Minutes:
TRUSTS FOR AFRICAN
SCHOOLS
MINUTES OF MEETING OF
TRUSTEES ON 18 NOVEMBER 2013
Present: : Lissa Campbell, Guy Cowley, Norma Empringham, Ben Howland, Steve James, Tom Marshall-Andrews, Gill Marshall-Andrews, Luke Morris, Johnnie Morris, Ben Taylor
Apologies Heather
Flint, Tim Flower, Will Jones
Norma Empringham in the Chair
1. Stephen Kameti was welcomed to the
meeting
2. Minutes of meeting on 15 July 2013 were
agreed.
3. Stephen Kameti gave an update on his work
and the progress in the schools. Trustees were delighted to meet him and have
the opportunity to hear about the projects on the ground.
4. New Secretaries
Trustees were delighted to hear that Lut Laenen and Kim
Keppell have (hopefully) agreed to take over the secretary roles in Ikathima
Primary School Trust and Madogo Secondary School Trust respectively. It is hoped they will be in place early next
year.
5.
School Partnerships
Kimphe
Langano Primary School (Ethiopia) / Heathfield Junior School
Planning
for the visit of 2 teachers from KL school in February 2014 is well under
way. Will has been to Heathfield to give
a talk to the school and revive interest in the partnership.
Mivukoni
/ Hampton Academy
Peter
Edmead, Head of Science at Hampton Academy who has visited Mivukoni several
times plans to continue his involvement on a personal basis. He will
liaise with Hampton Academy to keep the partnership alive. He and Stephen are meeting to pursue this.
Usueni / Norbury Manor
The partnership between Usueni School and Norbury Manor
Business and Entreprise College for Girls in Croydon is in full swing. Two teachers from Usueni are presently in
Norbury – funded by TAS - and Norbury Manor is trying to raise funds from
various sources for their staff to visit Kenya in February 2014.
TAS has funded a business banda and sewing equipment for
an entrepreneurial partnership activity.
We have also funded some new staff quarters which can be used by
visiting teachers.
6.
Finance, accounts and Gift Aid
Guy
and Ben presented the 2012 accounts and some analysis of our funding. Ben will put the Gift Aid claim in shortly. Many thanks to them both.
We
are now using World First for the transfer of funds and this seems to be cost
effective.
7. Proposals for funding – it was agreed
that we send out around £22,800 as per the circulated list.
8. Just a Drop
Lissa works for Just a Drop – a water aid charity that
might be interested in supporting the 7 TAS schools around Kora and the 32 KWS
/ DfID schools around other National Parks.
A first step would be for each school to complete a survey of their
water / sanitation situation and Lissa will forward Stephen the appropriate
forms.
9. Website data
There needs to be more accessible and current data about
exam results and enrolment on the website.
Post meeting note: Guy and Tom will liaise on this.
10. DfID
TAS was asked to write a note about the lessons learnt
over the 5 years we have been operating in schools around Kora. This was circulated to trustees.
11. Stephen Kameti
There was general agreement that Stephen has done an
excellent job supporting the local school trusts and we would like to find a
way of continuing with the current arrangement with his employer the Kenya
Wildlife Service. It has been agreed in
principle that KWS would take over his employment costs in February 2014 but
this no longer seems to be the best outcome for Stephen and TAS. If he became a
wholely funded KWS employee his independence might be jeopardised and his ability to continue to support our schools
could not be guaranteed. He might be transferred to another region altogether
with another role.
It was agreed that we would explore the possibility of
sharing his employment costs with KWS from Feb 2014. This would hopefully
protect his independence and enable him to continue in his present role.
Gill and Stephen are due to meet Waterloo Foundation next
week to give a report on the results of their investment in Stephen’s post over
the last 5 years.
12. Next meeting was agreed for 6pm Thursday 13
February 2014 at Ben Howland’s office
London Wealth Management, 6 Kingley Street.
Many thanks to Ben T for hosting this meeting and
providing such welcome refreshments.
Post meeting
notes: Tom Holroyd who has funded a
library and some dormitories has agreed to attend the next meeting.
Ben T has set up an internal network for TAS trustees on YAMMER.
