Health And Education Donations

Bonita Trust Announces 18 Million Rupee Donations To Indian Health and Education NGOs

New Delhi, January 21, 2009 – Aiming to make a tangible impact in India's community development efforts, the Bonita Trust has today announced grants worth a total of over Rs. 1.8 crores for three Indian NGOs.Meeting in Delhi this week, the Bonita International Advisory Board, which includes PartyGaming entrepreneur Ruth Parasol de Leon and former Indian Foreign Secretary, Ambassador Lalit Mansingh, announces its intention to support the Mann Deshi Mobile Business School, which provides business education combined with micro-finance to rural women; the VISHWAS Gurgaon School for disabled children, which integrates the education of disabled children with able-bodied children; and the Gram Vikas Community Managed Sanitation project in the State of Orissa.

Bonita Advisory Board Member, Ruth Parasol de Leon, said: "Bonita's endowment resulted from a belief that an entrepreneurial spirit, combined with leveraging technology, can foster growth and development and solve some of the most pressing challenges facing communities around the world."

"Bonita has always endeavoured to make a tangible contribution to the community and tackle some of the major challenges facing those communities. In India, our priority is to support NGOs doing pioneering work to provide healthcare, sanitation, and education to the socially and economically deprived in the community."

Since 2004, Bonita has worked hard to turn its commitment into reality by supporting a range of projects worldwide, addressing the most pressing and urgent issues faced by communities around the globe. This includes many contributions to Gibraltar charities as well as to the Red Cross, to support a new, on-line education facility and web community; the provision of IT equipment and software to allow the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) to network its operations and thereby expand the reach of its vital services; the development of a new website for the Consortium of Street Children and to Elem, an organisation working for distressed and displaced youth in Israel.

Bonita is particularly proud to be a core supporter of the Turquoise Mountain Foundation, alongside the World Bank's Kabul Urban Regeneration Programme (KURP), to provide essential infrastructure including water supply, drainage, sewerage preparation, sanitation, and hydrants to the Kabul community.

The Bonita Advisory Board is currently meeting in Delhi and is visiting NGOs in Orissa, Maharastra, Mumbai, Delhi and Orissa. During its visit, the Advisory Board discussed the Trust's work in India with Vice President Mohammed Hamid Ansari and Orissa Governor Mr MC Bhandare.

The International Advisory Board, formed in 2008 reflects a step-change in Bonita's strategy, to expand its philanthropic work onto the international stage and India is a priority.

Ambassador Lalit Mansingh commented: "It is essential that community development programmes, when started, should percolate down to the grassroots and reap long lasting benefits for the communities concerned. The grants announced today will not only help the recipient NGOs begin new initiatives, but also help them sustain and expand their existing programme"

"I am delighted to be involved with a philanthropic foundation so committed to making a real impact in India and elsewhere. From providing very basic sanitation needs for the poorest segments of Indian society, to facilitating the further education of entrepreneurial rural women, I am hopeful these donations and those still in the pipeline will improve the lives of Indians"

-ENDS-

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Notes To Editor

Gram Vikas aims to bring about sustainable improvements in the quality of life for poor and marginalized rural communities in Orissa. Bonita's grant will support Gram Vikas community managed sanitation and healthcare projects which empowers village communities to build and sustain sanitation systems that will deliver a marked improvement in the health of those communities.

The Mann Deshi Mahila combines a mobile business school, providing basic business skills to rural women in Maharashtra and Karnataka and then facilitating micro-finance loans to set up and sustain businesses founded by these women. Bonita's donation will fund the purchase of a new mobile business unit for Mann Deshi.

The VISHWAS Organisation provides the expertise and facilities to enable disabled children to be educated alongside able-bodied children in the public school system. VISHWAS works in partnership with the local governments.

About The Bonita Trust:

The Bonita Trust was founded in 2004, under Gibraltar law, as an independent philanthropic trust by artyGaming Plc. Bonita's grant-giving is guided by its International Advisory Board whose founding member was Ruth Parasol de Leon and which now includes Ambassador Lalit Mansingh, Dudley Fishburn, and Brooke Shearer.

Bonita focuses the majority of its grant-making in four geographies: the United Kingdom, India, Israel and Gibraltar and is also interested in answering some of the key global challenges facing society. Todays grant build upon the 2005 donation for India USD to the international Rotaplast organisation, earmarked for cleft lip surgery in India.

Most recently, Bonita was recognised by the Gibraltar Heritage Trust which awarded Bonita the Group Heritage Award in recognition of the contributions made towards the protection of Gibraltar's heritage. Bonita has also supported health and education projects in Gibraltar, India, and Israel and will continue to expand its grant-making in coming years.

As an independent philanthropic trust, Bonita is managed by a professional Trustee, who is advised by the International Advisory Board.