Today, Monday 9th July 2012, the largest global
provider of low cost international mobile calls Lycamobile and The GnanamFoundation presented the first installment of a £1 million grant to one The
Prince’s Charities, The British Asian Trust.
The £250,000 cheque was given to the Trust at a
press conference held at Lycamobile headquarters in London earlier today. The
grant has been earmarked for projects in Sri Lanka that focus on reaching out
to vulnerable populations in the country by supporting local organisations who
are actively engaged in enhancing access
to education, employment and health care.
Trust Ambassador Muttiah Muralitharan, better known
as Murali, collected the cheque on behalf of The British Asian Trust, and is
delighted by the generous donation.
Murali hopes that the will give the South Asian
Diaspora the opportunity to gain more insight about Sri Lanka, “This is a
fantastic chance for the Trust to try and address some of Sri Lanka’s prevailing needs and to raise awareness here
in the UK around the issues affecting the country”.
Subaskaran Allirajah, Group Chairman of Lycamobile
and The Gnanam Foundation commented, “We are committed to providing long term
support to people in need. Our current partnership with The British Asian Trust
has been successful in the on-going Skills and Training project which enables
youth from slums in Chennai, India to gain employable skills. I am delighted to
extend this partnership to Sri Lanka where we can make a significant impact on
the lives of disadvantaged people.”
Lycamobile’s, Group Chief Executive Officer, Milind
Kangle, highlights that the team is keen to give to people in need following
the company’s phenomenal success, “We are glad to be in a position where we can
now contribute significantly to a number of worthy causes.”
The British Asian Trust will be managing the grant
across four years, and will identify the areas of most need through its in
house, and on the ground experts. The charities will then be elected after a
rigorous due diligence process to source the most impactful models.