Brief Report for donors 2014.
Gift of Happiness Foundation, Thailand.
Gift of Happiness foundation publishes full annual reports for the Thailand Government Charity Registration and Inland Revenue Departments on or before 28th February 2015.
This basic report includes some information about the Founder, Mr. Edward Haworth, and his role in keeping the charity running as smoothly as possible without any corporate or government sponsorship to help secure the charity’s future. It also has some links to a few of the more memorable project reports that have been published on our News Page.
Please take a few minutes to read through this short description of what we did in 2014 so you can gain a little more insight into the organisation that you have supported in the past and which we hope you will continue supporting and sharing in the future.
Thank you to those who helped in 2014:
There are many individuals, schools, groups and other organisations who have supported us with many tons of useful goods and cash donations that have made it possible for us to do so much for so many in the last year. Of course we would like to thank all of them in this short report, but that would mean turning it into a long list of names, so we have simply chosen to say “Thank You All”.
We also recognise and very much appreciate the great work done throughout the year by our Board of Trustees who make sure that we adhere to the strict laws governing Thai registered charities. In addition, we sincerely thank our Lawyers, Accountants and all their office staff who provide us with professional services at discounted cost so that we maintain 100% transparency as required by the Royal Thai Government. Details
Please take a few minutes to read through this short description of what we did in 2014 so you can gain a little more insight into the organisation that you have supported in the past and which we hope you will continue supporting and sharing in the future.
Thank you to those who helped in 2014:
There are many individuals, schools, groups and other organisations who have supported us with many tons of useful goods and cash donations that have made it possible for us to do so much for so many in the last year. Of course we would like to thank all of them in this short report, but that would mean turning it into a long list of names, so we have simply chosen to say “Thank You All”.
We also recognise and very much appreciate the great work done throughout the year by our Board of Trustees who make sure that we adhere to the strict laws governing Thai registered charities. In addition, we sincerely thank our Lawyers, Accountants and all their office staff who provide us with professional services at discounted cost so that we maintain 100% transparency as required by the Royal Thai Government. Details
Awards and recognitions given:
- We have been privileged to receive the renewal of our membership of the League of Foundations of Thailand under the Royal Patronage of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
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The award was given to Mrs. Bailey in recognition of her dedication to helping needy people in Thailand through her voluntary work with charities and government institutions in the country. The entire Board of Trustees at Gift of Happiness foundation are delighted to have such a highly honoured lady working tirelessly for the Foundation as our Operations Project Administrator.
- The charity and its Founder, Eddie Haworth, received 12 certificates of appreciation from learning centres, schools and Rotary Clubs throughout the year plus commendations from the British, Australian and Norwegian Ambassadors in Thailand.
Collaborations and Joint Ventures:
- Gift of Happiness Foundation now collaborates with the Migrant Education Organisation (ME) based in Mae Sot, North Thailand. Working with ME, we support around 950 children at eight migrant schools or learning centres within a 50 kilometre radius of the centre of Mae Sot town.
- We also joined forces to help the Community Schools Program (CSP) in Mae Sot which is part of the Mae Tao Clinic organisation, who we have been supporting since 2005. In the 2014-2015 school year the CSP and Gift of Happiness Foundation have already supported, and plan to give further support to, 33 schools (27 primary schools, 5 middle schools and 1 high school). There are 3,093 students and 180 teachers in these 33 schools.
- In mid-2014, we established a partnership with a new organisation called “Giving it Back Community” located in Manchester, Northern England. This small charity has been established by a young man, Mr. Matthew Hensman, who has vast experience living in one of the UK’s most deprived urban environments. Our Founder is delighted to join forces with Mr Hensman’s organisation, having already produced one collaborative project in 2014. This was when Matthew sent 10 large packages of children’s clothing from Manchester to Bangkok and followed-up with a personal visit to oversee the redistribution of these great gifts for our children. We now plan to work on joint projects that will benefit many of the children we serve here in Thailand throughout 2015 and beyond.
- We are delighted to continue our collaboration with the Cyril Duncan Siam Children's Foundation in Dublin, Ireland. This organisation raises funds for Gift of Happiness Foundation throughout each year to help us provide essential support to children in need here in Thailand.
