Empowering 100 Disadvantaged Sri Lankan Girls

Dear friends and supporters,

One young mum’s world was turned upside down when she went into premature labour and then experienced severe postnatal mental health complications, alongside epilepsy. In the chaos of that crisis, her six-year-old daughter was taken from her at the hospital and placed in an institution, while her newborn baby, whom we’ll call Amaya - was put forward for adoption. (Amaya means “strong”.)

But this story did not end in separation.

Thanks to a determined lawyer, Marini, who fought tirelessly through the courts on her behalf, this family has now been reunited and is living safely at the shelter. Today, they are together again - recovering, rebuilding, and filled with hope for the future.

And then came a moment of joy.

With a generous donation of beautiful Spitalfields Rose fabric, inspired by the heritage of the Huguenot silk weavers (thank you, Catherine Everest), this mum, who we’ll call Rania, put her brilliant dressmaking skills to work. She created stunning dresses to celebrate Sinhala New Year, alongside a young care leaver who is bravely overcoming the trauma of a lifetime in institutional care.

Stories like this remind us what’s possible when support arrives in time, and why Sri Lanka urgently needs safe, loving alternatives, including foster care, for families facing crisis.

Thank you, as always, for standing with us, and for helping keep families together when it matters most.

Warmest,

Joel

Dear friends and supporters,

We’re immensely proud of what the Heartbeat Centre team has achieved. Over the past year, they have strengthened operations, diversified income, and built a loyal base of direct supporters. The Centre is now fully self-sufficient, with donor funding flowing to it directly, a brilliant milestone for sustainability and local ownership.

We will continue to provide teachers and resources for the Senehasa Girls’ Home bakery project as a practical pathway to skills, income, and confidence for the girls, preparing them for life after they leave the institution.

The Heartbeat Centre’s caseload involves complex needs that require highly specialised and intensive psychosocial support. Now that the Centre has a robust direct-donor base and the right specialist structures in place, we believe it is in the girls’ best interests for Their Future Today to step back from day-to-day delivery and support from the sidelines. This allows us to allocate more of our resources to family care programmes so that more children grow up in families rather than orphanages.

We will always remain a constructive partner and critical friend when asked, share training materials, safeguarding resources and referral pathways, and coordinate where our programmes intersect, such as education, legal and emergency support. We will continue to report transparently to our donors on the use and impact of funds for Senehasa.

We will confirm financial close-out with the Heartbeat Centre for any historical Their Future Today supported costs, issue a revised budget and logframe for Senehasa under this grant, and schedule a learning session to capture good practice from the Centre’s journey to self-sufficiency.

Thank you for standing with these young women and with Their Future Today. This transition keeps momentum where it matters most, keeping children safe, learning and ultimately in loving families.

With heartfelt gratitude,

Joel