Community Connections sets off for Thailand

In celebration of BUPA's 60th anniversary, Community Connections is embarking on our most ambitious charitable project to date.

Since our creation, Community Connections has helped hundreds of communities across the UK through our charitable giving, employee volunteering and fundraising programmes. Although we have financially assisted a number of BUPA international charity projects in the past, we have yet to complete one as exciting or to this scale.

From 26 October to 7 December 2007, 60 BUPA volunteers will be travelling to northern Thailand to work on a series of manual projects to improve Sarnelli House orphanage and assist the outreach team provide healthcare to the local communities.

Sarnelli House orphanage is home to over 126 children most of which have no home of their own as their parents were victims of the AIDS disease. The impact of AIDS in Asia is staggering. Although Africa has the largest number of people living with HIV, South and South-East Asia is the region where HIV is spreading fastest.

Because of this and its strong presence in Thailand, BUPA has decided to take action to help tackle the disease and raise awareness of the problem. We hope to create a sustainable relationship with the orphanage to encourage further international charitable activity.

The Community Connections team are extremely proud of this project and hope that BUPA people across the world will support the volunteers and make this an event in which all BUPA staff can be proud of.