The Friends of the Children of Orissa is a small charity which supports the PUSS (Palli Unnayan Seva Samiti) residential school. This school is located near Bhubaneswar, the capital of Orissa which is India’s poorest state. There are around 400 girls in the school and they have come from a variety of disadvantaged backgrounds.
Some are children of sex workers, or of beggars, some are from leprosy colonies, and some were abandoned as babies.

For 4 weeks during the summer I will be teaching English and Mathematics to these girls and helping out around the school. It is important for these children to get a good education, so having a firm grasp of English and the ability to do maths will help them to go on to further education, to formal employment or to other worthwhile occupations.

I have wanted to run a half marathon for a long time and I think this is such a great charity. All of the money goes directly to helping these children, none is spent on fundraising, administration, printing, advertising or travel unlike many other charities.