Building hope for youngsters affected by tsunami

The Building Hope charity, administered by Leeds City Council, has announced the completion of its children’s centre in Colombo and said the Lord Mayor of Leeds, Coun Rev Alan Taylor, will pay a short visit to Sri Lanka at the end of February to hand the centre over to Colombo Council.

It will be a permanent testament to the generosity of the people of Leeds, who rallied round to give what they could to help in the wake of the overwhelming loss of human life and appalling destruction caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami.

The Building Hope Children’s Centre, in the district of Kirulapone, will provide valuable support to families.

It will include a nursery, library, under-5s playroom, a computer suite, a kitchen, counselling and training areas. There will be a particular focus on nutrition, with lessons for parents and mothers’ health support sessions.

The Sri Lankan capital suffered badly in the earthquake and the subsequent massive sea surge, which sent waves of up to 100ft surging into 14 countries, claiming more than 230,000 lives.

The appeal raised £146,000 in public donations and the local authority gave £100,000 to the project.

The Honourable AJM Muzammil, Mayor of Colombo, said yesterday: “I am truly grateful and hope we can help each other to enhance our cities and further strengthen our sister city ties between Colombo and Leeds.”