Here is a little bit about the origins of DCWC Nepal and how we came about.
The wheels were put in motion back in 2002 when Gary met Akka in his Thangka shop in Thamel in Kathmandu. After a great conversation about Buddhism and the art of Thangka painting they got onto talking about Akkas charity DCWC (Development of Children & Women Centre). Akka had started the charity in 2000 and had plenty of ideas for how he would like to improve conditions for the many poor people of Nepal. Akka himself had come from the very humblest of backgrounds having brought up in Rajbash in a very poor area of Kavre. He had come to kathmandu with just a hundred Rupees in his pocket and by a lot of hard work and a lot of good fortune he had managed to secure a sound financial future for himself. He now wanted to put something back.
On returning to the UK Gary set about fundraising for the charity. He raised whatever he could by undertaking sponsored charity events and by selling donated items on car boot sales with his wife Sharon. An initial five day walk from Blackpool to Keswick in the Lake districts raised £1100 in May of 2003. This was followed two 3 peaks challenges and a series of car boot sales selling on donated items too big and bulky to send on to Nepal. In 2004 the DCWC Nepal was registered as a charity here in the UK by Sharon and Gary Collier. In 2004 we took our first trek to the Everest region which
went on to become an annual event. By 2006 the charity expanded to six trustees being, Gary and Sharon Collier being joined by Patrick and Carole Moran who went out to Nepal with us in 2005 and James Wilson and Phil Hanson who went out to Nepal with us in 2006 to open our first DCWC Nepal school built entirely by funds raised in the UK. Three schools followed in 2007 and a further 4 schools in 2008. By 2007 we were joined by a further three trustees and a patron. We had first come across Paul and Bev Hargreaves by chance whilst undertaking the 2005 Everest trek. During a chat at a tea house we realised we were from the
same town and on our return kept in touch whilst they started to hold fund raising projects from their pub in Lytham St Annes. Jason Graham had been involved with fund raising in Nepal himself and so on meeting Jason and finding out he was a film maker we secured his services to do some filming in Nepal. Jason knew Sean Wilson of Coronation street fame and so he managed to convince Sean to go and be filmed in Nepal. On Seans return from Nepal he gladly accepted the offer of DCWC Nepal patron. Once we had become a 9 trustee unit we went on to build a further 3 schools in 2009 and started the mammoth project of building a
hospital which was completed in 2010. In 2010 we also secured the services of Mr Joe Longthorne as a second patron of the charity. We hope to continue building on the solid foundations we have created and hope to start making a serious impact into tackling the poverty that blights so many people in Nepal.
