August 2009 – A School for Malagiri becomes a recognised charity in both Nepal and the UK
The School in Malagiri now has charitable status in Nepal and I have received notification 
of this. We can now begin to fund raise in earnest but the need to sort out charitable status in the UK really worries me.
A little help from your friends
I have been exploring other charities we could link with and then I receive a call from Sam Davies, Director of Alumni and Development at the University of Brighton. She has the idea that the School for Malagiri Project could come under the fund raising arm of the University of Brighton.
Gift aid
I come to understand that, as an exempt charity, the University can accept charitable donations which can benefit from Gift Aid. The University of Brighton is able to take advantage of a scheme being run by the UK government whereby donations to the university are matched by additional funds from the government. For every £2 that is donated an additional £1 can be claimed, and this is after gift aid has been applied which means that donations are worth even more. Every £100 donated will be worth £125 after gift aid has been applied. A further £62.50 will be added by the government giving a total value of £187.50; an increase of nearly 90% at no further cost of the donor. I am amazed and get very excited.
Relief at last
Denise, myself, Lorraine Harrison, Sam Davies and Andrew Scanlan (also from Development and Alumni) meet up in the middle of August and the name ‘A School for Malagiri’ is agreed and we get down to leaflet production and the finer details of how to account for the money and how it can be collected and distributed.
After being stuck for so long with the charitable status issue hanging over my head I am incredibly pleased and very relieved.