Yorkshire head tells of pride at African mission

Gordon Milne, who lives in East Rigton, near Leeds, has helped to lead a drive to raise funds to build a new school in Sierra Leone in the space of less than a year.

Mr Milne, who worked in West Yorkshire for more than a decade, is now the head of an independent prep school in London.

As head of Falcon School for Boys, which is based on two sites in Richmond and Chiswick, he set pupils the challenge of helping to raise £10,000 to support the work of charity Wherever the Need in Sierra Leone, one of the world’s poorest countries.

The fundraising effort only began in February but has been so successful the new school in the village of Nyeyama has already been built and officially opened by Mr Milne himself.

The money was raised by pupils in years three to eight and their families after the Wherever the Need charity delivered an assembly about its work.

A preparatory school in Richmond and a new school in a remote African village with no access to running water or toilets might seem worlds apart but Mr Milne said during his visit he saw the children at the two schools had much in common.

“Young children at that age are the same,” he said. “They have same enthusiasm, the same desire to impress and the same love of running around and chasing one another.”

The fundraising effort was chosen by the London school because one parent had connections with a charity looking to improve the schools in Sierra Leone

Mr Milne said: “Their work in Sierra Leone falls into three areas. Providing clean water wells, eco toilets and rebuilding some of the schools. Many of the schools in the country are deteriorating, made from corrugated iron or in huts which can be destroyed by storms.”

David Crosweller from the charity gave an inspiring assembly and it was decided to make building a school in the village of Nyeyama in Sierra Leone, the annual charity appeal for the Falcon Boys.

Within months they had already raised enough to be able to guarantee hitting the target before the end of the year meaning the charity could start building work. Now Mr Milne has returned from staging the official opening of the building.

“It was a truly moving experience to see the money raised by the boys, and the entire school community, being put to such wonderful use,” he added.

“The pupils at Nyeyama are extremely ambitious and their desire to learn was incredibly inspiring. I travelled to Sierra Leone with another parent, Kevin McGrath, and Richard Napper from the charity. It was a short but very busy visit and as well as travelling to Nyeyama we visited a number of other projects.

“I was taken aback by the incredible community spirit in Nyeyama and received the warmest of welcomes which I will never forget.

“The money was raised from the fundraising of boys in years three to eight. Quite often when you give money to a charity you are not exactly sure where it goes and it can sometimes be difficult to raise money for projects in Africa because of fears some people have about corruption there.

“There is some corruption in Sierra Leone but the charity Wherever the Need has been able to work closely with the MP in the area, Senesi Fawunda, who has ensured the money and deliveries we have made have gone toward the school.”