Friends of Vellore works closely with several departments at CMC to initiate and sustain programmes targeted at helping poor and disadvantaged people. CMC subsidises treatment for poorer patients using the proceeds of the private patient work. Each department has discretion to waive some fees but still needs outside contributions to acquire equipment or fund new initiatives. New project proposals are scrutinised by our Trustees to ensure they meet our criteria and have sustainable benefits.
At any time Friends of Vellore will have many programmes running. On the pages under the Projects menu you can see where our money is currently going. We aim to help the poorest and most vulnerable. All require ongoing funding and your help and support would be most welcome. If you would like your donation to go to a particular project or area of our work, please let us know. We are also very happy to receive unspecified donations that we can direct to where the money is most needed.
Below is a brief overview of our main project areas (the bold links will take you to more information):
The Person to Person (PTP) scheme is used to provide small targeted grants (up to Rs 10,000 or approximately £100) to help pay the hospital bill for specific patients who are unable to pay for their treatment. Donors who give to this scheme receive reports directly from CMC on which patients their donation has helped. CMC will add four times your gift to make up the total grant.
- £20 would provide treatment for one patient
- £200 could provide treatment for 10 patients and so on…
Each year we send funds to support CMC’s palliative home care team enabling home visits to those in the last stages of their life. Friends of Vellore sent £4,341 in 2024 to cover the running costs of the vehicle, medication and supplies such as mattresses, incontinence pads and mosquito nets.
- A gift of £300 plus gift aid would cover one month of this service
The Jawadhi Hills south of Vellore are home to a tribal community with little access to healthcare. CMC have trained young people from the villages in healthcare to work in their local communities. These community health workers increase health awareness and bridge the gap between the local tribal community and CMC’s Community Health and Development team. The role not only benefits their communities, it provides young locals with training and employment too! Friends of Vellore UK are funding 11 health workers.
- A gift of £80 would cover one month’s salary for a heath worker
- £960 would pay the salary of one health worker for a year
The Low Cost Effective Care Unit works in the slums of Vellore. Here we are funding palliative care services and cervical cancer screening for many who would not otherwise access healthcare services. These new services are being delivered by a team which consists of a doctor, nurse, clinical psychologist, occupational therapist, project coordinator and a driver. The annual cost of the staff salaries is around £28,000. The staff split their time evenly between the palliative care side of the project and the cervical cancer screening.
- A gift of £250 plus gift aid would cover 1 month’s salary for the nurse or clinical psychologist
- A gift of £2000 plus gift aid would cover 1 month of salaries for the whole team
We support projects that benefit children. The Friends of Vellore UK Paediatric Subsidy Fund supports 10 children each year who are admitted to CMC Vellore for treatment or surgery. The fund is for children from poor families who would benefit from a one-off intervention with a high likelihood of a positive outcome.
- £1000 would cover treatment for one child
We fund several projects at CMC’s Rural Unit of Health and Social Affairs (RUHSA) including four elderly care centres, the Pachaikili children’s play centre, life skills education for teenagers, and various healthy living initiatives. We are also currently funding a new audiology clinic and dental screening and treatment for pregnant women.
- A gift of £150 plus gift aid would cover 1 month running costs for an elderly care centre
- £50 would pay one month’s salary of a teacher at the children’s play centre
- £25 would pay for a parenting workshop
- £10 would cover one month’s honorarium for a volunteer promoting healthy living in the community
We have close links with CMC’s Missions Department who are continuing in their efforts to help revive smaller mission hospitals. One of which is Kotagiri Medical Fellowship Hospital (KMF). This is about 7 hours drive to the west of Vellore. The hospital has been growing steadily, with improved services and increasing patient numbers. New staff have joined and gradually the locals are gaining confidence in using the patient services. We previously sent £30,000 to enable them to purchase much needed equipment for their lab. This lab is now generating income for the hospital enabling them to subsidise treatment costs for those unable to pay.
Other grants we have made to mission hospitals include:
- Laboratory equipment for Chinchpada Christian Hospital (£23,570)
- An effluent treatment plant at Karigiri Hospital (£10,000)
- An oxygen plant for Evangelical Hospital Khariar (£24,305)
- An ambulance for Christian Hospital Berhampur (£28,332)
- Cardiac monitors and infusion pumps for Baptist Christian Hospital Tezpur (£3,695)
- Blood bank equipment for Makunda Christian Hospital (£21,969)
- ICU equipment at Christian Hospital Bissamcuttack (£13,648)
We don’t have any existing funds allocated for mission hospitals, so if you are in a position to make a larger gift and would be interesting in supporting a mission hospital, please get in touch.
Friends of Vellore UK 