Hands Across the Sea

In January 2005, Liverpool City Council launched an appeal for victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami entitled “Hands across the Sea”. Schools, businesses, churches and voluntary organisations all contributed, but the majority of the funds were raised at a concert sponsored by the Liverpool Echo newspaper.

Many well-known Liverpool artists donated their services for the event and performed to a packed Philharmonic Hall. By the time Gerry and the Pacemakers closed the evening with the Liverpool anthem “You’ll never walk alone” over £50,000 had been raised and before the fund was closed this had increased to £100,000.

Our experience and contacts in Sri Lanka made the Epiphany Trust a perfect partner to identify and administer projects that “Hands across the Sea” were now able to fund.

To date, six schools and a multi-purpose day centre have been re-equipped. In addition, over 800 family businesses, wiped out by the tsunami, have restarted as a result of individual grants and loans made through an on-going micro-credit programme. This is now financed as well as run totally “in-country” by IVFA (International Volunteer Friendship Association) of Columbo, under the direction of Dr. Yasa Sirewardene.

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