Contents
Committee / Groups
History
Supported
Groups and Charities
St. Mary's Hadlow, supports many different groups, societies and charities. We will be attempting over the next few months to update this page with details about these groups. At present we have information on:
The Delhi Brotherhood Society (DBS)
St
Mary's Church has had a link with the DBS since the early 1980's through the
late Dorothy Cotman, a resident of Hadlow, who was the sister of Fr Kenneth
Sharp, one of the leaders of the DBS for many years. Fr Kenneth visited his
sister regularly over many years and kept us up to date with their work in
Delhi. Fr Kenneth died during a visit to Hadlow in the Summer of 1992 and
his funeral took place at St Mary's Hadlow in July 1992, attended by many
people who were connected to the DBS.
The
history of the DBS goes back to 1877 when a small group of Anglican priests
went to Delhi from Cambridge UK to establish a religious community called
the Brotherhood of the Ascended Christ. After many setbacks they gradually
built up the community and formed the Delhi Brotherhood Society as a
charitable organisation to provide basic education and care for children
from the poorest families in the Old Delhi region. Funding for their work
was obtained from within India and from external funding bodies and Churches
around the world. A comprehensive history of the Cambridge/Delhi Brotherhood
called "Whether we be many or few" has been written by C. M. Millington.
Alan Knowles has a copy if anyone is interested to read it.
St Mary's
initial involvement was to sponsor the education of two children in the DBS
schools. Over the years this number has gradually risen to ten children and
we aim to send at least £1,000 each year to support their education and
wellbeing, thanks to the generosity of a group of regular donors, and
occasional fund raising activities. The DBS send annual reports of the
children's educational progress and items of arts and crafts prepared by the
children. Most years somebody from the DBS visits St Mary's to give updates
on the latest developments. Our main contact over recent years has been Fr
Monodeep Daniel. A few people from St Mary's have visited the DBS to see the
work first hand. They are always impressed by how much good work is done
amongst the poorest children and families with quite small resources. People
are always welcome to visit the DBS either to see the schools and the
projects, or possibly to stay for a longer period to assist with some of the
work.
Many of
the children find work or self employment when they finally leave the DBS
schools. One of the gratifying aspects for us is that two of the
current younger members of the DBS staff started out as orphan boys on the
streets of Old Delhi and were taken in by the DBS and sponsored by St
Mary's.
Please look on the DBS website for more information: www.delhibrotherhood.org
July 2008 Update: Click Here
May 2008 Update: Click Here
September 2007 Update: Click Here