Friends of Mettupalayam is a village-based project supporting children and adults in a very poor rural area of Tamil Nadu, South India.

The project, founded in 1985, centred mainly on children, improving their future lives and health through education and better nutrition. In recent years, support has been expanded to include the elderly and the disabled. It is hoped to address much wider healthcare and disability provision issues for all the villagers.

Crakehall Primary School provides for around 75 village and tribal children and sets the standard for all Government schools in the area. There is a bursary fund to support access to secondary school and college where appropriate. Additionally, there is a weekly doctors surgery in our village, with free medicines.

In 2005, following a devastating Tsunami, which affected the coastline some 40 miles from Mettupalayam, a second project was started on the coast, using 20 years of experience gained in Mettupalayam. There is now have a primary school with six classes. This was achieved mainly through the support of schools in North Yorkshire- we were chosen by North Yorkshire Education Authority as their Tsunami appeal charity and received a tremendous response.

Find out more on the charity's website https://irdt.co.uk/