Ghana School Aid held its 40^th AGM on 17 September 2026, with 29 people attending in person at St Mary’s Islington in London, and a further 10 online, enabling participation from many places including members of the executive committee in Ghana.

Following reflections on the life of our long-standing Secretary Jo Hallett who passed away recently, reports on our finances, fundraising and current projects were presented, showing an encouraging though changing picture of how GSA remains very much ‘in business’ with locally recognised contributions.

We heard presentations from Action Through Enterprise in the Upper West Region of Ghana about their expanding ‘Books for All’ project reaching many more schools beyond the resources centres in Lawra and Nandom, continuing progress on facilities at Joe Bedu School in Daffor Awudome / Volta region from Ben Beke who leads much of this work locally, and how fundraising under Ghana School Aid’s umbrella has enabled a small school in Offinso / Ashanti to build new classrooms but also spark exchanges with a UK school on teaching methods.

The AGM concluded with a forward looking discussion about how to support schools and their students over longer cycles and in holistic ways to demonstrate how supporting schools with sometimes the most basic infrastructure can be life changing for individuals and open up opportunities for whole generations of young people in some of the most deprived areas of the country.

Our 2026 anniversary newsletter can be downloaded here.

And please contribute to our ‘We are 40!’ fundraising campaign for schools particularly in the North of Ghana. We are hoping to raise first £5,000 then another £5,000 and the appeal will stay open until we reach our target.

Established in 1986, we are 40 years old this summer! Join us to take the next steps in support of schools and young people in Ghana together!

We are fundraising for an additional £10,000 this year to help us support schools particularly in the North of Ghana.

Just click on the button to get to our Give As You Live Fundraising Page or scan the QR code !

Alternatively, please send a cheque or make a donation directly to our bank account. All details can be found on our fundraising and donations page.

Or get in touch via email at info@ghanaschoolaid.org to explore other ways of making a donation.

Every contribution counts – as it has over the last 40 years!

We will be holding our Annual General Meeting this year again at St Mary’s Church Islington, Upper St, London N1 2TX and online (link to follow) from 12 00 midday.

Please let us know if you would like to join us – just send an email to our organiser Penny Sewell at pennymsewell@gmail.com.

The Committee will report on projects, finances, forthcoming events in Ghana and plans for the future. As usual there will also be a delicious Ghanaian lunch and the opportunity to meet and chat about shared interests and how to promote our cause.

We celebrated our anniversary in style at the House of Lords on the 11th of June by kind invitation of of our patron Lord Paul Boateng of Akyem and of Wembley.

Many guests joined us including from the Ghana High Commission and the Open University Education Department.

Very special guests were also our Trustee and Local Representative in Ghana Mr Kofi Ohene and his wife Floria, former Overseas Development Aid Minister and GSA Patron Baroness Chalker, and Ms Bell Ribeiro Addy MP, Chair of the UK All Party Parliamentary Group for Ghana.

At the event we explored in particular the need to future proof schools in Ghana in face of climate change including rising day temperatures, rainfall and flooding, the demands placed on Ghana’s education sector with a growing and increasingly young population, as well as the need of dedicated funding for good quality hygiene and washroom facilities to encourage girls to go to school and stay in education. Every added year in education for girls increases childhood immunisation rates, reduces infant mortality, increases a women’s earnings later in life and builds confidence in girls to chart their own course in life.  

In the autumn Ghana School Aid will also celebrate the anniversary in Ghana with events in the Volta Region and the Northern Region to bring communities, schools and pupils together and plan for the future!

At our committee meeting we were able to approve grants for the following four schools:

Jachie Special Needs Technical Institute (for desks) ~~ Sabegu JHS (for teachers’ tables and chairs, and cupboards) ~~ Kasuliyili KG and Primary Schools (for furniture) ~~ Zugudiye Primary School (also for furniture)

At our committee meeting yesterday, we heard that good feedback had been received from the following schools. I will post pictures when I receive them!

Aduklu-Kodzobi Basic School Library, Ho, (this is the project to remember founder member Eric Earle and his wife.) ~~ Inclusion Centre, Nandom (Refit of learning and library space) ~~ Jo Bedu Basic School Assembly Hall roof ~~ Kanvilli Tawfikiya Primary School (for roofing) ~~ Kwasi Dot Presidential KG (for renovation & painting of school building) ~~ Nambiri School (for repair if roof damaged by storm) ~~ Otaakrom Technical Institute (for 100 mono desks) ~~ Zagyuri Miskiya School (for plastering, flooring & painting) ~~ Zamzamiya Primary/KG (for repair of roof and washroom and partitioning) ~~ Zamzamiya Primary/KG (to complete blocks A & B) ~~ Zuaringu Moshie JHS (for KVIP type toilet)) ~~ Zugu Dabogni Technical Institute (for additional boys’ hostel accommodation)

Ghana School Aid is very sad to announce the passing of our former Chairman, Ted Mayne. Ted was for many years at the helm of Ghana School Aid and we all owe him a huge debt of gratitude. His funeral will take place in St Saviour’s Church, Guildford, on Wednesday 9th April at 2 pm.

We had reports but no pictures from The Hartley Trust Schools who needed to repair school transport vehicles; and from Nambiri JHS which gained funding from various sources to build a new 3 x classroom block after the old block was severely storm-damaged. Nambiri JHS featured in our U-Tube Chronicles which prompted some dentists in Liverpool to chip in. We are all grateful.

Below are some pictures of work in 4 schools which received grants from GSA.

1. Tafi Atome JHS was able to replace their damaged roof. Here are ‘before’ and ‘after’ pictures.

Before:

After:

2. Zagyuri Miskiya Primary and KG This school had to work on roof, windows, doors and gravelling.

During the work, classes were held outside.

Work in progress!

The classroom floor is gravelled but needs a top surface of cement

3. Kunkulung Primary School had a grant to repair a roof, but they were able to fund that from a different source. Our representative visited them and agreed that GSA funds could be used to buy much-needed seating for staff and pupils, as the two pictures show.

4. Golozoli Amalia Primary School received money for new desks.

Here, the desks are being assembled in the workshop.

The pupils with no desks.

The desks arrive at the school.