Salt of the Earth Donations reach £5 Million!!!

At the end of December, the amount the charity has raised for its work in Tamil Nadu passed the £5 million mark. This, we believe, is a considerable achievement for a small volunteer led charity.

Founded in 1988, Leicester-based Salt of the Earth funds a wide range of integrated projects in Tamil Nadu including health, education, climate change, water generation and disability. Managing Trustee Murray Frankland, who founded Salt of the Earth after visiting the area, commented: “When I first arrived in India I never thought of starting a charity but quickly changed my mind when I saw at first hand the very poor living conditions in rural villages. I decided something had to be done but never in my wildest dreams did I think we could raise £5 million!”

Murray Frankland and wife Janet at a tree planting campaign in Tamil Nadu in 2020

Central to our work is the development of women through over 250 self help groups. Since 1988, we have planted more than 350,000 trees, seen close to a million patients in mobile clinics, and have helped to provide water to over 100 rural villages. Initially founded to help people living on salt pans who did not have access to fresh water due to salt contamination, our charity operates child and village sponsorship schemes and a tree planting scheme.

Projects are implemented by carefully chosen partners on the ground. Murray, 82, added: “A large percentage of our income comes from individual donations and sponsorship schemes, by donors who trust the good work we are doing. We offer a unique insight into the lives of the rural poor whilst implementing projects built on three decades of experience. We are a small team in the UK that makes a big impact in India. Over 5 million people have benefited.”

Murray and Janet with MASARD CEO, Dr John Fernandes, and social workers

Dr. J. L. Fernandes, Executive Director of non-governmental organisation MASARD (Mass Based Social and Rural Development) which is managed by social and development workers, commented: “We extend warm congratulations to Murray and his team on this great milestone achievement of having raised £5 million for their mission of transforming the lives of the poorest of poor in India.”

This achievement has only been made possible by our loyal band of supporters and, on behalf of the Trustees and our partner organisations, we would like to thank you most warmly for making this happen.

With sincerest thanks,

The SOTE team