Mary Reid

Last year Kingston's Land's End to John O'Groats bike ride in aid of the Pakistan Earthquake relief - E2E4E - was a great success. One year after the earthquake we held a memorial event and began to hear about the projects that the funding would be supporting.

Then last night I hosted a very well-attended event in the Guildhall to celebrate some extraordinary achievements.

Earlier this year Cllr Shiraz Mirza and Sara Butterfield travelled to Lahore to see how the funds had been used by the Red Cross (Pakistan Red Crescent). They personally helped to construct some of the 300 shelters that it provided. The two of them then took a hazardous journey up to the earthquake faultline in the mountains and delivered clothes to people in a very remote tented refugee camp.

But the real eye-opener was back in Lahore. The Fountain Trust is a highly respected medical centre, and here the funding from Kingston is building a complete rehabilitation centre for those suffering mental health problems as a result of the earthquake. This is to be known as the Royal Kingston Rehabilitation Centre, and the architects have designed a building with remarkable similarities to the Guildhall!

A highlight of the evening was an amplified phone call through to the manager at Lahore. Here Roy Taylor - Head of Community Services at Kingston Council and an end-to-ender in the bike ride - on the phone to Lahore, with a picture of the person he is talking to on the right of the photo on the screen.