In the town of Siliguri, North Bengal, many vulnerable children live on the streets or at the train station and are at risk of exploitation and malnutrition. Many children have been physically or mentally abused and have escaped from child traffickers or have run away from home in search of a better life. At present, there is no shelter for girls in Siliguri. This means that when distressed girls come to CINI staff for help, they currently have to sleep on the floor of the office, or stay with a female staff member. CINI is planning to extend its existing building to create a purpose-built shelter with dormitory, kitchen and sanitary facilities, as well as a class room, a play area and a room for health care and counselling. A lift will be installed to provide disability access. There will be no cost for land, as these facilities will be made available in an extension to existing CINI buildings. About 150 girls per year will use the shelter. As well as meeting the girl’s immediate needs, CINI will also help them map a route to a better future, and support them through this process. Where appropriate, girls will be reunited with their parents and registered in local schools. Where returning home is not an option, they will be linked up to appropriate NGO or government residential education services or vocational training, enabling them to develop skills that will be vital in order to ensure they have the means to live independently in later life. Additional space will be created for a 24 hour telephone service known as Childline, which will help with follow-up work with the girls who have left the shelter, as well as outreach services for children in distress. The total cost of the project is estimated at £109,287. Fondazione Cariverona (an Italian bank foundation in Verona) has sanctioned (70,000 Euros) - £60,000 and the Lord Patriarch Banks Charity has promised £10,000. In addition, Merrill Lynch has committed £11,500 towards the total cost of this extension. Both the funding from the Italian foundation and the Lord Patriarch Banks Charity are conditional on co-financing from other funders. Therefore, we are urgently looking for support to cover the £27,787 shortfall so that work can begin in November – when the weather conditions will be favourable. It is also a condition of the Italian funding that work be completed by August 2009. All donations of £1,000 or more will be recognised on a plaque on the wall listing funders.