At the meeting on Wednesday 22nd June, members heard about the amazing work undertaken by a small charity with only four and a half employees. The Purple Community Fund which was previously known as the Philippine Community Fund was set up by Jane Walker MBE who discovered that a significant number of families in the Philippines eked out an existence living on a squalid rubbish tip trying to find items which could be sold to make enough money to buy basic food. The whole family would be involved including tiny children. Somehow Jane has managed to find ways of helping these families and even built an entire school from shipping containers which educates up to 100 children at any one time. One of the most effective fund raisers also provides employment. Ring pulls from drink cans are sent to Manila in batches and are turned into the most delightful pieces of jewelry and bags. This helps the environment, provides employment and ultimately sets up an income stream for the charity. The photograph shows our speaker, Sheila, with one of the bags and President Jackie.
www.p-c-f.org