News
(Archived news here)
November 2022.
The festival of Krishna Jayanthi
Children at Rangammal School celebrate the festival of Krishna Jayanthi with drama and dance
We have just received this beautiful photograph of children at Rangammal School taking part in the festival of Krishna Jayanthi. This important Hindu festival is marked widely in Tamil Nadu. The birth of Krishna is celebrated in drama and dance. The picture was taken in August 2022.
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October 2022.
Successful Meeting
John P Rajkumar, CEO, and his wife Priya
John P Rajkumar, the CEO of of our Indian projects, and his wife Priya visited Yorkshire in October. As part of their week-long trip, they met supporters of the Sylvia Wright Trust and visited local schools for pupils with Special Needs.
Our CEO addresses trustees and supporters
At a well-attended meeting in Holy Name Church Hall, Leeds, our CEO and Tony Allinson, Chair of SWT, gave detailed updates to trustees and supporters on the progress made in the three projects supported by the trust: the school for pupils with hearing loss, the centre for pupils with special needs and the nursing college.
A well-attended meeting
Despite the difficulties of the pandemic, all three projects are back up and running at strength. Plans for the future were outlined, particularly for the further involvement of partners and local fundraising in India. Many thanks to all those who gave John and Priya such a warm welcome.
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September 2022.
New School Uniforms
New Uniforms for a New School Year
Rangammal School welcomed 37 new pupils at the start of the new school year. Here they are, proudly displaying their new school uniforms. We wish them all the best with their studies.
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June 2022.
A Summer Outing
Making the most of a waterfall
The younger children of Rangammal School celebrated the start of a holiday with an outing to a local water park. School began again on 13 June.
Some children preferred a drier experience of water
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May 2022.
Sports Day May 2022
Pupils of Rangammal School took part in a regional school sports day, battling with temperatures of 36 degrees!
Competing with athletes from several schools for the disabled, Rangammal took first, second and third places in the 100 metre race.
Eyes down for the 100 metre race. (Rangammal pupils are on the right, in the red Santander shirts.)
Under starters orders for the wheelchair race.
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April 2022.
A New Chapter
Sylvia Wright (centre) at the ceremony to mark the handover to new CEO John Rajkumar. He stands immediately to her right.
A recent ceremony in India marked Sylvia Wright ’s 40 years of service to the poor of India.
At the same ceremony Sylvia took a step back from her leadership role and John Rajkumar formally took up his duties as the new Chief Executive of the boarding school for 200 profoundly deaf children, day centre for up to 100 severely disabled children and nursing college for up to 120 students. She celebrated her 84th birthday in January.
A citation at the ceremony read: ‘Her efforts have changed countless lives for the better and have been achieved through her faith in God, her determination and her untiring hard work.’
John has 30 years ’ successful experience of running Maithree, a large Indian charitable institution based in Chennai. It provides lifetime care to children with special needs. Currently it has eight small schools for pupils with special needs and seven vocational workshops for the older children. These very professional, sheltered workshops produce goods for commercial sale, thus providing employment and a small income for the young people involved.
John Rajkumar is a worthy successor to Sylvia Wright who has worked tirelessly for 40 years to serve the poor and disabled in India.
The Sylvia Wright Trust, which provides funding for the projects, wishes the new Chief Executive well in this highly significant role which is crucial to the future success of the work.
Sylvia has been working with John for some time now to ensure a smooth handover of all three projects and plans to remain in India as mentor and adviser.
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March 2022
New School Year Begins
New Uniforms for the New School Year
Primary schools have reopened in India following the easing of Covid restrictions.
Rangammal School for children with hearing loss admitted 36 students, aged between 5 and 12 years, as the new Indian school year began. Each child is provided with three sets of uniform.
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Februaury 2022
Improving Mobility
Improving Mobility
Part of the day centre for the disabled has been allocated to a new project aiming to improve mobility for children who suffer from muscle wasting conditions such as muscular dystrophy (MD).
Some 30 children have been registered. Most will be treated in the centre by two newly appointed physiotherapists and will have access to the warm water therapy pool funded by Headingley Rotary. Other children will be treated at home.
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January 2022
John Rajkumar, Our New Chief Executive
Mr John Rajkumar, our new Chief Executive
The Sylvia Wright Trust is delighted to announce that Mr John Rajkumar has been appointed as the new Chief Executive of our nursing college, residential school for pupils with hearing loss and day centre for disabled children.
John has 25 years ’ successful experience of running Maithree, a large Indian charitable institution which provides lifetime care to children with special needs.
Maithree, which is based in Chennai,describes itself as “an ‘association of parents of exceptional children ’ . Currently it has eight small schools for pupils with special needs and seven vocational workshops for the older children. These very professional, sheltered workshops produce goods for commercial sale, thus providing employment and a small income for the young people involved.
Mr Rajkumar is a worthy successor to Sylvia Wright who has worked tirelessly for 40 years to serve the poor and disabled in India. We wish our new Chief Executive well in this highly significant role which is crucial to the future success of our work.
Sylvia has been working with John for some time now to ensure a smooth handover of all three projects and plans to remain in India as mentor and adviser.
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