AFTER months of fundraising events and generous donations, Fife College lecturers, Ross Stirling and Fiona McLeod have travelled to Bengal in India to help terminally ill children.

Ross learned about the difficult circumstances of the Bengal children through his connections with the St Finnian's Church in Lochgelly and one of the fundraisers took place in the town.

The two lecturers flew out of Edinburgh Airport at 6am on Friday (March 31). They took with them suitcases full of clothes for the children of the Arunima Hospice, money to build a much needed extension for the hospice and a case full of sock monkeys to bring a smile to the faces of the sick youngsters, some of whom are at the end of their life.

As they set out on their travels Ross and Fiona were aware that two sisters, aged 18 months and 12 years, had been allowed to remain at the busy hospice, and not turned out on to the street to fend for themselves, in the knowledge that the lecturers were on their way and that a new extension was imminent.

The hospice is dedicated to taking care of people, especially children, who are affected and infected with HIV/AIDS and currently cares for 42 children. Life is particularly hard for the children as they are not accepted by general society or welcomed in mainstream education due to their illness.

Students at Fife College have welcomed the opportunity to help their lecturers raise the much needed funds while putting the skills and knowledge learned in the classroom to real use by organising a range of events. These have included: three hillwalking days; a walk across the Forth Road Bridge; two race nights; a Christmas fayre; student donations; Sport Lecturers’ moustache growing and other out of College events.

In total £8,500 has been raised - £6,000 will fund the new extension which will allow 12 additional girls to be admitted. The remaining money will help to furnish the new extension with beds and energy saving lighting to save on electricity bills. Some of the fund will also be used by Ross and Fiona to take 38 of the children, who are more able, on a day out to a park.

Before they left, Ross spoke of how grateful he was to the students and staff for their kind donations and those in Lochgelly who have backed them, and said: “We’ve been overwhelmed by the generosity of our students and staff which has enabled us to make this trip and help these children who are so desperately in need. We are also extremely grateful to the staff and students at Castle Huntly Prison who have made gorgeous sock monkeys which we know the children will love!”

During their six day visit Ross and Fiona will be busy helping to build the extension and also make presentations about the College and their fundraising activities to churches in the area to help promote awareness of the hospice.

Said Fiona: “Working with Ross on this project has been a great opportunity, not just to raise funds for such a worthy cause but to also work with our students on some great events which will help them to progress their skills. We hope we have also encouraged more people to continue raising funds to help the children of the Arunima Hospice.”