About Us Vision & Values Goals History Vanessa’s Story Governance

About Us

The Vanessa Grant Trust (VGT) brings educational opportunities to children and young adults in Rongai, Nakuru, in the Rift Valley in Kenya, approximately 200km north of Nairobi. In addition to infrastructural and professional development for staff, the Trust provides bursaries for children to attend a residential school for young people with disability, and for young women to attend a residential high school in Rongai, with further bursary support for promising graduates to attend university or college outside the area.

Since its inception, and in consultation with each school, the Trust has undertaken a succession of infrastructure projects that have transformed the educational, living and training facilities available for students from nursery to high school age in Rongai and beyond. The Vanessa Grant Girls’ School, purpose built in 2010, is now ranked in the top quartile for secondary schools nationally. The Trust also provides support for initiatives enabling the adoption of technology within the schools, teacher and staff training, sustainability projects and volunteer collaborations.

We are very fortunate to have a long-standing network of dedicated national and international supporters and partners, who have provided not only funding, but invaluable exchange of expertise, advice and access to connections over many years.

We are committed to having a long-term and sustainable impact on young peoples’ lives through education and learning, and through meaningful collaboration with local communities.

Our Vision

To provide the support to deliver a broad range of education from pre-school to tertiary level.
To enable all our projects to be self-sufficient in their day-to-day running and to develop infrastructure and staff skills.
To build the reputation of our schools to deliver the highest quality education and life skills for our community.

Our Values

Integrity
Respect and courtesy – to all staff, parents, students, community members and volunteers
Compassion
Humility
Develop resources to support all projects with which we are involved
Transparency in how we work

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change we seek.”
Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States of America

Our Goals

1 To improve the provision of education in these schools by supporting the continuous improvement of facilities in consultation with those running the schools.

2 To help teachers to develop their skills and acquire on-going practical knowledge and training. As a result, these schools will be better able to offer an exciting and challenging delivery of the curriculum.

3 To develop bursary and mentorship support for students from needy backgrounds.

4 To run volunteer and outreach programs to enable volunteers to gain knowledge and understanding of a different culture and to contribute something in return to the schools in Rongai.

5 To encourage open and receptive minds by enabling people of different cultures and backgrounds to come together for their mutual benefit.

History

From 1912, Hamish Grant’s grandfather took over Gogar Farm, Rongai. In 1946, a primary school for the children of employees on the farm was established which became the current Government run Gogar Primary School in 1963. Naomi Ndungu (the founder Head of the Vanessa Grant Special School) then started a unit for children with disabilities within an empty building at Gogar Primary School. This unit was in disrepair when Hamish’s wife, Vanessa, visited it in 1997, prompting a commitment from her to reinvigorate it.

Vanessa died not long after and Hamish founded the Vanessa Grant Trust (VGT) in 1998 in her memory to honour her wish. The Vanessa Grant Special School for children with disability was officially opened on 28th June 2001. It then became a “sponsored public school” run by the Kenyan Ministry of Education. Teachers are appointed by the Teachers’ Services Commission, and the school is subject to the regulations of the Ministry of Education and run by a Board of Management. Some costs for the Vanessa Grant Special School are met by the Kenyan Government, and the Trust raises funds to meet the remaining costs, including most of the costs associated with the residential facility.

“When I first saw the Gogar Primary School in 1999, there were 300 children in school, most of whom wore ragged uniforms and sat in the dust on the floor. Today there are nine hundred children all seated at desks. The atmosphere is purposeful and cheerful, and their results are amongst the best in the division.”
Johnny Onslow, Trustee, The Vanessa Grant Trust

Vanessa’s Story

Vanessa Grant (nee Kingsford) was born in Kenya on July 14th, 1960.

She was the second of six children of David and Margaret Kingsford who were farming at that time on a property near the large rural town of Nakuru, Kenya.

David and Margaret emigrated with their six children to Australia in the summer of 1970, and Vanessa and her siblings completed their primary and tertiary education in Australia.

Vanessa was drawn back to the country of her birth, Kenya, and taught for several years. She met her future husband Hamish Grant in Kenya, and they married in 1989. Vanessa led an extremely busy life during her adult years in Kenya, running a safari business with Hamish, as well as playing a significant role in the day-to-day management of the farm. Vanessa and Hamish’s son Alexander was born in 1994, but two years later Vanessa’s life was tragically cut short the day before her 37th birthday on the 13th July 1997, when she died shortly after giving birth to their second child, a girl named Seiya.

Hamish founded the Vanessa Grant Trust (VGT) in 1998, to honour her wish that more be done for the many disadvantaged children in the community who, through lack of resources and opportunity, were largely denied basic education and care.

