Take Heart is a youth run charity focused on practical education projects in India.  Take Heart aims to find and develop the talent and potential in every individual we work with.  We are relatively unique in the charity sector for two reasons:

1. We do not employ a single person which means that 100% of proceeds are directed out to our education projects in India.

2.  We run with the leitmotiv ‘Work builds, charity destroys’.  Rather than giving money we aim to empower people through practical education and skills.

Take Heart was founded by Lucian’s Father in the 1960’s after he met the legendary Baba Amte on a Global expedition to assess the situation of physically handicapped people worldwide. Take Haert has since given thousands of disabled people the required skills to start their own micro-business.  In 2003 Lucian took over the running and established the IT education focus.  Since then Take Heart has built an IT school that has provided real job opportunities to several thousand students. The school specialises in training blind students IT skills and is now setting India’s national curriculum for the training of blind teachers in IT skills. It costs Take Heart just £37 to provide a 6 month computer training course which secures these blind students with a job for life.

Lucian set up a committee of 36 exceptional young people to take the charity forward and organise annual fundraising events. These people include Sam Branson (Son of Sir Richard), Simon Ambrose (Winner of The Apprentice).  The annual ball attracts around 700 people including celebrities, royals and loyal Take Heart supporters.  The 2010 Take Heart Ball raised over £37,000 for the cause.

Our latest project is almost complete.  We are building a IT Hostel that will be home to 120 blind and handicapped students while they study at the Take Heart IT School.  This project will cost an estimated £175,000 to complete.  So far over the last years we have raised £120,000.  We need to raise a further £55,000 to complete the hostel.

For more information see www.TakeHeartIndia.org or follow updates @TakeHeartIndia.  Please donate at http:www.Justgiving.com/TakeHeart