Welcome

Thank you for visiting our website.

Introduction to The Free to Live Trust.

The Trust was established in 2015 to:

  • rescue and restore victims of modern slavery, their children and abandoned street children.
  • raise awareness of modern slavery.

Our main work is currently in India.

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Seema’s Project—- Donations Suspended.

Our partner in India, the Waghmode Patil Trust, is currently unable to renew the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act Licence- FCRA. Until this has been renewed the Waghmode Patil Trust cannot receive any funds from overseas.  The Free to Live Trust has therefore  reluctantly decided to no longer accept donations for Seema’s Project.

All future donations will be used to support street children projects.

Brief Outline:

  • This project is based in the state of Maharashtra, India.
  • It aims to rescue the abandoned children of trafficked sex workers -these young women and girls are enslaved in the red-light district of the city of Pune.
  • It aims to rehabilitate some of the trafficked sex workers.

We have achieved the first of our aims in that thirty children are now safely in our Rehabilition  Centre in Bori.

Opening of our Second Home at Bori.

In 2019 we completed the construction of the Boys Home which is to the right of the main building.

A huge THANK YOU to all our supporters who have made this possible.

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April 2018- March 2021

The Free to Live Trust was delighted to partner with Church of Scotland Guild during this time. 

Sadly, this has now come to and end. The Trustees of the Free to Live Trust  would like to thank members of the Guild for allowing us to journey with you over the past three years. Thank you for your amazing fundraising, your friendship and your fellowship.

 Pam Cairns – Chair of FTLT.

 

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A statement from the Trustees of The Free to Live Trust  

November 1st 2025

February this year marked the ten-year anniversary of the foundation of The Free to Live Trust.  

The charitable purposes remain the same. The project we support in India, through our partners the Rev H Waghmode Patil Trust, RHWPP, aimed to accomplish the following:

  • to build a children home for the offspring of trafficked sex workers from Pune’s red-light District.
  • To rescue and rehabilitate, where possible, sex workers.

Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, the project has delivered two children’s home, providing safety for many children. In the red-light district, sex workers have been rescued and health care offered through mobile clinics.

A recent update from our partners shows a flourishing project both in the Children’s Rehabilitation Centre in Bori, and in the care of sex workers in Pune. The outreach they have developed in Nepal, a source country for trafficking victims, is particularly encouraging.

Here is a summary of an update from Seema and her team for year 2024-25.

Bori Children Centre:

57 children and ladies from the Red Light Area of Pune were sheltered and cared for at the Children’s Centre.

The staff numbers have been increased to cope with the workload.

There are plans to build staff accommodation and an IT block.

Pune’s Red-Light District:

27 women and children from the Red Light Area of Pune were sheltered and cared for at our Rehabilitation Homes in Pune.

638 ladies received free services including health checkups and ration kits in the Red Light Area of Pune.

66 people from the Red Light Area of Pune participate in our therapy and counselling sessions multiple times per week.

29 children and youth from the Red Light Area of Pune participate in our weekly mentoring and sports activities. 

Outreach to Nepal -a source country for victims of trafficking

109 youths in Nepal were equipped to stop human trafficking at the

Youth Revival Camp, Nepal.

As you can be seen the Project is flourishing under the care of an amazing Christian couple Seema and Shirish Waghmode.    

Unfortunately, they have encountered a problem with their government license. To receive funds from overseas their charity, RHWPP, must have Foreign Contributions Regulation’s Licence -FCRA.  They became aware of the fact their licence had to be renewed in January 2022. Despite having a favourable field visit in Feb 2024, the licence has still not been granted. Recent internet research has shown thousands of applications have been cancelled and thousands delayed as the Indian Government has tightened the FCRA Regulations.

It was the intention of this Board in 2020 that we would, over a space of around five years, reduce the funds sent to India to encourage the RHWPP to seek funding in India. Due to the licencing problem the FTLT has not been able to send funds to India. Fortunately, the RHWPP has managed to raise funds in India which is a successful outcome for the FTLT although much sooner than anticipated. 

The FTLT board of Trustees has waited patiently for this situation to be resolved. However, we took the decision at a recent board meeting to contact OSCR- Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator- about the fact that we have funds for Seema’s Project that we cannot disburse.  We know the money we hold could be used to support other desperate, abandoned street children. Our aim has always been to make Indian street children less vulnerable to human traffickers- to avoid the nightmare of sweat shops and brothels.  To take this forward we will contact charities in India working with street children who do hold an FCRA. 

In the months ahead we will post an update, indicating the charities we have chosen to support.

Thank you for all your support over the years.

Pam Cairns – Chair of the FTLT