There are four main individuals who turn the wheels of the charity.
Matthew is a businessman based in Chichester, West Sussex. He keeps a close eye on the financials and administration for in Sri Lanka and in the UK ensuring that the charity runs smoothly and that all donations are spent efficiently and effectively.
Robert is a teacher at Brighton College in East Sussex. Every year he accompanies 36 sixth formers to Sri Lanka where they volunteer at Extra Cover schools. His experience in pastoral care is especially helpful in these poor remote schools, where so many of the children are in need.
Jill is a physiotherapist and has extensive knowledge of medical matters. In areas where there are few medical facilities, Jill helps make sure that the charity delivers appropriate care.
Jill and her husband Matthew had been watching their son, Ben, on a cricket tour of Sri Lanka just a few days before the tsunami - the original inspiration behind the charity. The whole family considers it a privilege to be able to pay back some of the hospitality they received, and continue to receive.
With the retirement of Newton Perera, Extra Cover has appointed Thishantha Ganearachchi to be the head of Extra Cover Foundation, its NGO partner in Sri Lanka. Thishantha graduated with a degree in Agriculture in 2000, and immediately began a career working in the NGO sector. Following the tsunami of 2004, he joined “Basicneeds”, a UK based NGO, working in the field of community mental health, where he used his counselling skills to develop intervention programmes for high-risk groups, including those facing redundancy and suffering from possible post-traumatic stress disorder.
In 2008, he linked up with the Dutch organization “Hellabeem Sri Lanka”, which runs a rehabilitation and vocational training centre for boys with walking disabilities. Thanks in part to his administrative and pastoral skills, Hellabeem has proved a great success, with many boys now able to lead independent lives. He is married and when he has the chance, loves to engage in his hobby of landscape gardening. Extra Cover is absolutely thrilled to have Thishantha on board – his knowledge of the NGO sector, not least those areas concerning children and youth with disabilities, is proving invaluable. From his home in Colombo, Newton continues to help us in an advisory capacity.
