Ipswich businesswoman Melissa Day is planning a special Sri Lanka themed event at the Indian Palace restaurant in Ipswich, for a cause close to her heart.

Melissa, who traced her birth mother and found she was from the Sri Lankan tea plantations, has pledged to raise £12,000 to buy a second-hand bus to help an educational charity which is working on improving opportunities for poor children in Sri Lanka.

Melissa said: “Throughout 2015, I am aiming to raise £12,000 to buy a second-hand school bus for Tea Leaf Vision , a project run under charity Tea Leaf Trust which is close to my heart.

“The Tea Leaf Vision Centre for Professional Development in Maskeliya, Sri Lanka, provides free, life changing education programmes to youth of the poorest tea estate communities in Sri Lanka. Tea Leaf Vision supports the empowerment of youth to become “Change Agents” – role models active in social service.

“Tim Pare, founder of Tea Leaf Vision, has accepted both of my younger brothers onto their English Diploma Programme. To show my gratitude and to support Tea Leaf Vision, I have decided to fundraise throughout 2015, to buy the centre a 52 seat second-hand school bus to transport the students safely.”

This latest fundraising event, at the Indian Palace restaurant in Upper Orwell Street, Ipswich is on Thursday September 10, from 7.30pm.

There will be a buffet of authentic Sri Lankan and South Indian cuisine and traditional Tamil music and dance.

There will be traditional Tamil singing by Jesu Manoharan and Tamil Street Dance performed by Team X.

(Ipswich Star)