Thai Children’s Trust celebrates 30th anniversary

by Derek Franklin

For 30 years the Thai Children's Trust, the UK's largest charitable organization supporting Thailand, has fed, educated and given hope to thousands of underprivileged children and students in Thailand.

It was in the early 1980's that Baron Riccardo Carini first visited Pattaya. Initially coming to take advantage of the golfing facilities that Pattaya is renowned for; his trip was spoilt by the incessant rain.

Being a devout Catholic, he visited an American Catholic priest who, he had heard, had opened an orphanage and was caring for unwanted babies, the majority whom were born to Thai mothers and foreign fathers.

On arrival at the orphanage on Sukhumvit Road he met Father Ray Brennan, a member of the Redemptorist order who first arrived in Thailand in the late 1950's and moved to Pattaya ten years later. For several years he was parish priest, both in Pattaya and with the US military based at U-Tapao airport. In 1974 the foundation stone was laid for the new orphanage building, and by the time Baron Ricardo visited it had become home for almost 40 babies and children.

After spending time with Father Ray, the Baron decided he wanted to do more than just hand over a cash donation. So impressed by the charismatic priest he met that on his return to the UK he set up the charitable trust and each month sent funds to cover the monthly food bills.

The year was 1982 and Father Ray's work was growing. Following on from the orphanage he opened several other social projects including schools for deaf toddlers and blind children, and offered vocational training for people with disabilities. Apart from the orphanage, Father Ray also opened residential facilities for street kids. As each new project started, the London-based trust was there with financial support. As Father Ray's work grew in size so did the London Trust. Being too much work for just one man, the Baron employed full-time fundraisers and staff to deal with the growing sponsorship programme. It became registered with the charity commission of English and Wales, and the money sent to Thailand each month ensured there was always enough food for the children.

Today the Thai Children's Trust supports several projects in Pattaya: the Fountain of Life Women's Center, the Pattaya Orphanage, as well as the 850 underprivileged children and students with disabilities living at the projects managed by the Father Ray Foundation. Sarnelli House in Nong Khai and the Camillian Center in Rayong, both caring for children living with HIV and AIDS, also receive much-needed support.

In the Thai-Burma border town of Mae Sot, thousands of school children–refugees from the fighting across the border–receive a nutritious and well balanced lunch, for many the only meal they will receive each day. The youngsters of Baan Than Namjai, founded following the tsunami that hit southern Thailand in 2004, are also ensured monthly support.

At the age of 82, Baron Carini is still involved with the Trust, now in the role of president of the board of trustees. For his devotion to the children of Thailand, he received a Papal Knighthood from Pope John Paul II.

In 2006, His Majesty King Bhumibol of Thailand bestowed on the Baron the Order of the Direkgunabhorn for faithful service to Thai society.

Day to day running of the Thai Children's Trust is down to a team of six fundraisers, administrators and accountants, led for the past 13 years by Andrew Scadding, who visits Thailand each year to ensure the money his team raised is going to the children who need it.

The Thai Children's Trust currently sends more than £700,000 to Thailand each year. Over 30 years more than 14 million pounds–700 million baht at today's exchange rate– has been raised in the UK and sent to the Kingdom, every penny going to improve the lives of the underprivileged of Thailand.