Harry Birrell

In the twelve months to 29 February 2008 the trust raised £2,860 through donations from individuals and friends of the trust and just over £2,000 in fundraising events.

The company secretary went to South Africa for his holiday in November 2007 and met the new scholars from the Good Shepherd School who had been selected to go to Graeme’s College and Victoria Girl’s High School.  He also met the head teachers of St Andrew’s College and the Diocesan School for Girls and the current scholars.

The outdoor event for St Andrew’s boys and pupils from the Good Shepherd School had taken place in September and was a great success.  It was fully funded by the trust.

It was decided to part fund a boy, in need, from St Andrew’s in his final three years and this award commenced in January together with the awards to the Good Shepherd students.  We have received good progress reports about all three.

At our pre-Christmas event at Amika, in London, Peter Phillips attended and it was announced that he had agreed to be our patron.  He takes a keen interest in our activities and has attended events in the past.  We are very fortunate to have his patronage

Our summer Braai in Oxford this year was held in wet conditions and we appreciated the sponsorship, with beers, of SAB Miller. There was no golf tournament at Port Alfred this year but one is planned for 2008.

Future Plans
We would like to support 2 pupils, from the Good Shepherd, in each year of secondary school as well as continuing with the out door event. For 2009 it has been decided to part fund a girl from the Good Shepherd School, at the same rate as the others, to attend the Diocesan School for Girls.

The support we are giving to the Outdoor Event and the scholarships for the Good Shepherd Learners is helping the outreach programme of the older schools. The help given to talented young people to achieve their potential will also contribute to the wellbeing of their country.

In financial terms we need to raise at least £12,000 per annum to achieve our objective programme and in the meantime we will use the funds that we receive to this end. We will build sufficient reserves so that no student’s education would be curtailed should insufficient funds come in on a yearly basis.

Volunteers run the charity and its fundraising activities. The trustees voluntarily run events and no payments are made to them or related parties.