Charity fundraiser — 2017
The Shalini Yadav appeal
In 2017 our team, our neighbours in Richmond and Kingston, and donors from across the world raised £2,500 towards the skin treatment of Shalini Yadav — the teenager the press called “the human snake girl”. Every penny was withdrawn and hand-delivered in cash at the private hospital where she was being treated, and where we were able to meet her in person.
Impact at a glance
One appeal, run out of a Richmond curry house, closed in 2017 with every penny accounted for.
- Raised and hand-delivered in cash
- £2,500Raised and hand-delivered in cash
- Donations through the JustGiving appeal
- WorldwideDonations through the JustGiving appeal
- Treatment completed, back at school
- 2017Treatment completed, back at school
The goal we set
£2,500 raised, pound for pound
Guests, neighbours and suppliers gave in small amounts — £5 at the till, a raffle ticket, a table booked for the cause. Together they covered Shalini’s treatment in full, with no admin cut taken by the restaurant.
100% funded — £2,500 of £2,500
What that money did
- Covered hospital treatment and follow-up care in full
- Paid travel and family costs during the treatment weeks
- Delivered in cash, in person, with receipts kept
- Let Shalini return to school the same year
How 2017 unfolded
Step one
Raise the funds
Counter collections in Richmond and Kingston, staff donations and a JustGiving appeal that reached supporters overseas — £2,500 in total.
Step two
Meet Shalini
We travelled to the private hospital in India to meet Shalini and her specialist team, and to hear directly what her treatment involved.
Step three
Hand-deliver the cash
The full amount was withdrawn and handed over in person at the hospital, so nothing was lost to transfer fees or admin.
Running a fundraiser of your own? We cater community events at cost-plus for registered causes, and we will always help spread the word locally.
Why we got involved
Shalini lived with a rare condition that made her skin shed roughly every six weeks. The treatment she needed was specialist, expensive and far from home — and the bullying she faced in the meantime was relentless. When the appeal reached us, it was an easy decision.
We used the JustGiving platform to open the appeal up beyond our own four walls. Regulars in Richmond and Kingston donated at the counter, staff chipped in, and supporters from other countries joined in online. Between them they raised £2,500, which we withdrew as cash and delivered by hand so that not a penny was lost in transfer fees.
Her treatment went ahead as planned. She went back to her books, back to school, and back to a childhood that had been taken from her. That is the part of the story we are proudest of — not the total, but the outcome.
For us it has always been about community spirit and heart — locally in Richmond, and internationally when someone needs it more than we do.
The story in photographs
Meeting Shalini and her specialist team at the clinic, where the funds were hand-delivered in cash. 
Back at her school books — the outcome every donor was hoping for. 
A new lease of life, and the confidence to face the bullies. 
The story travelled — international press followed her treatment closely.
Press coverage
Shalini’s recovery was reported internationally. These reports cover her treatment and its outcome.