The forthcoming closure of the Charity Sale warehouse in St Clement’s Road, however, is a welcome exception.
- The trust was set up in 1999 by Paul and Gill Bell after Mr Bell went on a golf trip to Nairobi and asked his caddie to show him the church where he worshipped on a Sunday. The church turned out to be a windowless hut which also doubled up for a local school.
- Mr Bell, who was originally from Belfast but now lives in Jersey, returned home determined to raise enough funds for a purpose-built school.
- The charity’s mission was to help improve the prospects for the children within the slums by providing ‘sustained educational facilities, essential healthcare, and where possible a little bit of fun’.
- The charity has since raised enough money to build a school with eight classrooms called the Red Roof Academy in a slum called Mukuru kwa Njenga.
- The Red Roof Academy has 17 staff and 345 pupils, aged from three to 13.
- The Charity Sale events were originally held in Lewis Street, then relocated to the former Magistrates Court in Seale Street before moving to the old La Pouquelaye School, then Kensington Place, and most recently, St Clement’s Road.
The Charity Sale, an offshoot of local charity Nairobi Slums Schools Project Trust, was opened by NSSPT founders Paul and Gill Bell in 1999 with the aim of funding the building of a school in eastern Nairobi.
‘And that is exactly what we’ve done,’ says Gill.
The Red Roof Academy is situated in a slum called Mukuru kwa Njenga and has 17 staff and 345 pupils, aged from three to 13.
The money raised by the Charity Sale warehouse has not only enabled the building of the school, but has also provided uniforms and shoes for the children and paid for all the teachers’ salaries.
‘We’ve also introduced a programme which ensures that the children get breakfast and lunch every day,’ says Gill. ‘Paul and I pay for all travel costs and expenses out of our own money, as do all the volunteers.
‘There are no marketing or administration costs – every single penny goes directly to the children.’
Typically, parents would have to spend the equivalent of £1,000 to send a child to school in Nairobi. However, parents sending their children to Red Roof Academy don’t have to pay a penny.
The Charity Sale warehouse, near the Havre des Pas roundabout in St Clement’s Road, last year raised £70,000 – a feat all the more remarkable given that the warehouse opens just once a week for a four-hour period.
The original idea for the NSSPT came about after Paul went on a golfing trip to Kenya.
‘I was struck by how bad the schooling was there,’ he explained. Fifteen years later, and with the Red Roof Academy finally nearing completion, Gill and Paul are now preparing to hand over the reins of both the warehouse and the school.
‘We’ll be bringing the Charity Sale warehouse to a close at the end of May,’ says Paul. ‘The original plan was to pass control of the school on to the local government, but there is a shortage of teaching staff in Nairobi, so that would have meant a real drop in standards. We have 11 teachers at the school, but that would have been reduced to just four.’
Salvation came following a visit by a Nairobi Senator, who was so impressed that he personally set up a private group to sponsor the school when Paul and Gill step down.
‘It’s a relief to know that the school is going to be in safe hands,’ says Gill.
Paul and Gill have found help closer to home over the years, too, with volunteers from Jersey and the UK travelling to Nairobi with the couple. These have included their young daughters, Keri-Ann and Bethany, and Paul’s brother, Dessie.
‘We’ve also had help from Jacques Kuijpers, who is a dentist in Jersey,’ says Gill. ‘He visited the school and carried out dental work on all 345 pupils, as well as supplying the children and adults with toothbrushes and toothpaste.’
Paul and Gill typically visit Nairobi once a year, although there are times when finances have been tight, and when danger has to be taken into account.
‘It’s particularly dangerous there at the moment,’ says Paul. ‘There is a high risk of Ebola, not to mention the terrorist situation. One day someone climbed on a bus, threw in a grenade and then jumped off. We’d been on the very same bus only the night before.’
‘It’s such a corrupt country,’ says Gill. ‘Last time we were escorted around by two soldiers armed with machine guns.’
The couple remain undeterred by such dangers, however, and have already planned their next visit for February next year. ‘That’ll be a special visit, as it will see the school’s first graduation, as well as the official handover to the Senator,’ says Gill.
With the Charity Sale warehouse due to close its doors, Gill says: ‘The building will be ready and waiting for any other charity to step straight in and take over where we’ve left off. We just want to thank everyone who has supported us and helped out over the years.’
Charity Sale’s warehouse at 87 St Clement’s Road will be open from 9 am to 1 pm on Sundays until May. Drop-off is available on Thursdays from 4 to 6 pm. Find out more here
