This month I had my 60^th birthday and thought I should celebrate by doing something I’ve never done before. So I decided to run the Jersey Marathon on 1^st October. The reason I chose the Jersey Marathon is because I am raising money to help rebuild the Jersey Hall - destroyed by Cyclone Mora earlier this year.

Jersey Hall is not in Jersey – it was built 11,500 km away, in Lailenpi, Chin State, Burma (Myanmar). The Hall was a medical training centre built mainly with donations from the people of Jersey six years ago. Hence the name.

Over the past 6 years, the training centre, now flattened by Cyclone Mora, has supported the training of 834 Community Health Workers from 551 villages across the poorest part of Burma in southern Chin and Rakhine State.

I am a trustee of the UK charity which has been supporting this work. We want to rebuild the hall using materials which are less likely to be blown away. The cost will be considerable, given how remote the place is – so I am aiming to raise £60,000. That’s just £1000 for every year I’ve enjoyed so far without running a marathon, or £1,421.80 per km of the run. I’d be grateful for your support. And just as marathons have to be run one stride at a time, even small amounts will be greatly appreciated.

The project will provide support for the rebuilding of Health and Hope's training centre with bricks and mortar rather than timber and aluminium sheeting. The training centre is needed to enable  Health and Hope's low-cost model of community-led primary healthcare serving over 250,000 people through the ongoing training of Community Health Workers, Traditional Birth Attendants, food security, relief work and educational projects to continue.

Donations

1. through this Just Giving page; or
   
2. if you are a Jersey taxpayer you may prefer to get tax relief on your donation by giving through Jersey Side by Side which is a partner with Health and Hope – please email Jon Boleat (j_boleat@hotmail.com); or
3. if you are a US taxpayer you can get a US tax deduction by using Health and Hope’s Global Giving account here: Global
   Giving

Further Information

Health and Hope Website

ITV Report on destruction of training centre