In 2002 building began on the Home & Nursery. In 2003 the main building was completed, the first children arrived at the Home and the Nursery opened with 12 children. In 2005 funds were raised to put electricity in the building. The water used was rainwater with bottled water for drinking.
Later, more funds were raised and 3km piping brought mountain stream water into the Home. Bottled water was still used for drinking. Staff at Lert Sa Wat were happy with the situation as most of their water was free! However, 10 years later, the mountain stream was being diverted elsewhere and the time had come to raise funds for a more sustainable water supply. Mains water was available 1km away from Lert Sa Wat, in the village near the main road. Initially, we were looking to raise £10,000 to bring the mains water up the hill and into the Home and Nursery.
After a long delay, the survey took place and Lert Sa Wat was told that pipes could be laid, but there was insufficient pressure for the water to reach the Home and Nursery, so laying pipes would be a waste of money. Various alternative options were explored but the final decision, made in 2018, was to buy four 24,000 litre storage tanks and a modern filtration system and pump for the Home. New guttering was required to take the new system and the tanks filled up nicely as the rainy season got under way.
The staff at Lert Sa Wat are delighted to have their own water supply at last. A combi-boiler provides hot water to the building for the first time. However, the children are still provided with bottled water to ensure that their drinking water is safe.
This is how we managed to achieve our financial target:
January 2016 – The 2015 Lert Sa Wat Christmas appeal. £1,620 was raised for the Water Project.
January 2016 – A Burns Night Ceilidh at Heaton Baptist Church raised £850.
May 2016 – A joint Bag Pack at Morrisons (Byker) raised £570
October 2016 – A two-hour long ZUMBATHON, held at David Lloyd Newcastle, raised £534
December 2016 Our 2016 Christmas Catalogue raised £1180
January 2017 A second Burns Night Ceilidh at Heaton Baptist Church with the Last Straw Ceilidh Band raised £1048.
May 2017 A Charity Auction held at St Oswald’s Church, Walkergate, raised over £3000 and enabled us to achieve our target figure of £10,000 with a bit to spare.
Thank you everyone!