Children in England saved their tiffin money and senior citizens went on mountain biking to raise funds to rebuild a home for underprivileged children in Darjeeling.

The UK-based Darjeeling Children’s Trust contributed nearly 70 per cent of the Rs 80 lakh needed to set up the boys’ home of Kripa Saran Buddhist Mission that has been working with poor families in Darjeeling since 1975.

The mission still needs to reconstruct a girls’ hostel and the estimated project cost is Rs 1.88 crore. People from England have once again helped but the mission needs Rs 1.2 crore more to complete the project.

This time around, well-wishers of the Buddhist Mission have a different thought.

“People from England have helped the institution so much. We feel it is time for us to love our own place and we, too, should come forward to help them,” said Ranjeet Jaiswal, team member, Shasheesh Prasad Design Studio, an architect firm that is extending voluntary service to the organisation.

For the past two weeks, the well-wishers of the Buddhist Mission have been contacting friends and neighbours to raise funds. “We are reaching out to people from across the world through social media. We also plan to organise events to raise funds,” said Ramesh Rasaily, a member of the SPDS.

The home, which houses 120 boys and girls, has a girls’ hostel at Gandhi Road and boys’ home at Chota Kakjhora. The authorities, rebuilt the boys’ home and wants to shift the girls’ home to a new site at Chota Kakjora.

“We take children from underprivileged homes and even orphans. Depending on vacancies, the district magistrate approves the candidate to whom we provide shelter,” said Bhanta Pemba, the secretary of the mission.

The administration provides funds which roughly come to around Rs 1000 per student. “With this money, we function smoothly but we need funds for the construction,” said Bhanta.