IO&C is hopeful of raising $US40,000 for the Shanghai-based CereCare charity for disabled children in China with a gala dinner at next April’s conference at the Hyatt on the Bund.

A proportion of the funds will go to the supply of new wheel chairs and the remainder to contribute to the provision of a special school for more than 150 children with cerebral palsy or related disabilities, as well as a sheltered workshop. IO&C organisers and an associated company planning to attend the event, La Trobe Financial, have already committed $10,000 by way of donations.

CereCare’s executive administrator, Windy Fang, says the charity gets by on a budget of about $US170,000 a year, including modest wages for the 47 staff, rent and meals for about 30 children.

Because the founder, Lu Shunling, who is severely affected by cerebral palsy but who has provided a lot of the funding for the charity to date through an inheritance, is 78 years of age, there is a concerted effort to make the organization self-perpetuating.

While they are getting close to this aim, the addition of a new school requires a significant increase in funding.

Administration of the fund-raising is being overseen by the Sydney-based Cerebral Palsy Alliance.