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What's Happened Over The Last Few Months
Brian Flanagan • 19 May 2008
What's happened over the last few months
Welcome to Bekind’s first newsletter. We think it’s important to keep our sponsors up to date and so we aim to publish this newsletter every few months to let you know exactly what your donations are doing.
As you know Bekind, was set up in October of 2007 as a company. Since then there have been many exciting developments.
Our main focus for the past few months has been gaining charitable status. After several months of working closely with the Revenue Commissioners we have been granted charitable status. We now hold a charitable number (CHY17971) This has a number of benefits:
- In 2 years’ time Bekind will be able to claim tax back on donations of over €250 in the year if the donor is a PAYE tax payer. Alternatively if you are self-employed or a corporate donor you can claim the tax back yourself.
- We are no longer subject to DIRT tax and our bank charges have been reduced which means that our running costs are kept to a minimum.
- We were also able to set up a Donate button on the Donations page of the website with PayPal which allows people to make single gifts online by using their credit cards.
Brian (Director) has just returned from Calcutta and turned from Calcutta and turned from Calcutta and turned from Calcutta and wishes to share the following wishes to share the following wishes to share the following wishes to share the following experience with you and in so experience with you and in so experience with you and in so experience with you and in so doing tell you exactly what doing tell you exactly what doing tell you exactly what doing tell you exactly what your money has done. your money has done. your money has done. your money has done.
Dear friends and donors of Bekind
Ireland. I returned from India on May 14th and carry with me many memories from Calcutta that if put into words would fill many pages and break many hearts. Bekind
was formed to mend hearts and act where appropriate and to make lives a little better in responding to children’s silent cries for help.
Apart from my fulfilling hours of voluntary work my visit to Calcutta this time was to formalise arrangements with existing organisations and charities we have supported over the last few years. My visit also brought me new experiences and I was introduced to people who genuinely make a difference to vulnerable children. I was to learn the stark facts that over 100,000 children from infants to 18 year olds live on the streets of this city and that a staggering 53% of Indian children are victims of abuse.
| SOME KEY INFORMATION |
|---|
| -Bekind now has a charity number CHY17971 |
| -Donate button now on website to allow donations by credit card |
| -Brian has just returned from Calcutta |
Through your kindness and generosity I am happy to report that Bekind
has an annual steady income stream of €3000 a year and growing.
On departure April 26th last our bank balance stood at €8600. On your behalf I distributed approximately half of this amount to Sr.Cyril in Loreto Sealdah, to the missionary of Charity brothers in the home for mentally and physically challenged boys in Nabo Jabon. Funds to Jim, an incredible volunteer dedicating his life to easing the pain of the destitute in the train stations of Howrah and Sealdah. An unplanned meeting with the treasurer of the Bow Bazar Swimming Club has led to sponsorship of 6 children whose talents were hampered by their families’ lack of income and inability to send their kids to train because of the cost of bus fare and nutrition. We take so much for granted here. As I learned the average income for a family of five was less than €70 a month. It was no wonder that the talented young swimmers could only attend classes of the club twice a week instead of four to five times. If children are properly occupied in recreation and sport it keeps them away from the temptations of drugs and substance abuse which are rampant in that city as it is in our own.
The subject of drugs brings me on to another area where I met some more special people, ones who oversee and administer treatment to children and young adults who have fallen victim to the scourge of addiction whether it be substance, glue, alcohol or drugs of low grade heroine, cocaine etc.
I met and spent some time with the addicts themselves and heard how their lives had been decimated by addiction. Disowned by family, rejected and reduced to a life of begging on the streets.
Meeting the ones fortunate enough to be in rehab. One young lad, Saswata, was in his second year in college studying hotel management succumbed to the temptations offered by his “friends” to try out some drugs. The assured him he’d feel great. He did and wanted to continue the feeling only to become a desperate junky, expelled from his college and disowned by his family and friends. I steadied his trembling hands as he related his story to me and assured him, he was in the right place and that he would succeed in beating his addiction. With his fine features and studious look, a smile belied the torment of his mind and a person going through the horrors of detoxification.
The positive actions we have taken on your behalf are by way of monthly direct payments from our Bekind
bank account to the following;
- Loreto Sealdah Rainbow project
- Hope Foundation
- Sanchar
- Missionaries of Charity
- Bow Bazar Samity Swimming Club
- VVM De-addiction and Research Centre
Please visit our website which has been updated to reflect these changes. For having the trust and confidence in Bekind
Ireland and for being there from the early stages, on behalf of the committee I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Remember that although being a registered company and charity, Bekind
operates on a voluntary basis and all expenses; travel, accommodation etc. are borne by each individual member ensuring that all of your money reaches those who need it most. There are no high-profile expensive advertising campaigns for Bekind
so please tell your friends and family about us. We have made donating as easy as possible through adding a Donate button on the website, which allows people to donate by credit card directly online.
Our Motto “If you can’t Be there Bekind”
is so relevant. However, if you wish to join me the next visit to Calcutta is planned for Wednesday October 29 to Wednesday November 12 2008.
Thank you again for your generous support and together we are making a difference.
God Bless,
Brian Flanagan
In this newsletter, Founder Director Brian Flanagan shares insights from his latest trip to Kolkata, with a group of students from CCC.
A charity concert of festive favourites in aid of Bekind Ireland
In this Christmas Newsletter Brian shares some updates following his return from India in December 2023.
Our friends at runa Yoga ran a fundraiser for Bekind on Wednesday 21 June 2023
After 11 years, the Bekind Boys' Home is moving!
In this newsletter, Brian Flanagan, Founder Director of Bekind Ireland, shares some of his experiences from his visits to Kolkata in April and November 2022.
Congratulations to Ricky Flanagan for completing the Dublin Marathon for Bekind
Asana Masterclass
Happy birthday Bekind Boys' Home
The saying “ absence makes the heart grow fonder ” has been uppermost in my mind over the past months. My regular Zoom or WhatsApp calls with the children in Kolkata are a help but almost two years have passed since being with them in person. I am amused by the deeper voices of some of the children as they enter their teenage years. The voices and the bodies change and a request for six new bunk beds was a reminder of how much the boys are growing. A very generous donation from a local person came just at the right time to cover the costs.
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Bekind
Ireland
33 Woodpark
Castleknock
Dublin D15KP6R
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Bekind
(IRL) CLG trading as "Bekind Ireland" is an Irish company limited by guarantee (Company Number: 448441) and Irish registered charity (Registered Charity Number: 20067960), with its offices at 33 Woodpark, Castleknock, Dublin D15KP6R, Ireland.