350 people attend the charity night, which was more than we were expecting because we only got final approval to hold the event pretty late,” said John Matthews, an executive director at the charity. “All the money we collected was from ticket sales and activities we did on the night.”

Children of the Mountain was set up in 2009 by a team in Dubai.

Permission to raise money as a charity was given by the Department of Islamic Affairs and the UAE Red Crescent before Friday’s charity night at the H Hotel, Mr Matthews said.

“We can now organise more fundraising events in Dubai and we already have a calendar of events for the rest of the year,” he said.

The money raised on Friday will be used to help build the charity’s fourth school in Nepal. The charity works in some of the poorest areas of the country, fitting out schools and paying for teachers to work with children who may be denied education because of their caste or gender, and end who might otherwise end up as child labour.

“The guests who attended the event all had a great time and we managed to raise some money for a good cause as well,” said Mr Matthews. “One of the great things about the event was people’s willingness to donate their time and effort for free to help organise it and make sure it was a success.”

Nicola Holmes, a director of Custard Communications, which managed the event, said: “We regularly invest resources in giving something back to society, and are proud to be a partner of Children of the Mountain.

“Their achievements in Nepal in a relatively short space of time show that with passion and determination, we can all make a difference.”

For more information on the work of Children of the Mountain visit www.childrenofthemountain.org.