The initiative was started through support from our partners, Lancashire Global Education Centre-LGEC. The fund seeks to support community self help groups that have projects which might be experiencing financial problems.

In Dandora there are many community based groups that are involved in projects and activities aimed to help improve the community's social economic conditions. Since members to these groups will have come from poor backgrounds their financial support to the projects is usually inadequate. The other feature of these groups is that membership is usually voluntary but inspired by the desire to improve the welfare of the larger community.

The funds will be injected into these projects in order that they are viable and also that they have bigger and more lasting impact on the community. Among the criteria for the groups to qualify are:

• Must be registered groups
• Must have existed for not less than six months
• Must provide evidence of proper governance and good management
• Must be involved in an income generating project
• Must be able to repay the money

The groups that apply are subjected to these criteria by the Fund's Management Committee. The recruitment criteria includes actual visit to places where the groups meet and run their projects.