Lycamobile presents first instalment to Sri Lankan cricketing ace Muttiah Muralitharan on behalf of The British Asian Trust.

Today, Monday 9th July 2012, the largest global provider of low cost international mobile calls Lycamobile and The GnanamFoundation presented the first installment of a £1 million grant to one The Prince’s Charities, The British Asian Trust.

The £250,000 cheque was given to the Trust at a press conference held at Lycamobile headquarters in London earlier today. The grant has been earmarked for projects in Sri Lanka that focus on reaching out to vulnerable populations in the country by supporting local organisations who are actively  engaged in enhancing access to education, employment and health care.

Trust Ambassador Muttiah Muralitharan, better known as Murali, collected the cheque on behalf of The British Asian Trust, and is delighted by the generous donation.

Murali hopes that the will give the South Asian Diaspora the opportunity to gain more insight about Sri Lanka, “This is a fantastic chance for the Trust to try and address some of Sri Lanka’s  prevailing needs and to raise awareness here in the UK around the issues affecting the country”.

Subaskaran Allirajah, Group Chairman of Lycamobile and The Gnanam Foundation commented, “We are committed to providing long term support to people in need. Our current partnership with The British Asian Trust has been successful in the on-going Skills and Training project which enables youth from slums in Chennai, India to gain employable skills. I am delighted to extend this partnership to Sri Lanka where we can make a significant impact on the lives of disadvantaged people.”

Lycamobile’s, Group Chief Executive Officer, Milind Kangle, highlights that the team is keen to give to people in need following the company’s phenomenal success, “We are glad to be in a position where we can now contribute significantly to a number of worthy causes.”

The British Asian Trust will be managing the grant across four years, and will identify the areas of most need through its in house, and on the ground experts. The charities will then be elected after a rigorous due diligence process to source the most impactful models.

The Trust’s Director of Investments, Abha Thorat- Shah says of the generous donation, “This contribution will enable us to expand our reach into Sri Lanka and allow us to support established local organisations that have a proven track record in delivering high impact projects”.