Vanessa was passionate about the provision of education and opportunity, particularly for girls and young women. This passion was founded during her years of teaching in Australia, Europe and Africa as well as observations she had made of isolated rural communities when she led safaris through Kenya. Through her experiences, Vanessa developed a strong belief in the power of education to lift individuals and communities out of poverty. She also carried with her a life-long commitment to equal opportunities for women, nowhere more starkly apparent than in the rural communities of Kenya.

With this glimpse of her short life, it is easy to see how the establishment of the Vanessa Grant Trust has been so successful and is a worthy testament to the strengths and ideals of this remarkable woman.

“Vanessa was a woman of incredible vision, compassion and determination. Educating women, particularly in the developing world, is now accepted as not only a key human right but also importantly a key for a nation’s participation in the global economy. For those who supported and loved Vanessa, to have started this process through her legacy at Rongai and now for us to watch the avalanche of talented and exceptional young women coming from the schools, is quite remarkable. It is a wonderful recognition of this special person. This program truly makes a difference and makes us proud not only of our dear friend and sister but also of our own small efforts.”
The late Stephen Porges, VGT Australia & Ambassador of VGGS

Governance

The Vanessa Grant Trust (VGT) was set up in 1998. The Vanessa Grant Girls’ School Trust (VGGST), a separate Trust that focuses solely on the Vanessa Grant Girls’ School, was established in 2008. While there are some Trustees in common, each Trust is a separate registered charitable organisation in Kenya.

All the Trusts’ members have a very diverse set of professional and life experiences, resulting in a composite skill set that is highly relevant to the broad-ranging scope of the Trusts’ activities: senior educators; economic, financial and investment management; religious leadership; community employers; land and environmental management; charity leadership; company and general legal expertise.

The Vanessa Grant Girls’ School Trust supports the Vanessa Grant Girls’ School (VGGS), a not-for-profit secondary boarding school for girls in Rongai, Kenya, and the Tertiary Pathways Program, which provides living support for VGGS graduates attending university. An appointed Board of Management oversees the operations of the VGGS.

The Vanessa Grant Trust is responsible for all other benevolent activities relating to educational, welfare, infrastructure and development programs under their trust in Rongai, Kenya.

In addition, there are three independent chapters of the Vanessa Grant Trust in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, all registered charitable organisations. The primary purpose of these chapters is one of fundraising to support development, education and welfare programs. Each country has a governance team responsible for meeting the statutory regulatory, charitable and legal requirements in their jurisdiction, and for an appropriate alignment of fundraising activities in each country with the Vanessa Grant Trust goals.

The Vanessa Grant Trust is a small trust completely dependent on outside funding to support education in Rongai, Nakuru. Regrettably, we are not in a position to accept solicitations for funding from other external organisations.

How Your Contribution is Spent

Our funding is made possible only through the generosity of our supporters around the world, and the prudent and efficient management of those gifts is a responsibility we take very seriously.

Vanessa Grant Trust accounts are audited every year and financial transactions are monitored on an ongoing basis. All our Trustees are volunteers, and our administrative costs are very low, typically no more than 4-5% of our total expenditure. We also have a positive impact on the local economy by sourcing supplies and services from local providers as much as possible.

Our largest area of expenditure is for Education and Training, which includes sponsorship and bursary programs for students at the Vanessa Grant Girls’ School, The Vanessa Grant Special School, and the Tertiary Pathways Program for tertiary studies. The range of Infrastructure Development Projects we undertake is broad and encompasses everything from the continuous improvement of the Schools’ facilities and the development of sustainable solutions for managing resources, such as water and solar power, to ensuring the residential experience for students and staff is comfortable and secure.

The breakdown of our expenditure in the most recent audited year is shown on the right.

Our Trustees

Vanessa Grant Trust – Kenya

Hamish Grant, Chair
Nicholas Hutchinson
John Onslow
John Ponsonby, Treasurer
Nigel Shaw

Vanessa Grant Trust – United Kingdom

Lauren Sundercombe, Chair
Lucinda Bolton-Carter
Sarah Darling
Miles Lovegrove
Karen Robertson-Macleod
Edward Sowerby, Treasurer
Anna Louise Thrupp

Vanessa Grant Girls’ School Trust –
Kenya & UK

Anthony Bell, Chair
Alan Bell
Hamish Grant
John Onslow
Joshua Rutere
Sarah Rutere
Nigel Shaw

Vanessa Grant Trust – Australia

Jessica Kingsford, Chair
Nicola Darling
Rachael Darling
Judith Fiander
Bruce Gibson
Tess Kane
Richard Kingsford
Libby Prell
Kim Taylor, Treasurer

VGGS Board of Management – Kenya

John Onslow, Chair
Edward Munge, Vice Chair
Hamish Grant
Sister Hiltrude
Sally Mbeche
Dr Pamela Tsimbiri

Vanessa Grant Trust – United States

Hermione Gluck, Chair
Mary Asphar
Susan Nelson, Treasurer