My involvement in Nepal began with two close friends asking me to support two children from underprivileged families in Nepal, which I have happily done for the last nine years.

I met this lovely couple through work we both worked for the late 7th Earl of Harewood who's mother Princess Mary was the Commander in Chief of the 10th Ghurkha Rifles.

The two children were a disabled girl called Tirtha and a boy called Suran.

In 2015 my friends invited me to their sons wedding and so I used this opportunity to visit the children in Dharan. During this time while visiting some of the poorer areas. I came across Artiss who had been abandoned by his family, because he was born with Cerebral Palsy and they could not afford to feed him or get him any medical assistance. When I met him he was also suffering from malnutrition and was begging on the streets to survive.

I was told that there was a Rehabilitation Home, and so I visited the home and after speaking to the person in charge Mr Rai it was decided that Artiss would go and live there. Although that was better than begging on the streets it left a lot to be desired when compared to the facilities in England.

These are photographs of the entrance and recreational area, one of the bedrooms and the kitchen. I promised after seeing the place that I would return with some funds and help clean and repaint the home and to also do something about the electricity.

So in September of 2015 after returning to England and hosting dinner evenings to raise funds I returned with my friend and we started to improve the place.

Since then we have improved some to the facilities but a lot more needs to be done. We have repainted the whole of the home and installed some solar lighting. This occurred in September 2015 and I also returned in 2016 and completed some more work. During 2017 I was unable to travel to Nepal but in my absence a wet room was built, so that the children could get into the room in their wheelchairs and use the toilet and have a shower.

Also the young girl Thirtha was originally living in a bamboo shack and so for her safety as she is now getting older I had a brick house built for her with strong doors and windows. Although it is only one large room it is a vast improvement on her previous home.

Suran the boy is now old enough to attend college so I will keep funding his school fees etc. for another few years.

And now of course my new best friend Artiss