Hope all had a fabulous festive break and looking forward to a fantastic 2020! Many thanks for your continued support for our Charity SriLankan Children Foundation, which was commissioned in the year 2014 and entering its sixth year in 2020 .Thanks you all for your immense support and generosity.

The key SLCF’s highlight in 2019 was the benefits reaped from the Sewing centre that was established in August 2018, aimed towards economic empowerment, supporting challenged but skilled women to have a living and empowering communities in supporting their children in their further education through their income.

In our mission statement we do say, ‘SLCF aims to redefine the concept of charity by reinventing the giving concept. SLCF works to address the root causes of poverty and the marginalization of vulnerable groups by building communities’ skills and promoting good governance within society and community organisations’, and the SLCF managed to achieve this in 2019.

You will get more understanding if you read the blog below written by my tutor from British Acadamy of Fashion rather than me trying to explain what we do….

The fashion industry is known for its strong tradition in supporting charitable work, with many big brands embracing the idea of giving back and of ethical marketing. Almost all fashion labels are now involved in charity collaborations –ASOS works with several organisations (like the Prince’s Trust) and their own “Made in Kenya” range targets employment and other issues, which local women are facing; H&M has its own foundation too and donates to major charities for a positive world change; while Michael Kors was honoured in 2016 for his work with the UN World Food Programme. Romila Dominique, one of our fashion students, has approached things a little differently, however.

She enrolled on the course to learn more about fashion, so she can help her charity project in Sri Lanka. We are so very humbled by the wonderful work she has done, that we felt compelled to share it!

The SLCF (Sri Lankan Children Foundation) https://srilankachildrenfoundation.org - with Romila’s help have created a sewing centre,(https://bit.ly/3e8ThP2) in a village in Chinabay (located in Trincomalee, Sri Lanka) with a view of enabling its community towards a sustainable future.

The village is stunningly picturesque, but years of war and natural disasters have made the lives of the local people extremely difficult, with families struggling to raise their children. While most men gain an income from fishing, the women have limited employment possibilities and life chances. The concept of the sewing centre was formed after the local priest approached the charity with a query about an employment project for the women in the village. He had noticed that most of them  like crafts and textiles and so the idea was born. The centre was designed to offer the women training in garment manufacturing and a platform for their creativity. The project was approved by the Chinabay council in July 2018 and the work begun!

Romila and her team had to overcome many challenges - identifying a safe enough commutable area for the centre’s location, finding a property with appropriate facilities and a capacity for up to 30 workers. In August 2018 SLCF invested in 5 sewing machines and facilitated a long training course for the initial group. The workshop has so far produced several series of products – pillows, baby shoes, mats, handbags, clothing and toys. The women have achieved so much in such a short amount of time – building up their skill sets with positive attitude and lots of enthusiasm! The feedback from them and the community has been very encouraging – the women enjoy their time and take pride in the pieces they make. The team is now also working on the initial ideas about marketing the products.

The sewing centre in Chinabay is a lovely achievement for the charity – it embodies the principles of fair trade, and represents a natural, community-centred organisation. Plans for the future of the centre involve developing new projects with designers around the world. For many budding fashion entrepreneurs, this could be a fantastic collaboration possibility – one, which comes with a wonderfully heart-warming tale!

Diana Todorova
Course Tutor
British Academy of Fashion Design
Thank you

Further, if you wish to get involved in this exciting project in the year 2020 and to support more challenged but skill full families, please go through our how to get involved section and keep supporting us.

How to get involved?

• You can go directly to our SLCF website and choose a project that you wish to support and donate directly, and we will keep you posted with the results https://www.srilankanchildrenfoundation.org/index.php/projects/slcf-2019-projects-2.html
• Or, feel free to introduce us to any hostels, institutions, hospitals in the UK that will require pillowcases, cushion covers, dining amenities at a reasonable price but good quality materials and we will be supporting them by producing the items from our centre. This will benefit both sides – bulk orders at good prices and motivation for our sewers when they are offered with new orders with economic benefits

Once again, many thanks for your continued support and please keep supporting us to make a profound impact on lives and make our living meaningful.

Many thanks and Regards
SLCF Team

More images can be viewed in SLCF’s Facebook below:

Album1 - https://www.facebook.com/pg/SLChildrenFoundation/photos/?tab=album&album_id=827428474305181

Album 2 - https://www.facebook.com/pg/SLChildrenFoundation/photos/?tab=album&album_id=842702612777767

Album 3 - https://www.facebook.com/pg/SLChildrenFoundation/photos/?tab=album&album_id=842712679443427

Visit SLCF shop to place orders in below items: (Shop site WIP)