Happy New Year

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Dear all,
This year was another highly productive year for APSL despite many challenges. We continued to grow the initiatives from last year and improved our community engagement both in the UK and Sri Lanka.
The Scholarship Scheme, one of the most successful programmes of APSL marked its 5th Anniversary in 2019 and currently supporting 95 students in Sri Lanka. With the support from number of new sponsors we expect to increase the number of scholarships to over 100 from January 2021.
One of the major initiatives we launched last year was the Florence de Silva Memorial trust for Children. With kind donations through late Mrs. Florence de Silva’s Will APSL set up this initiative to support Sri Lankan children in numerous ways. So far, we supported 23 projects and donated over 2 million Rupees for good causes.
We have made significant progress with the APSL Solar Village Project and the 3rd Solar Village was completed in Mullaitivu district in December 2020.
APSL Cancer Relief Programme marked its 3rd Anniversary this year and established two more collaborations in Galle and Anuradhapura general hospitals to support cancer patients.  We expect to expand the programme in the new year by forming collaborations with Hambantota, Monaragala, Colombo, Jaffna and Rathnapura General Hospitals.
‘Living in the UK’ discussion series for 2020 was held in collaboration with the Letchworth Dhamma Nikethanaya Buddhist Academy attended by the dhamma school children and their parents.
When the Covid-19 Pandemic started affecting the whole world in the beginning of the year APSL started exploring the ways to support the Sri Lankans affected and we launched APSL Emergency Response fund in March 2020. Through this, we supported over 1600 families in various parts of Sri Lanka and provided PPE and equipment to 9 key hospitals.
We also launched a webinar series in April 2020 to provide guidance and information. The webinars featured timely topics such as employment, immigration, economy, mindfulness as well as Covid-19 tests, treatments, and vaccines. Those webinars were delivered by leading professionals in their respective fields. Moreover, Sri Lanka High Commission, London in collaboration with APSL and Sri Lanka Association for Software Services Companies (SLASSCOM) organised a webinar to launch ‘SLASSCOM Global Referral Programme’.
2021 expected to be another busy year for the APSL team and we plan to launch number of new initiatives. I and the Executive Committee highly appreciate your continued support for APSL activities and look forward for your participation in the future events and projects.
I wish you all a very happy New Year!
Dr. Mahesh de Silva
President – APSL

Mrs. Shiranee Joseph De Saram

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It is with great sadness that APSL announce the death of one of our former Vice Presidents and Executive Committee Member, Mrs. Shiranee Joseph De Saram, on 16 December 2020.
She was a Specialist Speech Language Pathologist with over 40 years of experience in Sri Lanka and in the UK. She served as a Specialist Speech and Language Therapist at Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust from 2003-2015.
In her time with APSL Shiranee was involved in the ‘Living in the UK’ Seminar Series and delivered many excellent presentations. She also contributed to many other APSL charitable activities as an active member.
She was the founder Director of Rehabilitation Centre for the Communication Impaired (RCCI) and dedicated her services to address the need for a dedicated centre for treating over one million people with communication impairments in Sri Lanka.
Shiranee is remembered as a generous and incredibly kind lady who dedicated her life to help communication impaired people.
May she attain Supreme Bliss of Nibbana!

APSL Florence De Silva Fund – Donation to Maliyadhdha Primary School, Udupussellawa

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APSL donated library furniture, books, musical instruments and sports equipment to Maliyadhdha Primary School, Meepanawa, Udupussellawa through the Florence De Silva Fund. On behalf of APSL, we would like to thank Dr Kaveesha Gunathilaka, Medical officer in charge, Primary care unit, Rupha, Nuwaraeliya for her kind coordination and dedication towards the project.

 

Can you help brighten the future of a young child in Sri Lanka?

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Covid-19 has made the year 2020 particularly hard for the poor and vulnerable families in Sri Lanka.
Due to the severe economic downturn, hotel workers, tourist guides, cab and Tuk-tuk drivers, factory workers and immigrant workers in the Middle East lost their jobs. Also, day-wage earners struggled to earn during the lockdowns. With little or no unemployment benefits to fall back on, large number of families are facing economic hardships adversely affecting the children and their education.
We currently support 90 children from needy and vulnerable families in Sri Lanka and we have received another 20 applications during the past months requesting support.
It would be wonderful if you could help brighten the future of a young child through the APSL Scholarship Scheme during these hard times.

If you are willing to support Please click here to register your interest