Newsletter2014

Newsletter
Inside
Awareness...............................Pg 1
Strategic Programs..................Pg 2
The ReachAble Fund...............Pg 3
Volunteerism...........................Pg 3
2014
2014. A year for evaluating goalposts and
scoring goals. Not just at the FIFA world cup
though!
For BridgeAble, 2014 was a year of building new partnerships and
exchanging experiences. Our projects saw us interact with "new"
beneficiary groups and social service icons. There were awareness talks,
volunteerism, fundraising and strategic events. Most of all, there was the
commitment of donors, volunteers, social sector organisations and their
staff along side inspiring true-life stories of determination and grit
among beneficiaries.
Awareness
BridgeAble along with De Ideaz, organized
an open forum at the Hub with Padma
Shree and Magsaysay Award recipient, Dr.
Prakash Amte. Dr Amte, a medical doctor,
is the son of Baba Amte. Dr. Amte has
dedicated his life to working with tribal
communities in Maharashtra since the
1970s. In his long journey since facing the
challenge of getting his first patient from
the forests of Gadchirolli district in the
1970s to the current operation of
hospitals, schools and an animal
orphanage in these remote locations of
Maharashtra, Dr Amte's story was a
powerful reminder of the redundancy of
the word “impossible”.
1
Later in the year, BridgeAble along with the
international law firm Linklaters, hosted an
awareness talk featuring IDIA. IDIA is the
acronym for an Indian organisation: Increasing
Diversity by Increasing Access. Its mission is to
give access to marginalised and underrepresented students to top Indian law
schools via awareness and training. Focusing
on the top end of the education chain as a
means for empowering disadvantaged
communities, IDIA is a novel impact platform
in the Indian professional landscape. Pramod
Rao, Chair of the Fund Raising and Resource
Mobilisation Committee of IDIA and General
Counsel of Citi India was the speaker.
At the end of the year, we had the rare
opportunity to meet an expert and pioneer in
the philanthropic space of India. Venkat
Krishnan set up GiveIndia in 2000 with very
high standards of transparency and
accountability. GiveIndia today channels
around USD 9 million p.a. to over 250 NGOs in
India. BridgeAble organised a Q&A session
titled “What are your Giving Fears” with
Venkat which was ably moderated by Rajan
Raju of Standard Chartered Bank. Venkat's
insights on giving-blocks and the benefits
from self-detachment in the giving
experience were highly educative.
Strategic Programs
Essilor-SINDA 'Kids Vision for Life' Eye
Care camp was a strategic philanthropic
collaboration between Essilor's Vision
Foundation (the charitable arm of
Essilor, a world leader in lense
manufacturing), SINDA, Singapore
Polytechnic, BridgeAble and NPS
International School.
Approximately 300 students from lowincome families chosen by SINDA
underwent eye examinations at the
Singapore Polytechnic's Optometric
Department. Students who needed
corrective measures were given
corrective lenses.
Based on donors' requests, we also assisted certain donors in creating their specific giving programs. Our focus was to facilitate
donor's giving aspirations in a timely and effective manner supported by best practices.
2
The ReachAble Fund
The ReachAble Fund, launched and
housed in SINDA in 2013, continued to be
deployed for gap areas of need among
clients of SINDA's Family Services Centre.
Processes for deployment included
vetting of cases by SINDA's social workers
and approvals from a committee
comprising BridgeAble and donor
representatives.
social enterprise that trains differently
abled people to operate food stalls.
children and 6 volunteer mothers took a
trip to ACRES along with BridgeAble.
ACRES is an animal protection
organisation. The children first listened
to an interactive presentation on how
animals are treated in captivity. They
were also taken to an enclosed area
where rescued star tortoises, iguanas
and a few other smaller animals were
being taken care of.
Volunteerism
BridgeAble was engaged by PIIMA(Pan
Indian Institute of Management Alumni)
to conceptualise and run a program
enabling PIIMA members and their
fa m i l i e s to a c t i ve l y e n ga ge i n
community service in Singapore. Service
events focused on children and
members of the elderly from lower
income backgrounds were conducted
on two separate occasions. We also had
the good fortune of interacting with
Dignity Kitchen through this event.
Dignity Kitchen is a Singapore based
As October approached, we decided to
participate in the Sewa (service in
Sanskrit) spirit of that month. We coorganised a picnic for migrant workers at
Changi Beach with food, singing, cricket,
football and other games. The
atmosphere was no less than a big
festival celebration!
Keeping our commitment to creating
awareness among the youth, 32
In sum, BridgeAble focused on the
importance of the impact of our
projects. Alongside we kept our
p r a c t i c e o f q u a l i t y e xe c u t i o n
uppermost. We continued to grow
partnerships with stakeholders in the
social sector so as to learn from each
other's experiences. Our experience
and network also served donors and
volunteers on the one hand and social
sector organisations and beneficiaries
on the other, in coming closer together.
A number of ideas and lots of energy
marked our mood as 2014 came to an
end.
Onward to 2015!
Ramya Nageswaran
Damayanti Shahani
Shobha Punukollu
BridgeAble is looking forward to an eventful year ahead !
www.bridgeable.com.sg
/BridgeablePteLtd