Firm teams up with physiotherapist to raise funds in aid of charity saving Indian kids from poverty

WHEN Barry Philips BEM, Chairperson of Antrim firm Legal Island, first called into Antrim Physio and Sports Injury Clinic for treatment and met Will Colhoun, he had no idea that their meeting would eventually result in a charity fundraising drive.

The pair got chatting and Barry learned about Will’s work with the charity Asha in India.

Now Legal Island, which was founded in 1998 and specialises in employment law training, is holding a warehouse sale to raise funds for their very important work.

Will was invited to a Lunch and Learn event at Legal Island last week, to tell the staff more about his association with the charity.

Will qualified at the University of Ulster with a BSc Hons Physiotherapy in 1999 and specialises in manipulative therapy, acupuncture and sport injury.

Meaning ‘hope’ in Hindi, Asha has been helping the slum dwellers of Delhi since 1988, when Dr Kiran Martin started treating cholera victims who were too poor or culturally constrained to seek help elsewhere.

Now over 1 million residents in more than 100 slum colonies have access to essential medical care and treatment with Asha, as well as a wide range of other support and benefits to help improve peoples’ lives and bring them ‘hope’.

The Antrim Guardian told how, ten years ago, Will went out to India for the first time after helping raise money through coffee mornings and church events and support from local businesses.

He has been out a number of times since, but is now taking his two daughters, one a physio and the other an A&E nurse.

The trio are travelling out for two weeks in October, to help advise and train the Asha staff and volunteers in India.

Money raised will also go towards training and the upgrade of equipment.

“Asha covers things like education, health care and creating a safer environment for people to live in and build a stronger community.” said Will.

“It was founded by a paediatrician and there was a real requirement for physiotherapists.

“Poor nutrition means that some people have developmental issues and there are still diseases like Polio and people have damaged limbs.

“The adults are often working very hard jobs in manual labour for long hours with very little health and safety.

“If they get injured, they can’t work and they won’t earn so they and their families won’t be able to eat, they get paid daily and there is no such thing as sick pay, so physical fitness is very important.

“The ability to work means they are able to feed their families.

“As a physio I know the importance of a healthy body, being able to work, being able to do their sports and hobbies, being able to sleep and move well - it is very important for everyone, but in the slums of India it can mean your very survival.

“The people there are very vulnerable and a lot of the work is on breaking down inequality and opening up the world of education and work to women and providing opportunities and health care to the poorest in society.

“If they were richer, they would be able to avail of these things. Improving lives is the big driver of the charity.

“I saw first hand the good work they were doing ten years ago. I did not know what to expect the first time I went over but I loved it and I loved how Asha help empower the people.

“It’s not just handouts, it’s support and training and helping people. Putting people through school and university and helping them access jobs and educating people on the cleanliness and hygiene, health and safety and environmental awareness.

“I would encourage anybody to support Asha.

“They are helping people who are very low down on the pecking order, and when you come back here and compare their lives to ours, it is very sobering.

“These people are striving to survive, but they are doing it with a smile on their faces. They have so little, but they are still happy and cheerful.

“The kids play cricket with a piece of wood shaped like a bat, they have hardly a stitch on, but they are smiling.”

Speaking to the staff at Legal Island, Will said that the people were ‘very determined, and very respectful’.

He explained that he and his daughters are paying for their own flights and that all money raised will go direct to the charity.

Infant mortality and pregnancy deaths are also huge issues, and Asha is very involved with an innoculation programme.

He said: “Dehli is a very noisy place and it is a health and safety nightmare.

“People don’t want to have their wing mirrors damaged, so they tuck them in and drive without them. You will see five people on one moped, tuktuks with no lights, a man cutting someone’s hair under a tree for a couple of pounds.

“Some of the poorest people are very vulnerable to scammers, you will see clinics advertising that they can cure diabetes, MS and baldness.”

Will spoke of how Asha employs ladies from the slums as assistants to the physios.

“Asha has a big focus on education for girls, which would not have been the trend, a lot of people believe that a woman’s place is in the home.

“I met one lady who went from a slum to a software degree at university and is now starting her own company.

“People who grow up in the slums don’t abandon their roots if they do well, a lot will come back or stay around and give back to charity.

“Some of the kids will learn English at the big old-fashioned consulates, where they learn a high standard of the language which really helps them when it comes time to applying for the big universities or getting jobs in international companies.”

Will said that the Hindu Government has also been accused of discrimination against Christian and Muslim communities.

“I am only a wee dot in what Asha are doing as a whole.” he said.

“But every little bit of support helps.”

Barry Philips told the Guardian: “Will has looked after me as a physio for a long time and I’ve really got to know him.

“He talked to me about the great work he was doing in India and I thought it was a great opportunity for us to lend a hand if we can.

“We like to do charity work as part of our ‘Environmental, Social, and Governance’ practices so being able to support something which was so local to us with a guy that we have a lot of time for, was a real bonus.

“The partnership seemed to be perfect and we confirmed it when I went to visit him again recently and I hope we can raise a few pounds for him.”

The Warehouse Sale will allow buyers to browse a variety of office furniture and equipment, and even paint, from 9.30am on Friday September 26th at Legal Island, Steeple Road, Antrim.