Our new Hon. Secretary, Michael Hammer, has asked me (Penny Sewell) to post an update. He will, in the long run, take over responsibility for our website. The committee met via zoom on 27th November 2025 and the news is as follows. Our finances are borderline healthy but we have commitments that do not allow us to agree to more grants at present. Our project at Adaklu Kodzobi D/A Basic School for a reading room, computer laboratory and attached toilet facilities in memory of one of our co-founders, Eric Earle, is proceeding well, though heavy rain has led to some delay. The opening is scheduled for early in 2026. In Zugu D/A Primary, Kasuliyili E/A Primary and Sabegu D/A Junior High School, metal desks have been constructed, delivered and are in service. Everyone lent a hand to get the desks moved to the schools and we thank our representative, Baaku, for his supervision of progress and also handing over the desks over to the schools at the end of October. The schools have also shared letters of appreciation with us and sent us pictures. We will hold any other requests for grants that we have received until our next committee meeting in January.

Ghana School Aid will celebrate its fortieth birthday in 2026, and planning for celebrations both in the UK and in Ghana is under way.

We held our 2025 AGM in the crypt of St Mary’s church, Islington, yesterday, attended by some 22 delegates, with more on zoom. It was a very pleasant occasion, with encouraging reports on progress made with projects in Ghana, ours, those of Wulugu and in particular, ATE (Action through Enterprise) and their wonderful work in the North West Region of Ghana.

A new secretary will soon be taking over from Jo Hallett and we may welcome some new committee members, otherwise, all committee members were reappointed. I will soon post the accounts from 2024-25. You can now access, on our Newsletter page, the 2025 Ghana School Aid NEWSLETTER. It was produced this year by Kate Regan, and all agree that it is outstanding, a real pleasure to read.

Sixty-five years after the Chief Education Officer in the Volta Region, Eric Earle, returned to his country, the United Kingdom, after a decade’s tour of duty  in Ghana, a modern literacy, ICT centre and science laboratory is being constructed at Adaklu-Kodzobi, near Ho, in his memory. More information..

Our AGM will be held this year on Thursday 12th June at 12.30pm. A delicious Ghanaian lunch will be served, and the business conducted in the afternoon. The cost remains at £35, and the venue is St Mary’s Church crypt, Islington. Please use the GSA email address if you would like to attend.

In October 2024, the Kent Family Foundation responded positively to the GSA application for funds to cover the work to be done at ZUARUNGU-MOSHIE JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL. They awarded us a grant of £3000 and this was sent to Zuarungu-Moshie to enable them to complete the building of new toilet facilities for the students. We have now heard that the work is completed. I quote from the report received by GSA and forwarded to the Kent Family Foundation:

“The community provided the operational support, supervisory roles and locally available materials and other resources. (…) The new toilet facility has put smiles on the faces of the entire community members, students and the staff of the school as they celebrate the tenth anniversary of the school this year.”

We are all extremely grateful to the Kent Family Foundation for their magnificent contribution to the health and well-being of Zuarungu-Moshie JHS. Thank you sooooo much…

This meeting was successfully held on zoom. We are so grateful to Baaku and Kofi who are our representatives in Ghana and who send us reports and recommendations.

We allocated grants to the following institutions: (1) J.Bedu School, Daffor-Awudome, a contribution towards completing a new building to house an assembly hall which will also be available to the villagers. (2) Action through Enterprise, a contribution towards their new Inclusion Centre at Nandom. (3) Otaakrom Technical Institute, a grant towards the pruchase of monodesks. (4) Zamzamiya Primary and KG, a grant towards restoration work on their two classroom blocks, one of which is used to educate children with disabilities.

We had feedback from the following institutions:

(1) Kwasi Do Presidential KG which had successfully renovated and painted some classroom blocks.

(2) Zagyuri Miskaya Primary/KG which had completed flooring, plastering and painting:

(3) Kanvilli Tawfikiya Primary School which repaired a leaking roof:

(4) Zugu Dagboni Technical Institute has now completed the boys’ accommodation buildings:

…. Both male and female students were working in their various field of work. While some students were preparing to mix mortar to floor the frontage of the newly built 3-roomed hostel, others were inside them working on the electrical fittings such as the fans and switches. At the back of the new building was a two-seater toilet project going on and student carpenters were on top of it working on the roofing, among them was a female student. After this they would dig a manhole for it. All these from the support given by GSA. Electrical wiring, plastering and flooring inside out of the hostel were completed as well as doors and windows. When flooring of the frontage  is completed, it would be left with painting and the facility would be ready.

