Welcome to our annual review for 2019/20. As ever, it is both inspiring and humbling to see what we achieved – all down to your generosity and support. Thank you. More especially in these straitened times. It was hugely moving that so many of you responded with great concern and kindness to our emergency appeal. Your donations enabled us to very quickly distribute much needed food packages in Nepal.
As you know, we have been working with Tibetans for 60 years! In the beginning Tibet Relief Fund was one of the very first agencies working in the field to meet immediate needs of Tibetan refugees arriving in India, often with little more than the clothes they were wearing. Sixty years later we are now working with Tibetan grassroots organisations to address needs within communities living in India and Nepal. This is testament to a remarkable resilience in adversity and adaptability to new challenges shown by exiled Tibetans.
This year we made new partnerships in India and appointed a Project Liaison Officer in Nepal, Penpa Tsering. One of the positives from these lockdown times was holding our first international online meeting where Thupten, our Programmes Manager here in the UK, Penpa in Nepal, Tenzin Nyima, our Project Liaison Officer in Delhi, and I got together to discuss the impact of lockdowns in India and Nepal. It is this connectivity that enables us to respond quickly to emergency requests. And in these times this has never been so important.
I hope you enjoy reading about the breadth of our work and feel proud to be part of it – it’s your donations that make it happen. You can also see how your donations to appeals have been used, how purchasing handicrafts through Enlightened Gifts makes such a difference for Tibetan artisans and how you can get involved in other ways!
Philippa Carrick, CEO