- January 2014. Founder/Director Eddie Haworth was still unable to work following his spell in hospital with a serious leg wound that would not heal and which is still is not fully healed. Thus we were unable to do quite the same as before in the early part of the year. However we did manage a couple of short aid-giving tours and some shows with Eddie (AKA Clown Eckie) performing on crutches!
- From March onwards, we went from strength to strength and managed at least one aid-giving tour for about 1,000 children every month until the end of 2014. “This was greatly helped in April 2014 when Eddie started to restructure his own affairs to enable the Foundation to move forward in a more positive way and at a much better rate, and this continues.”
- June 2014. Eddie commemorated the first anniversary of the untimely loss of his dear friend’s son who Eddie considered to be part of his own family. Another memorial aid giving project was given in the name of Jason O'brien This project was to help stock the new library built by the children them,selves at Wat Sam Makan School near Ayutthaya, Thailand. Read more.
- September 2014. We purchased and distributed 500 sets of uniforms to as many children in and around Mae Sot, Thailand. That month’s project included the usual giving of other donated goods and shows at several migrant schools, the SAW Home for women and children with HIV/AIDS and the Mae Tao Clinic. Read more.
- We are very grateful to the people who helped by loaning trucks and a driver for some months in 2014. Santa Fe Relocations also helped us by collecting and storing several truckloads of goods from people leaving the country. Eddie’s personal truck was used again for all collections and redistribution of donated goods during our monthly aid giving tours throughout the year.
- All this Happiness and aid-giving brought the year to a close with our “Christmas Special Tour”, bringing the total number of children helped to around 11,500. We also assisted thousands more poor people who received essential clothing and goods (food, toiletries etc.) via our own happy hand-out truck and loaned transport that paid monthly visits to the Mae Tao Clinic and other up country community centres on every project we undertook in 2014.
Money: (Full annual audited accounts available in March 2015.)
- Following rigorous inspection of our charity status as a properly registered charitable foundation, we are proud to have been granted the coveted use of PayPal's secure online giving gateways for non-profit organisations in South East Asia.
- By mid-year we were forced to give notice to quit our charity shop premises and warehouse due to the loss of promised long term sponsorship of rent by an individual. We managed to re-negotiate the rent and also managed to sublet some rooms to cover a little more of the rental costs. We remain on the premises at the reduced rent which is now fully subsidised by the Founder.
- Throughout 2014 we received donations of money from individuals, International School fundraisers, loyal societies, women’s groups, Bangkok South Rotary Club, the Cyril Duncan Siam Children's Foundation and two large fundraising events in Bangkok (Walk-A-Thon and Comedy Night). The total amount donated was enough to pay for uniforms, new underwear, educational supplies and other equipment like generators, water pumps and a vital sanitary construction project, plus maintenance on our street kids’ school bus and food aid we give to a women and children’s HIV/AIDS safe house.
- Our monthly 4/5 day show and aid-giving project tours serving up to 1,000 children in need cost on average 36,000-THB to produce (inclusive of BKK collections, driver/translator’s salaries, truck maintenance). Some costs are borne by volunteers who attend, with the rest subsidised by the Founder.
- The PayPal giving gateways have yielded very little in regular monthly subscriptions and hardly anything from straight forward donations. There has been some support via the PayPal donate buttons for the purchase of goods specified by the donors (from our on-line store).
- In summary; our web-based appeals for financial assistance and other non-specific donations throughout 2014 yielded less than 5% of the amount necessary to run an effective charity that supports so many children. All those unsupported costs are covered by the two main fundraising events, donations coming from loyal societies, women’s groups and the Founder himself at Gift of Happiness Foundation. In short: "If this was a business we would be bankrupt"!
Founder, Eddie Haworth concludes: |
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Please share this statement with anyone who might be able to support Gift of Happiness by giving essential goods or money through subscribing or giving here
Thank you again for your great support and please let me know if you have any questions about the important work we do to help some of the poorest children in Thailand.
Sincerely yours Eddie Haworth. eddie@gohappiness.org - Read more “About Us”
Thank you again for your great support and please let me know if you have any questions about the important work we do to help some of the poorest children in Thailand.
Sincerely yours Eddie Haworth. eddie@gohappiness.org - Read more “About Us”
"The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others" Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
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