The ‘Helambu Girls’ of Banchory Primary School

The ‘Helambu Girls’ of Banchory Primary School undertook a range of fundraising activities this year, from selling crafts to holding a stall at the school fair, raising a total of £309 for the Helambu Project charity.

The Deeside community has played a key role in supporting the Helambu Project charity over the the last decade with support coming from a wide range of community groups and individuals. Banchory Primary School in particular, played a key role in supporting the construction of a Himalayan boarding school in 2009. Unfortunately, the area was devastated in the earthquake of 2015, which destroyed 90% of the buildings in the community, including the school and medical facilities which resulted in many injuries and loss of life.

After initially diverting funds to provide emergency relief aid, in the last couple of years Helambu Project has helped get the pupils back to school by building temporary classrooms of corrugated iron and continuing to provide scholarship funding for older children leaving school. The long term aim is to rebuild the schools and the funds from the ‘Helambu Girls’ will be used to help offer the children of Yangrima school a permanent home.