Slumdog Millionaire filmmakers donate £500,000 to Plan International

• Makers of Oscar-winning film donate £500,000 to help children in the Mumbai slums

• Plan International helps establish a trust to ensure the ongoing welfare of the film’s child stars

• Channel Seven to screen Jamie’s Journey, a documentary about Australian star Jamie Durie’s eye-opening trip to India with Plan International Australia

The team behind the Oscar-winning movie Slumdog Millionaire has made a commitment of £500,000 to Plan, an international children’s development organisation.

The money will be spent on a five-year programme specially designed to improve the lives of children in the Indian city of Mumbai’s slum communities.

Plan has been working with children for more than 70 years and has been in India since 1979 working with local NGOs.

Slumdog Millionaire’s producer Christian Colson said he hoped the money would allow thousands of youngsters to get a decent education and access to good healthcare.

Colson said: “We are grateful to everyone who has supported this initiative and we are looking forward to working with Plan to ensure that the money is put to the best possible use.”

The donation comes soon after Slumdog Millionaire star Anil Kapoor donated his fee for the movie to Plan’s birth registration campaign in India, and as Channel 7 prepares to screen a documentary about Australian star Jamie Durie’s voyage of discovery through the slums and villages of India.

Slumdog Millionaire, which was shot in Mumbai, shone a light on the plight of some of the world’s poorest children.

Durie gained first-hand experience of the resilience of Indian children when he visited Plan-supported projects in the slums of Delhi and desert villages in Rajasthan.

"I expected to be overwhelmed by the poverty and despair that so many of us have experienced on our travels. But what I found turned out to be a very different story ... and took me on one of the most positive, hopeful journeys I’ve been on," Durie said.

Jamie’s Journey with the Children of India will screen nationally on Channel Seven on Saturday 23 May.

Slumdog director Danny Boyle said he wanted some of Mumbai’s poorest children to benefit from the huge success of his award-winning movie.

Boyle said: "Having benefitted so much from the hospitality of the people of Mumbai it is only right that some of the success of the movie be ploughed back into the city in areas where it is needed most and where it can make a real difference to some lives.

"Despite intimidating odds, extraordinary work is going on to help people break the cycle of poverty through education. We’re delighted that this initiative will add to that ongoing work."

Living conditions within the slums are difficult, overcrowded and lack basic facilities like water and sanitation. Children are at a particular risk as they are more vulnerable to diseases that are easily spread in these conditions.

Many children have to walk huge distances to school or simply do not go at all - some become child labourers.

The donation from the filmmakers will fund projects in the identified slums of central Mumbai focusing on education programmes and training children and adults in good hygiene/sanitation techniques. Plan hopes to reach 2000 families and 5000 children.

Ian Wishart, National Executive Director of Plan in Australia, said: "About one billion of the world’s population live in slums and there are 100,000 new slum dwellers every day*.

"The success of Slumdog Millionaire has exposed audiences across the world to the realities that one in six people on the planet face in their daily lives.

"This generous donation will be used to help get more children into school, help them to stay in school, and ensure that they remain healthy so that they can complete their education.

"Initiatives that focus on quality education and healthcare are crucial to breaking the cycle of poverty, and this money will help Plan to continue this important work with the children of Mumbai."

Plan has worked in India for 30 years, helping children and their communities to address the underlying causes of poverty.

Bhagyashri Dengle, executive director of Plan India said: "The phenomenal global success of Slumdog Millionaire has helped focus attention on the needs of some of the most vulnerable children in India – ones who have missed out on India’s recent economic boom.

"Plan in India has a long history of helping communities create real and lasting change for children

"This donation from the filmmakers will enable Plan to reach out to many more children, empowering them to be able to live healthier and happier lives."

Filmakers commit to provide for film's child stars

Meanwhile, in consultation with Plan, trustees have been appointed to a separate independent trust established by the filmmakers to provide for the welfare and educational needs of two of the film’s young stars. 

The Jai Ho Trust aims to ensure that Rubina Ali (who played the youngest Latika in the film) and Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail (youngest Salim) receive the benefit of an education, have somewhere decent to live and receive extensive social support to help them deal with any media attention. The trust will also hold a sum of money for the two children until they reach adulthood.

ENDS

Further Information

• For a detailed fact sheet about how the filmmakers’ donation will be used, statistics on slums and poverty in India and how Plan conducts its work, contact Aimee Suchard-Lowe using the details below
  
  
• For more information about Plan in Australia’s work in India, go to www.plan.org.au/ourwork
  
  
• Jamie’s Journey with the Children of India will screen across Australia on Channel Seven on Saturday, May 23. To view a preview go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pk6GM_lgahk
  
  
• Please direct enquiries about the child stars and the independent trust to Noshir Dadrawala using the details below
  
  

Contacts:

Plan in Australia
Aimee Suchard-Lowe, Director, Marketing and Communications
Ph: 03-9672 3651  / Mob: 0412 227 154

The Jai Ho Trust
Noshir Dadrawala
Mob: +91 9820 173255

Note to editors

*Slum dwelling statistics sourced from UN HABITAT