Friends of Antara UK

Antara is a psychiatric and general hospital providing care to all, especially the poor, in Kolkata (Calcutta), India. Friends of Antara UK is a British charity which aims to support the work of Antara, both financially and otherwise.

Over the past decade, Antara has welcomed many western volunteers to work with the patients for periods of weeks or months, sent out by organisations such as Gap Activity Projects. In 2001, some British ex-volunteers formed “Friends of Antara UK” for the dual purpose of raising money, and of directly supporting Antara through volunteers, friendship and through raising awareness in Britain of Antara’s situation. Since then, Friends of Antara UK has grown to include groups at several universities and elsewhere.

Since then, Friends of Antara UK, which is run entirely by volunteers, has set up a letter exchange programme between people in the UK and patients in Antara, and has also sent several volunteers out to India. To raise money, it has sold goods such as cards made by patients in the Occupational Therapy ward, donations, events at universities and elsewhere, and by members doing several sponsored challenges, such as marathons. There are student societies of Friends of Antara UK at several universities.

The money sent out by FoAUK has so far paid for several building projects at Antaragram. These include a well, two gardens, a washroom, over eighty beds and most recently an inpatient ward and outpatient department for children with mental illnesses and developmental disorders. Treatment has also been subsidised for destitute patients. The main current project is to raise funds for a 'Safe Motherhood and Child Survival' early intervention service in the local villages, as well as providing more free and subsidised treatment for needy child patients.

[http://www.friendsofantarauk.org/ Friends of Antara UK]

[http://www.antaraonline.org Antara's own website]