Our Journey
The idea for OneSky - which was then known as the Proporta Education Foundation (PEF) - took shape in 2005 when founder, Guy Monson, put together a team of developers in Sri Lanka to create a website for the business he and co-founder, Mike Coombes had set up.
Over dinner (which will have been a make-you-cry-hot curry for certain), a local friend told him the story of a young girl who had committed suicide because her family couldn’t afford to buy the books she needed for school. The thought of a child taking such desperate measures for the want of a few pounds was the seed that grew into the OneSky charity.

Tea Pluckers
Since then, with the help of our generous supporters (please join us, it takes a few moments to make a donation here and just the price of a coffee will help enormously) and our team in Sri Lanka (who give their time for free), we’ve helped to provide everything from books, pens, uniforms and shoes (some of our students walk thirty kilometres to and from school each day), to clean water (we’ve funded wells to provide clean drinking water), an internet connection, computers, solar lamps (to replace toxic paraffin lamps) and even a bike to help one boy outrun the elephants on his way to school – no, really!
Our Team
OneSky relies on our local volunteers, Diana Kenny and Cyril Manatunga, who live and work in Sri Lanka, speak the local languages and understand the customs
and cultures.
Their good advice over the years has allowed us to maximise our effectiveness – ensuring that every penny we spend lands with the schools, the children and the families who need it most.
We’re also indebted to Moiya Hazell (and her intrepid four-legged Head of Security, Frankie), whose local knowledge and contacts date back to her childhood in 1950s Sri Lanka (then called Ceylon), where her father ran the Hope Tea Estate on which the Hope School sits.
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Moiya and Frankie (the dog) with the children on the Hope Estate
How We Work
At an average cost of just £80 per year per child, we’ve supported more than 120 children – helping them to get to school and to stay in school until they decide to leave, easing the pressure on their families.
We’re proud to say that we’ve helped to educate a doctor and an architect – along with many other children whose progress in life has been assisted by a little help at just the right time.
Our Mission
From 2024, we’re focusing on helping two schools – with a plan (and with your help) to expand in the future.
We’ve already revolutionised lessons in the Kurugama Kanishta Vidiyalaya School by installing a fibre internet connection, along with tablet computers - which were generously donated by our friends at Bailey Rail and their clients, DFDS.
English is one of Sri Lanka’s three languages (along with Tamil and Sinhala) and it’s vital to success because, as well as being the language of business and the lingua franca of the country, most university courses are taught in English.
For this reason, high in the Hope Tea Estate we’re also funding three part-time English teachers at the Vivekananda Tamil Vidiyala School. They’ll be working hard to improve students’ English and we’ll also be providing them with teaching aids like books and printing, along with essentials like food and clothing for students from the poorest families.

Hope Estate School
Help Us
Our work is funded by generous donations from people who can spare as little as £5 to make a real difference to a child in Sri Lanka. We promise we’ll put every penny to very good use, helping to ensure that a child has the chance to learn and grow without the premature pressure of work.
Please make a donation using this PayPal link - for the price of a cup of coffee and a pastry, we promise you’ll make a difference.
Or, if you’d like to know more or you think you can help with our project in any way – perhaps by finding a market for the artwork which some of our students produce, please get in touch by emailing us at hello@onesky.charity.

EVERY SINGLE PENNY
AT THE HEART OF ONESKY.CHARITY IS A VERY SIMPLE PROMISE – 100% OF THE MONEY WE RECEIVE IN DONATIONS ARRIVES IN FULL WITH THE RECIPIENT. OUR FOUNDERS, MIKE COOMBES AND GUY MONSON, COVER THE FULL COST OF ALL ADMIN AND ALL FUNDRAISING.
© 2023. OneSky.charity/Proporta Education Foundation is a registered charity in England and Wales (no 1154827).