Chris Norman of Leadhall Drive, the managing director of DePuy UK, said he is committed to providing hope to some of the world's poorest children by donating money to the Open Arms appeal.

The money will go towards building a new infants' home complex in Mangochi, with the plan for Harrogate House 2 - which we are helping to fundraise for - to be built on the same site in two years' time.

More cheques have arrived in the post this week, meaning we now have more than £1,600 earmarked towards our lofty goal of £25,000. We would like to thank everyone who has supported our appeal so far, but remind our readers that there is still a long way to go.

The original Open Arms Infant Home in Blantyre, Malawi was established in 1995 as a response to the rising number of maternal deaths and the resulting increase in newborn orphans in Malawi.

It cares for 40 infants from birth to two years old, with the intention that when the children turn two years old they will return to their villages where, if their parents are not alive, they will be cared for by their extended families.

The success of Open Arms led to Harrogate couple Neville and Rosemarie Bevis, who gave up their careers as teachers at Ashville College to run the project, taking the decision to build a new unit to care for children up until the age of five.

The £25,000 required for this new care facility was collected in just 25 weeks in 2003 through the generous donations of Harrogate Advertiser readers, and the new building was subsequently named Harrogate House. We would like to replicate this feat, but we need your help.

Mr Norman said employees at DePuy, a part of global pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson, have already raised £35,000 for the Open Arms project since last January, and are now looking at collecting the final £15,000 to meet their £50,000 goal.

Once they hit their target, the company will match their contributions, meaning that up to £100,000 will be added the Open Arms coffers to go towards building the new site in Mangochi, 150 miles north of the original Harrogate House site.

The company also intends to send between 20 and 40 workers to Africa in May, where they will join the volunteers constructing the new main building.

The trip follows a similar venture in May 2006, where 40 DePuy workers, including Andrew Crossley, from Walton, near Wetherby, visited Malawi to help build two outreach stations.

These stations are smaller centres away from the main infants' home complex which helps children and their families once they have returned to their relatives or new foster parents.

Based in Namalo - a hill village 25 miles south west of Blantyre - and Ndirande, they provide elementary education and food supplies to up to 50 children.

Mr Norman, who volunteered at the Open Arms site with his wife Dina and children Andrew and Alexandra, both Harrogate Grammar School pupils, said every single penny you donate will make a huge difference to the lives of the children.

He said: "It is difficult to describe unless you have been there, but the overwhelming impression is just humbling. "The children have absolutely nothing, but Open Arms gives them a loving environment as well as practical things like plenty of food and shelter.

"Once you have been there you can't just do nothing. You can't throw your hands up in the air and just walk away.

"In a country where there are 1.5million orphans, it would be easy to say 'why bother?' But it is a great counterpoint to life here where people have everything they want," he added.

Mr Norman, who heads up the social responsibility group at the Leeds-based firm, said he was pleased to be able to help a charity where he knows the money will be used to benefit those in the most need.

He said: "You can give £10 to a charity in Leeds and it will do a lot of good, but if you give £10 to Open Arms it will buy two month's worth of maize. It is a great charity and we are happy that we picked it.

"I had got to know about Open Arms through a couple of Harrogate contacts and by reading the Harrogate Advertiser.

"We wanted to choose a charity where we knew the money would have an impact - Open Arms was just the kind of thing we were looking for.
"The most humbling moment for me was when I was standing next to a kid who was wearing a t-shirt and a pair of shorts and that was all he had. They were his worldly possessions. Anything you can do to help them is so greatly appreciated."

• To donate to Harrogate House 2 online, visit www.justgiving.com/openarmsHarrogateHouse2. Donations can also be made by cheque, payable to Open Arms Malawi. Donations can be sent to Harrogate House 2 Appeal, Spout House, Church Hill, North Rigton, LS17 0DB.

• For more information about our appeal, the history of Harrogate House and an online photo gallery, visit our website www.harrogateadvertiser.net.