Email from Baako

We had a very pleasant AGM, With participants both in person and on zoom. We enjoyed some fabulous Ghanaian dishes, many thanks to our caterer alicddacatering.com. I reproduce below the Chair’s address, as it shows the warmth and enthusiasm of our Chair, William Spooner.

“Welcome everyone to this, our 2024 Annual General Meeting. Welcome friends, old and new. How good it is we can gather together.

A bit about our day today. We have the formal bit first, then lunch, and in the afternoon several presentations.

Ghana School Aid is remarkable, and it is remarkable we are here today. What we do remains very much needed. Children and young people need safe, clean facilities in which to learn. From school classrooms, to toilet blocks, to teachers’ quarters. We know how important toilet blocks are for girls in retaining them in education, so offering life chances.

When I was in Ghana last year, I saw school after school which benefited from our work. Outside and inside, with school furniture labelled ‘GHANA SCHOOL AID’.

There is much to do, as we know. Our USP, so to speak, is very simple and speaks for itself.

We must thank people. Firstly, Jo as secretary, the ‘engine room’ of Ghana School Aid. To Nigel as treasurer, Penny as AGM coordinator and her work in contacting trusts (to much success), to Kate as our new newsletter editor, to Rita for introducing us to Abigail in the north. Also, of course, to Mr Kofi Ohene in Accra and Baako in Tamale. Lastly, to Paul, our patron, for his unwavering support. Thank you, thank you.

A word on our newsletter. It is a fabulous. Our thanks to Kate. In a digital era, to have on paper a high quality document showing the impact of our work is our calling card. Use to spread the word about Ghana School Aid, near and far.

Thank you again. Here’s to a good day. As they say in Ghana, ‘Long life Ghana School Aid’!”

The meeting went according to plan; the Treasurer’s accounts will be posted up today; the Secretary’s report focused on one school; all the committee members who wished to stand were duly reelected. In the afternoon we heard reports from Katie Allen-East from the charity Edu-spots; an account of her most recent trip to Ghana from Kate Regan, who, incidentally, has taken over production of our fabulous Newsletter (soon to be posted on this website); we also heard a report about Wulugu from Jane Scott, a report on Action Through Enterprise from Michele Carlisle. The Earle family talked to us about progress in building a library and washrooms in the Volta Region in memory of their parents, and finally Kofi Ohene talked to us from Accra about Ghana today.

We departed feeling much encouraged and ready for the coming yea

Just over twenty people attended our AGM; there was a great atmosphere and much conversation. Three people joined us via zoom, including Salifu Baako and Kofi Ohene in Ghana. The committee was reelected, nem con. One big change is that Jennifer MacDougall who has produced our Newsletter for many years, is stepping down from that role. Kate Regan volunteered to take over, and for that we are profoundly grateful. The general feeling was that we are now operating within our means, doing most of our work through Kofi and Baako, and we plan to continue in this way. Below is the Chair’s address, and the accounts for 2022-2023 can be found under the heading About.

William Spooner, our young and dynamic Chair, visited Ghana in April 2023. He was warmly welcomed and managed to visit, in three days, 22 schools supported by GSA.

Here are some pictures from his trip:

Baako with pupils outside the Ken Strong Washroom, Tamale Senior High School (TAMASCO). 

On the 2nd Feb the GSA committee met and heard reports from some of the Schools and Projects funded in 2022. Here below is a summary of the nine Schools which reported back to us.

Three of them did not send pictures, they are:

• Gbanjon AME Zion Primary School, Tamale, Northern Region. Provision of 40 dual desks.

• Hartley Trust School, Kasoa, suffered badly from flooding, a lot of work has been done including securing the footings and re-doing gutters.

• Zugu Dagboni Technical Institute, Tamale (Northern Region) 50 dual desks and office furniture. We have received a letter of thanks.

The following six Schools sent pictures:

1 Manyiha no 1 Basic School (Ahafo Region). We sent a grant for toilets completed in 2022 and a second grant for tables and chairs, the work is in progress.

2. Ahwerase Presbyterian Primary School (Eastern Region). We sent a grant for more furniture for their computer room needed because of the increase in pupil numbers.

3. Walewale Technical Institute (Northeast Region) The 6-unit KVIP Toilet Block has been completed.

4. Nambiri Primary School (Northern Region) Teachers quarters have been renovated thanks to an application by Abigail, a contact on our Youtube Channel.

Before:

After:

5. Zuarungu Moshi (U.E.R.) A new urinal has been built and the foundations and supporting walls of the school have been reinforced.

6. AfriKids (Bolgatanga U.E.R.) We helped fund an IT Project in four Primary Schools in “extreme rural” situations, providing 50 Tablets in each school. Our contribution is for the security of the equipment and was helped by an anonymous donation from a GSA member.