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Nepal donations on the way thanks to Collingwood gate staff
15 March 2016
Members of the Military Provost Guard Service (MPGS), HMS Collingwood are delighted that goods purchased for Nepal are now on their way.
Corporal Mark Stanley and Private Chiran Kala used the £1000 donated from the money raised at the 2015 Open Day, to purchase goods to send to Nepal where the MPGS personnel at the Fareham base are originally from.
They are supporting HOPAD (Helpless, Orphan, Poor, Affected and Dalits), Child & Women Promotion Society.
This is a non-profit, nongovernmental organisation dedicated to the cause of aiding helpless women and children.
It was an eye opener for my son
Cpl Stanley and his crew spoke to businesses in the local area that were more than willing to help provide the equipment that was needed.
B and M Fareham and Go outdoors Southampton supplied cot beds, pots and pans, cutlery, sleeping bags alloy water bottles, educational books and equipment, hundreds of pens/pencils etc, a desk top computer was donated from PC World and two boxes of toothpaste were supplied by HMS Collingwood Dental Department now all on it way to Nepal.
Cpl Stanley said “Receiving the cheque was fantastic and I know it will be appreciated immensely.
"I visited the HOPAD home in Nepal back in 2014 with my 9 year old son John nd Pte Kala, it was an eye opener for my son
“On our visit we took with us as many books, DVD’s and stationary equipment as we could carry to give to the home, and Pte Kala organised a picnic of local hot food, drinks and sweets.
“We spent an afternoon/evening with the children and my son helped hand out the food and goods.”
On getting these latest donations to the country he said “The hardest part of doing this was not getting the goods together but getting through the barriers of getting it all out there.
“I emailed and spoke to every Gurhka/Nepalese charity in the UK and Nepal several times, to no avail; Pte Kala also made a lot of calls to Nepal and drew lots of blanks.
“Eventually we arrived back at square one with a Gurhka contact in Kathmandu who is prepared to receive the boxes and liaise with HOPAD when they arrive.”
The Open Day, held in June, is an annual event, attracting over 8,000 people, who enjoy a variety of attractions in addition to the Field Gun Competition such as free funfair, Tigers motorcycle display team, tour of warship simulator and much more.