The Ashbourne Churches Together - Patna Partnership grew out of a visit
to Derbyshire by Bishop Philip Marandih of the Church of North India in 1998
when he stayed with Christopher Harrison, the Rural Dean. The Church of North India
is an ecumenical church, formed in the early 70's by the amalgamation of five
denominations. A party from Ashbourne visited Bihar for three weeks in 2000.
Bihar state is one of the poorest in India. During their stay they spent three days
at St Luke's hospital, Hiranpur. ACT decided to support the partnership
by launching an appeal to raise money to re-roof parts of the hospital.
The St. Luke's Hospital Appeal
This hospital is a very special place. It is a Christian Foundation, serving people regardless of caste, creed or
religion. It caters mainly for for the indigenous tribal people and its conditions are extremely basic.
The hospital was built over 70 years ago and is heavily used by local people. It is self-funding
for its day to day running costs (just!!) but the buildings are in poor condition and there is
no money available for repairs. Hence this appeal. All the roofs leaked! The first priority was the
operating theatres and the inpatient wards. They had to close completely in
the monsoon rain.
Ashbourne Churches Together raised £12,000 within three years, to re-tile the
whole roof. If you would like to know more about this exciting venture telephone 01335 342859
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2004 Visit
In June Bishop Philip brought a party of four headteachers (including his wife Lily) to Ashbourne.
They spent two weeks in and around Ashbourne.
2006 visit
A party of eight people visited the Patna Diocese in February 2006. One is to be a long term visit,
working in the hospital and health visiting field and doing some training work. The others stayed for about three weeks.
Read the report here
2007 visit
Another party of eight people plan to visit the Patna Diocese in February 2007. This time the intention is to work in schools
helping with English conversation.Read their report here
Child Sponsorship Scheme
The Partnership's current scheme is a child sponsorship scheme for St. John's School, Taljhari.
Click here for more details.
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