I know a lot of you have been greatly concerned and often we have had questions about how Duke is getting.

We have news of his operation.

As you know he suffered terrible burns to his bottom and has not been able to go to the toilet naturally since before we got involved.  He did suffer a period of very unstable health at the beginning but our local team have done a very professional job getting him help and making him feel safe and welcome.  He has greatly improved in health and spirit since we have cared for him and has learned to use a colostomy bag quite successfully.

On Wednesday (8th December) he will undergo an operation to restore the use of his back passage.   This will involve cutting through the scars to open him up again and a skin graft in the immediate area.   After which the expectation is that he will be able to stop using the colostomy bag and go to the toilet naturally.

He will still have another skin graft operation at a later date to deal with the large scars on his buttocks where he still has a serious problem but this operation now should restore his functions.

Of course we will update you on how the operation went and we expect many of you will have him in your thoughts and prayers on the day and as he recovers.

Great news to share and that is that we have managed to complete the purchase of the entire plot that we wanted for the St George Foundation centre.   A huge thank you for the all the donations and I do have to say a very special thank you to some who were super generous.  The stability gained really does change the prospects for St George in the future and owning a site with a secure water supply is so valuable and we can get on with our own plans as we choose. See this video for some drone footage of the site:

One of the things we have chosen to do is move the local office from the city onto the same site as the home and have everything in one place so the work has started to convert the guest block/store room into an office with new guest accommodation being built above it (hint there – we really would like supporters to visit when completed).  The whole conversion is relatively inexpensive at around £5000 so we will have to raise that but hopefully if people can visit and stay on site it will repay itself quite quickly.

One supporter who has made it out there is showing commitment!   Back in the UK and helping raise funds - our friend Abid Gangat is doing a 100 mile bike ride very soon to raise funds.  Please do visit his link to see a bit more and encourage him?  https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Abid-Gangat

Good luck Abid!