News
September 2009 Supporters Report
December 2008 Supporters Report
June 2008 Supporters Report
2007-2008 Report and Financial Statements
November 2007 Supporters Report
2006-2007 Report and Financial Statements
Milestone Proposal (3.3MB) prepared by Michelle Delaney, UN Press Manager in Freetown.
October 2006 Supporters Report
October 2005 Supporters Report
January 2005 Supporters Report
Child Protection Policy for Visitors
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September 2009 As part of the plan to make become self sufficient, a car hire business is launched in Sierra Leone as a commercial fund raising project. Please visit www.sierraleonecarhire.com for more info. |
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June and July 2009 Finally the exchange rate returns to its old rates from over a year ago lifting a serious financial burden. |
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May 2009 Having been approached by the local community requesting medical assistance St George at Grafton opens its medical facility (for St George children) to the local community. The local community in return have given St George Foundation a two acre site on which to build a permanent clinic. |
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January 2009 St George starts planning towards a target of the end of 2010 to become responsible for raising core expenses from within Sierra Leone through fund raising in country, commercial activities in country and working with other organisations. |
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July and August 2008 Water supply is finally connected at the Scout site and also at our own site in Grafton. The fourth group of children that lived in are reunified and a new category of St George children is announced (Community Children) with 65 beneficiaries who are from deprived local families with support primarily for lunch and school fees. As the world economy stumbles, the UK pound exchange rate collapses pushing up costs by over 40%, or £500 a week on day to day expenses. |
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June 2008 Due to increases in food costs (worldwide) St George plants two 35 acre plantations of rice in order to establish a secure food supply and possibly farm commercially to fund St George projects. Harvesting is expected to be in September and October 2008 when a full evaluation can take place. Surprise visit from Elle magazine (story to be in the December issue), St George staff dine with the President’s family followed by interest in future St George projects. St George (UK) and Maternity Worldwide (UK) prepare a joint proposal to work on the Maternal Health and mortality problem in Sierra Leone (currently the worst Maternal Mortality Rate in the world killing 1 in 8 women) |
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April 2008 After secret inspections of all of Freetown’s children’s homes only 2 of 26 are found to comply with international standards (St George and Dom Bosco). Later UNICEF approach and contract St George to assist in reunifying over 600 children presently resident in other institutions. |
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December 2007 to April 2008 Mission Direct rebuilds the office block and boys showers at Grafton Scout site. Farm project is created at our own site at Grafton with crop growing and some pigs and goats courtesy of a private donation. Justina Conteh (co founder) takes maternity leave. |
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November 2007 Official opening ceremony of the Grafton site is joined with the official handover of the Hull pick up trucks with the Mayor of Freetown present and Ronnie Flemming from Mission Direct who drove the St George Project to successful conclusion. See www.missiondirect.org for details. The children have settled in well at Grafton and settling even better than previous groups at school. School reports on past children show that they consistently perform in the top 25% of their classes. |
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November 2007 Hull Freedom Trail arrives safely in Sierra Leone with five vehicles all in excellent condition for donation to four local aid agencies. Philip Dean is joined by professional photographer Brian Pancott. To see trip photos on line visit www.brianpancott.com. |
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October 2007 From a group of supporters in Hull St George become the beneficiaries of the Hull Freedom Trail expedition donating St George a three year old Mitsubishi pick up truck. See www.hullfreedomtrail.com for full details. The trip is filmed by makers of TVs Long Way Down and Long Way Round to become a programme raising awareness of modern day slavery and the physical journey to drive five 4x4’s from Hull to Freetown. They set off from Hull the last week of October and take 21 days |
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September 2007 The old house is emptied and redeveloped as in IT training centre with help from Re-Wired, a charity setting up IT training suites with recondition computers. That is being used by St George children both past and present and also the brightest children from the local Alton Hope School. See www.re-wired.org for details. |
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August 2007 One final day building (the dining area) is completed under Justina’s supervision and the children move to the new site. Prior to the move the water supply was sabotaged but a local stream is tested and is clean, so everyone moves in and walks 200 metres for water and bathing. The water is off long term until new pipes can be laid to connect about one mile away. |
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July and August 2007 Electioneering in Sierra Leone delays the move to the new site for safety reasons. The girls had to be evacuated from the house in Grafton due to intimidation and threats of rape from local half wits. In the event everything went relatively smoothly with only isolated incidents of violence and a total clamp down on Freetown city by army and police when results given of a new government. |
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December 2006 to May 2007 Mission direct redevelop the Grafton Scout Camp, spending approximately £30,000. The rainy season halts the building work in May, but the boys block, the girls block, a day building, the kitchen, generator room and toilets are complete. The children wait for the end of term and elections to be completed before moving in. |
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November 2006 The Scouts and St George Sierra Leone sign a contract with support of Mission Direct to redevelop the Scout Training Camp at Grafton. In exchange for redeveloping the site St George can occupy it for ten years at a peppercorn rent. Opportunities to benefit the Scouts and St George children equally are possible once the vocational school is rebuilt in a later phase. |
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October 2006 Development of the building site is prepared with Mission Direct on our site. At the last minute we discover the Scouts have a derelict site and a re looking to refurbish it in the same village, Grafton. |
| February and March 2006 The two child ambassadors were excellent and the tour very successful. Established supporters were delighted to meet the two children and many new supporters were found. The trip went from the South Coast and as far north as Hull. It was exhausting and special thanks to all the hosts! |
| November 2005 A 3 acre site is purchased in Grafton (a village just outside Freetown). In 2006 we hope to raise funds to build a permanent centre for the children. |
| November 2005 Paid for by another charity (COOPI), a separate group of 50 children return to their families and enrol in school. These children are not residential with us as they were in contact with their families when we met them. We joined forces with COOPI on this project as they had the funds but lacked the manpower to identify and work with children in the streets |
| September 2005 We now had space to take more children in and another 40 were taken in. Half were back in school within weeks with the balance to following in January 2006. |
| February - July 2005 While the children just got on with life, we searched for relatives and found 45 families. To fit around the school terms we kept the vast majority of them with us until the end of the summer vacation and then reunified them and they all started at new schools. |
| November 2004 A further 22 children joined their colleagues in school. |
| September 2004 A group of 35 children were accepted into four local schools with no discipline problems. Constant medical problems that had plagued us since the start were finally subdued and we could at last say the children were in a normal state of health. |
| August 2004 This was a month concentrating on settling the children down, feeding them up and making sure they got plenty of sleep in order to prepare them for school and normal life. Every moment was filled with activities designed to boost their self esteem, help them to concentrate, unite them as a family and put the street life behind them. There was lots of singing, dancing, football, simulated school, play acting, three good meals a day and Christian worship. It was very intense, but it worked  |
| August 5th 2004 We realised that we had to get them in our care 24 hours a day to really help them. Having found a house and a willing landlord, a group of very excited, cooperative and reasonably well behaved children moved into their first home in years. |
| May 3rd 2004 A feeding programme started designed to give a main meal, health care and loving support for an identified group of children living in the streets, staffed by local volunteers. The children were ‘a bunch of savages’, wild and very abusive. We could not even think of sending them to school or mixing them with society. |
| March 2004 Philip Dean visited Sierra Leone to visit a project that he had supported and was shocked to see so many children still in desperate need. |
St George Foundation is a registered charity No: 1118871
Registered Office Address: Templars House, Lulworth Close, Chandlers Ford SO53 3TL