Letters Loyal Gurkhas who need our support
Sir - I would like to thank the people who attended our latest dinner at Balram's Nepalese Restaurant in Doncaster, when £365 was raised for The Gurkha Welfare Trust. Many thanks also to our supporters who donated raffle prizes and to those who made generous donations.
I must also thank Balram and his family for supplying a beautiful meal. Balram, as well as providing raffle prizes, kindly donated £5 for each meal to the trust.
The support for the Gurkha Welfare Trust was started in West Cowick some years ago by the late Tim Deighton. While watching TV, Tim was deeply moved when he saw one of his former colleagues being carried miles by his son in order to collect his welfare payment. We now have a small group who organise events to continue Tim's fine work.
Patsy Butler, Tim's daughter, who is part of our group, gave a very informative speech at the dinner about the current terms and conditions of today's Gurkha. Patsy informed us that those who completed a minimum of 15 years service and who retired since 1997, have had their pension, quite rightly, brought into line with their British counterpart.
For the dependants of The Gurkha Welfare Trust nothing has changed and I would like to inform your readers that their support is required now more than ever. For the Gurkha who is now in his eighties and who volunteered for war service, fought bravely, and then returned to hard life in Nepal, an army pension is something he has never received. In his old age and frailty he relies totally on the Gurkha Welfare Trust, which in turn relies on your generosity.
You may think that he is no different to our own veterans, and you would be right. My father spent four long years in Burma and he never did receive a pension but the difference is he returned home to good housing, an increasing supply of food and the job he loved so much, collecting milk from the farms around Sykehouse. What could be better?
For the returning Gurkha, his food supply depended on his gruelling work, the success of the harvest and in general he endured a much harder life. The Welfare Trust is desperate for help to continue supporting some 10,500 pensioners whose plight remains perilous. Each receives a monthly pension of £24 which will provide the basics in a life that we take for granted.
I hope I have managed to give some clarity to the current situation. Please continue your vital support.
Steve Wright
(On behalf of West Cowick Gurkha Welfare Trust Support Group)
Published on 14th June 2007 in Letters.
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Comments
Posted by Satis Shroff at 15:02:58 on 6 July 2007
Loyal Gurkhas Need Our Help is a wonderful story and it would be wonderful if more and more decent British citizens would join and put pressure on 10 Downing Street to make the lives of Gurkhas and their families worthwhile in Britain. Thanking you, Satis Shroff
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