The Godwin Memorial Fund was set up in memory of our meditation teacher, Godwin Samararatne, who resided and taught at the Nilambe and Lewella meditation centres outside Kandy, Sri Lanka, until his death in March 2000.  We strive to continue giving help to people in need in the Kandy area, as Godwin did so generously in his lifetime.

Currently we are focussing our efforts on supporting poor families and sick and elderly people in need in and around Kandy.  We presently support 20 families and 17 sick and elderly people with monthly payments amounting to 37,000 rupees per month ( ? Pounds Sterling; ? Euros; ? US Dollars ).

Most of the families we help are without a breadwinner due to death or disability, or are caring for a severely disabled child or adult. The sick need money to purchase their medicines, and the elderly lack adequate family support and frequently have to resort to begging from neighbours.  We collect full family details before we decide to support a family or person, and we always have a waiting list  of those needing our help.

We also run a project supplying used spectacle frames from abroad to poorer people locally who cannot afford the full cost of glasses.  Mostly we also pay for the lenses to be prescribed and fitted, with the generous help of local opticians, Samarasinghe and Sons (?). This can be of vital help to those who would otherwise be left with defective vision.