Rycote fulfils charity pledge
Published: ASIA
THAILAND: UK-based microphone suspension and windshield manufacturer Rycote has fulfilled a pledge to donate one British pound to charity for every sale of its Universal Studio Mount (USM) between January and August. After a reported long process of deliberation, the not-for-profit Future Light Children's Home in Thailand’s Tak province was selected as the beneficiary.
The USM was launched in January 2010, at which point the company promised to donate £1 for every mount sold. The donation to the children’s home is being described as just the first in a series of charitable acts by the manufacturer. ‘We're delighted to be able to assist Future Light's hard efforts to forge a proper start in life for these children, and we look forward to helping them again in the future,’ explained Rycote managing director Simon Davies.
Founded in 2006 by a Thai couple and now run by volunteers Jennifer Lo and Natasha Whiting, the Future Light home was opened to provide accommodation for several orphans from across the nearby border with Myanmar, who were discovered begging under a bridge in the village of Mae Sot. The home has moved and expanded several times since, taking on more children from a variety of broken homes and poverty-stricken households in Myanmar, and now occupies a large wooden house built by volunteer effort. Nearly 40 children are currently housed at Future Light (numbers continue to grow), and over 30 of them now attend the nearby Baan Taad school daily.
The land owned by the home supports 25 vegetable patches, a pigsty and chickens, but despite this the home’s effort to find enough food for the orphans is described as ‘a constant struggle’.
The donation from Rycote received a warm welcome from Future Light director Natasha Whiting, who commented: ‘These children have all gone through so much in their short lives; now they are happy and well looked after, and eager to learn and experience new things. With your help they can have a brighter, happier future than the beginnings they have had. Many thanks for all your support.’