What We Do
The St Andrews Trust was established in 2006 off the back of the Make Poverty History Campaign in 2005.
Five business-people including myself and my 2 colleagues at Bullet Express set out to raise the funds to help the Hunter Foundation build a school in Malawi.
After a trip out to Malawi we very quickly realised that the need was enormous and we as a collective could do more to help and we chose not to end things there.
We set up the charity and began holding our annual Touch of Tartan Ball to support the school, the village of Chipse and the surrounding areas with meals, educational equipment, buildings and everything needed to provide an education and a future for the children of Chipse Primary School.
The school started in a shack with 69 children and has grown year on year. Last enrolment brought us to 1406 children at Primary School and 18 at Secondary School which we also fund.
Our work is ongoing and is supported by business, individuals and small groups. All with the same aim. The well being and education of the children who live in and around our school and anyone else who wants to learn.
From the day a child enrolls at pre-school (Standard 1), they come under our care and support.
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Every child is measured for their own school uniform, school bag, pencil, jotter and a mosquito net. In 2020, three of our children died from malaria, unnecessary deaths that we decided we needed to stop. Providing mosquito nets at this age which is the most vulnerable encourages parents to enroll their children. Feeding them daily and seeing the resources the children have keeps them in school and the hope of a secondary education to allow the children to get jobs and support their family encourages them to work as hard as possible.
We provide all learning materials for children and teachers. We have installed solar panels for electricity , twice, after a hurricane destroyed the first batch. This electricity allows teachers and children to study longer into the days especially around exam time. It also powers the photocopier that has been installed and has been life changing to the teachers who traveled hours to a copier and had to personally pay to get what they needed.
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We provide seeds and fertilizer for the gardens that have been built and are maintained by the school committee and children. This encourages responsibility by all. We provide equipment for the eight classrooms to be cleaned weekly and painted yearly by parents to encourage a vested interest in their child’s education.
We have set up pupil of the month initiatives in every class that rewards hard work not just for the student but their family. Teachers are subsidized by a small amount to help them feel valued as an average teacher earns £80 a month. Yes £80.
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Two feeding stations are in the village and children are fed by parents and committee members who use a rota to share responsibility of cooking a warm meal daily.
Since 2020 and introduction of standard 8 learning, we have had 18 children successfully be given a place at secondary education. The fees, school uniforms, bags, shoes and anything else needed is supported by the Trust. As this number grows, we will work with parents to introduce a subsidy rather than full costs so that as many children as possible have this chance. We now have Year 1 and Year 2 students attending secondary school.
