Anglo-Thai Foundation
Encyclopedia
The Anglo-Thai Foundation is UK
Registered charity No. 1000093, and makes annual grants
to bright schoolchildren from the poorest families in Isaan (Northeast Thailand) to ensure they are able to attend school and complete the education
provided by the state.
The children are chosen by the head teacher
s of their schools and are supported from primary level through secondary school
and on, if they make the grade, to college
and university
. In 2010-2011 467 schoolchildren and students were receiving grants.
When funds allow, grants are also made to schools to provide clean drinking water
, hygienic toilet
s, libraries
, school vegetable gardens and fish
breeding ponds to supplement their diet. Special hardship
grants are made to particularly distressed families to help them cope with illness
, misfortune and disability
.
The charity is wholly dependent for its finance
on donation
s and sponsorship.
in Wimbledon
, UK
on the initiative of a Thai
Buddhist monk, Phrakhru Panyasudhammawithet (Dr Phramaha Laow Panyasiri), and Peter Robinson, an English buddhist
.
Phrakhru Panyasudhammawithet recalls, "I was always sad that I had not been able to study more as a child, and now I wanted to help other children in my village who were in a similar situation".
At first the foundation focused on providing education grants for the poorest children in the young monk’s home village of Nongrang, Sisaket Province
. "We decided to raise funds to finance a well to provide the village with clean water, a community hall, and extra land for the school. We built a kindergarten
and paid for lunch for all the children attending it. We built cells for the monks in the village to live in. In the UK we found generous sponsors, not all of them Buddhists by any mean, and were able to ask a local teacher to write to schools in many different villages to ask which children were most in need of help".
The foundation prospered, and with generous donations and a growing number of sponsors, was able to expand its work to provinces beyond Sisaket. It now helps schoolchildren and students from many provinces of Isaan, irrespective of religious allegiance or non-allegiance.
Grants to schoolchildren, students, families in hardship and projects in 2010/11 totalled £83,000 (4 million Thai Baht
).
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Registered charity No. 1000093, and makes annual grants
Grant (money)
Grants are funds disbursed by one party , often a Government Department, Corporation, Foundation or Trust, to a recipient, often a nonprofit entity, educational institution, business or an individual. In order to receive a grant, some form of "Grant Writing" often referred to as either a proposal...
to bright schoolchildren from the poorest families in Isaan (Northeast Thailand) to ensure they are able to attend school and complete the education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
provided by the state.
The children are chosen by the head teacher
Head teacher
A head teacher or school principal is the most senior teacher, leader and manager of a school....
s of their schools and are supported from primary level through secondary school
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
and on, if they make the grade, to college
College
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...
and university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
. In 2010-2011 467 schoolchildren and students were receiving grants.
When funds allow, grants are also made to schools to provide clean drinking water
Drinking water
Drinking water or potable water is water pure enough to be consumed or used with low risk of immediate or long term harm. In most developed countries, the water supplied to households, commerce and industry is all of drinking water standard, even though only a very small proportion is actually...
, hygienic toilet
Toilet
A toilet is a sanitation fixture used primarily for the disposal of human excrement, often found in a small room referred to as a toilet/bathroom/lavatory...
s, libraries
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
, school vegetable gardens and fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
breeding ponds to supplement their diet. Special hardship
Hardship
A hardship may mean:*hardship clause in contract law*undue hardship in employment law and other areas*extreme hardship in immigration law*hardship post in a foreign service*hardship in life...
grants are made to particularly distressed families to help them cope with illness
Illness
Illness is a state of poor health. Illness is sometimes considered another word for disease. Others maintain that fine distinctions exist...
, misfortune and disability
Disability
A disability may be physical, cognitive, mental, sensory, emotional, developmental or some combination of these.Many people would rather be referred to as a person with a disability instead of handicapped...
.
The charity is wholly dependent for its finance
Finance
"Finance" is often defined simply as the management of money or “funds” management Modern finance, however, is a family of business activity that includes the origination, marketing, and management of cash and money surrogates through a variety of capital accounts, instruments, and markets created...
on donation
Donation
A donation is a gift given by physical or legal persons, typically for charitable purposes and/or to benefit a cause. A donation may take various forms, including cash, services, new or used goods including clothing, toys, food, and vehicles...
s and sponsorship.
History
The Anglo-Thai Foundation was founded in 1990 at the Buddhapadipa templeTemple
A temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur. It has the same root as the word "template," a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out...
in Wimbledon
Wimbledon, London
Wimbledon is a district in the south west area of London, England, located south of Wandsworth, and east of Kingston upon Thames. It is situated within Greater London. It is home to the Wimbledon Tennis Championships and New Wimbledon Theatre, and contains Wimbledon Common, one of the largest areas...
, UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
on the initiative of a Thai
Thai people
The Thai people, or Siamese, are the main ethnic group of Thailand and are part of the larger Tai ethnolinguistic peoples found in Thailand and adjacent countries in Southeast Asia as well as southern China. Their language is the Thai language, which is classified as part of the Kradai family of...
Buddhist monk, Phrakhru Panyasudhammawithet (Dr Phramaha Laow Panyasiri), and Peter Robinson, an English buddhist
Buddhism in England
Buddhism is quite a recent religion to arrive in England. Despite this, 144,453 people declared themselves to be Buddhist at the 2001 Census.-History:...
.
Phrakhru Panyasudhammawithet recalls, "I was always sad that I had not been able to study more as a child, and now I wanted to help other children in my village who were in a similar situation".
At first the foundation focused on providing education grants for the poorest children in the young monk’s home village of Nongrang, Sisaket Province
Sisaket Province
Sisaket , is one of the north-eastern provinces of Thailand. Neighboring provinces are Surin, Roi Et, Yasothon and Ubon Ratchathani. To the south it borders Oddar Meancheay and Preah Vihear of Cambodia.-Geography:...
. "We decided to raise funds to finance a well to provide the village with clean water, a community hall, and extra land for the school. We built a kindergarten
Kindergarten
A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...
and paid for lunch for all the children attending it. We built cells for the monks in the village to live in. In the UK we found generous sponsors, not all of them Buddhists by any mean, and were able to ask a local teacher to write to schools in many different villages to ask which children were most in need of help".
The foundation prospered, and with generous donations and a growing number of sponsors, was able to expand its work to provinces beyond Sisaket. It now helps schoolchildren and students from many provinces of Isaan, irrespective of religious allegiance or non-allegiance.
Grants to schoolchildren, students, families in hardship and projects in 2010/11 totalled £83,000 (4 million Thai Baht
Thai baht
The baht is the currency of Thailand. It is subdivided into 100 satang . The issuance of currency is the responsibility of the Bank of Thailand.-History:The baht, like the pound, originated from a traditional unit of mass...
).