Event industry foundation Meeting Needs is to fund the completion of a vocational training classroom and workshop for Uphill Junior school in Uganda. The gift of £7,193 will complete the budgeted cost of £11,693 to provide training for schoolchildren and those who have completed education. Photo shows the latest class of school leavers.

The Scotland-based charity Uphill Trust was founded 12 years ago when Scotsman Niall ‘Max’ Macdonald got to know the founders of the school whilst rediscovering his roots in western Uganda. Max visited the fledgling school in October 2013 and was inspired by the children he met there and impressed by the vision of the School Director, Elius Muhimbise, and his struggle to develop an educational facility on a small plot of rented land with very little funding. Niall resolved to do ‘something’, thinking that he might be able to find enough money to provide corrugated iron sheets for the roofless classrooms. It has led to extraordinary and impressive achievements in terms of developing facilities for children and teaching staff. Meeting Needs has assisted Uphill with several small projects in that time following its registration as a registered charity in Scotland. For full details go to https://www.uphilltrust.org/

The Uphill Trust is a volunteer-led small Scottish charity that operates on a zero overheads basis. The Trust is now planning to build a single large classroom/workshop in the school compound which will be used for vocational studies and storage of all the necessary equipment. It will have an outside area and veranda for extra working space. The initial focus will be for knitting, sewing/dressmaking and joinery. Many members of the school community have expertise and the abilities to be trainers. Produce from the vocational courses can be sold locally, helping generate income for the school and pay for trainers in a sustainable way.

The design of the building will follow Ugandan regulations for construction, will be built by the local builders using locally sourced materials, and overseen by the local district physical planner to ensure full compliance for licensing regulations.

Uphill Junior School was founded in 2011 and serves a rural community of subsistence farmers in western Uganda. Many of the families in the area have been affected by HIV/AIDS and there is a large number of orphaned children and single parent families. The school actively encourages the education of girls as well as boys. Uphill Junior School has around 350 children in 10 year groups, with 16 members of staff. The school charges minimal fees due to the non-cash basis of the local

The Uphill Trust pays all staff salaries and helps some of the poorest children in the community to go to school.

  • To learn how you can work with Meeting Needs, please contact Margaret Mann at mmann@meetingneeds.org.uk