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Tributes to a “lion of a man” were pouring in today (Tuesday, June 2) following news of the sudden death of former Manchester man Matthew Norton, founder of the Indian charity Street Kids’ Community Villages (SKCV)1. Matthew, aged 56, died yesterday following a fall at his home in Prema Vihar, the community village for orphaned and abandoned boys which he founded 16 years ago with his wife Bhakti in Vijayawada in the south east state of Andhra Pradesh. Son of the late Dr Desmond Norton, a highly respected GP in Sale, and his physiotherapist wife Tricia, Matthew was the author of an internationally-renowned manual for the care of street kids throughout the world. The manual drew on Matthew’s own early experiences of life on the streets in Manchester and London when as a youth of 16, he ran away from a loving, comfortable home because of what he saw as a repressive school education. Matthew was known as ‘pitaji’ (father) by the thousands of unwanted children, some as young as five years old, whom he rescued from a miserable, disease ridden existence on the streets of India2. For railway station ragpickers, tea shop workers and luggage carriers earning as little as 10 pence a day, SKCV is not just a safe haven of nutritious food and medical care, but also their first real home, free from beatings and abuse. Crucially it is the first introduction for many to education, in the charity’s non formal schools from where a significant number of young people are accepted into mainstream education. Others go on to undertake vocational training while some, such as Sudhama and Krishna Prasad, have gained university degrees and have elected to return to SKCV to care for former street children like themselves. They now lead a trained and trusted management group comprising former street children who undertake the day to day running of the charity, guided by trustees based in India. Their success is a moving tribute to a man who first gave food and shelter to a handful of starving children on the streets of Bombay in 1983. He pledged the remaining 26 years of his life, the last 10 dogged by ill health, to giving other street children a home, hope and a future to which he felt all children have a basic right. Matthew’s pioneering work won praise from around the world – from Mother Teresa and the Indian Government to former UK Prime Minister John Major and international charities such as Water Aid. In 1992 actor Art Malik arranged and hosted a fundraising screening on behalf of SKCV of City of Joy, the film about Calcutta ‘slumdogs’ in which he starred with Patrick Swayze and Pauline Collins. SKCV Patron Baroness Joan Walmsley said last night: “Matthew was a man with the biggest heart I have ever met. Combined with that, he had the organising and communication ability that was needed to make an enormous success of SKCV. The boys and girls themselves are testimony to his work. That will go on and on.” Richard May, chair of trustees of SKCV UK, the fundraising arm of the charity, commented: “On behalf of all the trustees I extend my sincere condolences to Matthew’s family, both in India and here in the UK. His death is a great shock and a tragic loss not only for them but for all of us who had the privilege of knowing and working with him. He will be greatly missed by people around the world whose lives he touched so deeply. His tireless devotion to the plight of destitute street children, girls as well as boys, earned their love and respect and humbled all who knew him. He was an inspirational lion of a man whose fitting legacy is the charity he founded and the thousands of young lives he rescued from unimaginable suffering and for many, otherwise certain death.” Dr Jandhalya Shankar, chair of trustees of SKCV India, said: "I have known Matthew since 1988, when I was Mayor of Vijayawada. He dedicated himself to the service of others and was a wonderful role model. He achieved a great deal against great odds and his work was recognised throughout Andhra Pradesh and at national government level. He won laurels for himself and for SKCV because of his selfless dedication to the welfare of others." David Maidment, founder and chairman of the Railway Children3, a charity which has supported SKCV for many years, added his own tribute: “I had great admiration both for Matthew and his work. His empathy for street children and his ability to gain their trust, which was born out of his own experiences, made his work enormously effective.” NOTES TO NEWS EDITORS 1 SKCV is a non-profit making, non-sectarian charity which was founded in 1984 by Matthew Norton. It works with homeless boys and girls in Vijayawada, which has an estimated 19,000 street children in a total population of approximately one million. Known as the gateway between north and south India, Vijayawada's busy railway station acts as a lure to abandoned or orphaned children. In addition to its boys’ village at Premar Vihar, SKCV provides:
SKCV is a member of the Consortium for Street Children which consists of 57 UK organisations working in 89 countries, dedicated to the welfare and rights of street living and working children and children at risk of taking to street life. www.streetchildren.org.uk SKCV relies on public donations, both in the UK and India, and has received grants from bodies including The Railway Children, St James’ Place Foundation, Selfridges, the Vegetarian Charity, Water Aid, rotary clubs at home and abroad and the Overseas Development Agency. 2 Matthew’s own son Madhavar was travelling to India yesterday for his father’s funeral on Thursday. He will be joined by Matthew’s brother Gerard while Matthew’s sisters, Hilary and Lucy, comfort their mother at her home in Sale. Matthew also leaves a 17 year old son, Ananda, whom he and Bhakti adopted as a baby from a Mother Teresa orphanage. 3 Railway Children is a registered charity which aims to stop a runaway child becoming a street child by intervening as early as possible and providing shelter, food, clothing, education and healthcare. www.railwaychildren.org.uk FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT LYNN MAY AT (All printed material and promotional work – including this press release – is produced by M&M Communications at no cost to the charity.) |