Future Hope has decided to tell its own story, through the words of students, staff and founders!
Series 1 of the podcast “Hope Within The Mango Trees” is the complete story of Future Hope; from humble beginnings back in the 1980s through to the thriving present day of bright futures and lives transformed!
Series 2 shares the remarkable journeys of our alumni from the streets, through Future Hope and on to bright futures.
You can listen to all the episodes now using the links below, depending on your favourite podcast platform:
You can listen to all the episodes now using the links below, depending on your favourite podcast platform:
“Tim made Rugby accessible to all,” says Sujata Sen, Future Hope CEO. Four students of the school have gone onto represent the India national team! This is inspiring stuff…
Rugby was the first sport introduced at Future Hope; playing a vital role in developing discipline, team work and personal responsibility. For children who would run away when told to sit down, let along enter a classroom to study, it was a way of shackling that energy from the streets and harnessing the wild-side of some pretty wild kids! We meet coaches Paul Walsh, whose Khelo Rugby programme now sits under the Future Hope umbrella, and Sanjay Patro, one of the very first boys at the school. Both have incredible stories to tell…
A search for future talent takes us to The Dhapa; the dumping ground of the city. Here, like all over the city, kids play in bare-feet and compete in mixed girls-and-boys teams. The smiles and laughter emphasise the fun…Then, on the weekend, the aspiring fly-halves walk for miles and cram onto crowded buses to reach a tournament. We follow them there, for a surprise result…
These are places Future Hope students used to call home. We need to visit….Sanjay agrees to relive his chance meeting with Tim, more than 30 years ago, at Howrah Station. Anil serves up some Momos and reflects on his life-changing experiences. While Ruksar and Ramzan take us to Park Circus; one of the busiest slums in the city.
Just like that, there’s danger. Stand clear! A surprise appearance brings reality home. It gets emotional…
Tim Grandage, a young up-and-comer of a banker, assigned to a branch in central Kolkata, befriends street kids who hang around outside his branch. They look after his car, fearing any damage would send blame their way, but never ask for a single rupee. One day, medical attention is required, Tim steps in… and the story begins.
Future Hope was a dream, born on the floor of his apartment, and, 36 years later, it remains this man’s passion. Relentlessly caring, finding solutions, making connections. He never stops, as you’ll hear. But after more than 35 years on the frontline, what does the future hold?
This season-closing profile puts the man in the spotlight; the man who slept by the door of his flat to stop kids running away, the man who commuted from Hong Kong just to check his students were fine at the weekend; The Man: Tim Uncle.
Future Hope is a charitable organisation which provides opportunity through its homes, school, sports and medical programme for some of the most vulnerable children from the streets and slums of Kolkata, India.
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