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HELPING HAND: David Carlyon with the tsunami scene, which raised £2,000 for Walk of Life.
Painting a new picture of disaster
Gareth Parker4/ 1/2006
A TEENAGE survivor of last year's tsunami came up trumps for a charity that has raised around £30,000 for victims of the disaster.
A picture painted by 15-year-old Chaminda Withirama, which depicts him at the heart of the storm that killed his whole family, was the number one fundraiser at an auction organised by Walk of Life.
The landscape of the tsunami was painted with watered down household emulsion, the only thing available to the teenager, and scooped £2,000 at the Manchester auction, which was boosted with a further £1,700 raised by the sale of paintings donated by local artists.
Heywood's David Carlyon, one of the founders of Walk for Life, said everyone at the auction, held at the Great John Street Hotel at the beginning of December, was amazed at the talent of the young lad from Sri Lanka.
He said: "The picture shows Chimanda clinging to floating wreckage in the middle of the tidal wave and is very dramatic and heart wrenching at the same time as he lost both his parents and brothers and sisters in the tragedy."
The 33-year-old from Mossbank Grove, Back o'th' Moss, set up the charity after raising £23,000 with best mate Anjub Ali with a sponsored trek from Manchester to London last January.
With a number of friends and businesses on board, including major support from Heywood window company, Per-Fit Windows, Walk of Life is now one of the fastest growing charities in the country and thanks to a number of fundraising events throughout the year has helped to rebuild a school in Sri Lanka.
David, a former social work student, has been over to the country on a number of occasions to see for himself how the many thousands of pounds raised over the last 12 months has benefited the youngsters.
He said: "I can't thank all the people who have supported us enough. But in the end it's all about helping the children in Sri Lanka who were hit by the tsunami, which is the reason we set up Walk of Life in the first place."
The story of the charity is to be featured in the near future on the BBC's Inside Story documentary, after TV cameras followed David and Anjub on their walk to London.
To find out more about Walk of Life, including the next fundraiser - a disco on February 12 in Rochdale - log onto www.walkoflife.org.
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Not just them to all charities and individuals who have participated and contributed for the people who suffered the tsunami.
Well done guys!
Ren xxx
13/04/2006 at 17:11