Four friends who really care

11:21am Wednesday 25th April 2007

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FOUR grandmothers were so moved by the plight of Romanian orphans in 1990 that they took action to make a real difference.

Seventeen years later, the work undertaken by Melanie Price, Betty Price, Rita Varey and Rose Roberts has gone from strength to strength and they are now helping children and families living in more than eight countries across the globe.

Great-grandmother Melanie (54), of Stopes Road, Radcliffe, was the founding member of the Sunflower Trust, a charity which aims to financially support poor children and provide clean water, food, accommodation, clothes, medicine, education and friendship.

She and three friends - Betty (55), from Accrington, Rita (64), from Little Lever, and Rose (55), of Waltham Gardens, Radcliffe - now run the charity and are using their retirement to make a positive difference to the world.

Melanie said: "The conditions in the Romanian orphanages were horrendous and we were moved with compassion to do something. My family business was buying and selling industrial containers and all the women had to drive big vans, so me and Rita drove a seven-ton lorry full of food and supplies to the children in Romania.

"It took us four days and four nights to get there, but when we saw the condition of the orphans, anything we had suffered melted away. They needed our help so much and we were bitten by the bug. That was our first trip and we've carried on ever since."

The women - who have 58 grandchildren between them - make at least five trips every year to work on their projects in Romania, Hungary, Serbia, Montenegro, India, Africa and the Philippines. Every country needs different kinds of help and the women do whatever they can to improve the lives of people in need.

Among the Sunflower Trust's success stories are an operation to help a young girl with a cleft palate who lives in a rubbish tip, opening a Sunday school and church in a poor village, and supporting the education of a boy with a tumour.

Their latest project focuses on an orphanage in India which has been completely devastated in recent years by a tsunami, a fire and a cyclone. The four women hope to fund the building and furnishing of a brand new orphanage there and want to buy 20 water buffalo, which will produce milk three times each day, to allow the centre to support itself within 12 months.

Melanie said: "Each water buffalo costs around £200 or £250 and although it is a lot of money, it will make a huge difference to the children living in the orphanage. These water buffalo milk three times every day and they will be able to sell the milk to raise money and support themselves. It's very important that we raise enough money to buy them."

As well as helping people living in poverty, the Sunflower Trust regularly takes people from across the North West to help work on the projects, improving their own skills and learning more about the world.

There are representatives in each country overseeing the projects and Melanie keeps in touch with them via e-mail from her home in Radcliffe, but the four women like to remain involved in everything which is going on.

They never visit anywhere empty-handed, but always have plenty of food and medical supplies with them, no matter how difficult or long the journey may be.

As an ambassador for UNESCO, Melanie also delivers educational supplies to children.

With the charity's work continuing to increase, Melanie and her friends are always looking for their next project and are considering trips to Ukraine and China.

But they rely on generous donations from their friends and family and are desperately in need of more resources to expand the charity.

Melanie said: "We are just ordinary people making a difference because we passionately want to help orphans and poor people. Our charity is getting bigger and we need help. We don't have a lot of money or volunteers and need more people to get involved. There are all sorts of things that we need help with, from giving donations or sponsoring a child, to actually helping to build the orphanage or organising our paperwork.

"When we first went out, we were different people to who we are today. This has given us a better outlook and makes us do something while we can. We can't wait until tomorrow.

"While we're alive, we should do something to help as many people as we can."

And despite doing something which most people would describe as extraordinary, Melanie remains surprisingly modest about her achievements.

She said: "We've all experienced poverty in our lives but our children and grandchildren need for nothing now. Just because children live in another country, it doesn't mean we shouldn't help them. I have been to countries where children have nothing. There are people living in sewers and on tips, and we're doing what we can to change that."

"Because we are mothers and grandmothers, we have a more practical way of running the business. We never have more than £1,000 in the bank, because it could be being used for something instead of sitting there. We don't hang around, we just do things. We have a big vision, but the four of us are determined to make a difference."

Anyone looking for more information about the Sunflower Trust should contact Melanie on (0161) 724 9880 or e-mail her at pricemelanie2003@yahoo.com.