Supporting people and projects which advance education in impoverished countries; that, in a nutshell, is what Hazel’s Footprints Trust is all about.
Hazel’s Footprints Trust was established in 2004 in memory of Hazel Scott Aiton whose death in a car accident that year left an unfillable hole in the lives of everybody who knew and loved her. In 2002, Hazel spent a challenging and rewarding Gap Year in Namibia teaching at the Otjikondo Village School. Whilst there, she saw first-hand what an enormous difference dedicated people can make to the lives of others. The Trust aims are to support projects, partner schools and people in the field of education in developing countries.
Supporting Projects
Hazel’s Footprints Trust provides grants to worthy educational causes in developing countries. The Trust has provided over 60 of these project grants since 2005. The drive behind these grants is in recognising where targeted funding can make a real difference. We work only through UK charities that have capability to deliver grass-roots, educational projects in developing countries.
Examples of just some of the projects that we’ve supported to date include: funding teachers’ salaries at a transformational school in rural Rajasthan, India; building new primary school classrooms Kumasi, Ghana; and supporting the development of a secondary school in Madagascar.
Supporting Partner Schools
The Trust provides longer-term support to two schools with which it has established special partnerships:
- Otjikondo Village School, Namibia: this is the school where Hazel volunteered so enthusiastically in 2001/02. The Trust provides an annual grant of £10,000 and also, from time to time, supports people who travel to Otjikondo to volunteer through its Footprinter Grants.
- Ngambenyi Primary School, Kenya: the Trust is proud to have fully-funded the rebuilding of this school in the Kasigau region of Kenya, through its relationship with African Promise. The school has since been officially recognised as a “model school” in its region. Hazel’s Footprints has committed to providing a further £5,000 towards the running costs of the school each year.
Supporting People
We believe in the value of giving people the opportunity to broaden their horizons and change the lives of others for the better. This led to the establishment of Footprinters volunteer grants. The grants support people who would like to volunteer their time, energy and dedication in an educational setting in a developing country.
The Trust has helped over 140 enthusiastic individuals, “Footprinters”, achieve their dream of volunteering abroad in destinations covering five continents. The vast majority of our ‘Footprinters’ go to schools where they not only teach academic subjects, but also get involved in a whole host of extracurricular activities including drama, sports and cooking.
More Information
Hazel’s Footprints Trust was incorporated as a Company Limited by Guarantee on 9th November 2004, company number SC 275793. The Company is a registered charity number SCO 36069.
The Trustees who are also directors for the purposes of company law are:
- Bill Scott Aiton
- Joan Scott Aiton
- Joanna Scott Aiton
- Lucy Costain
- Christopher Hildyard
- Rachael Hill
- David Mortimer
- Ben Newman
- Ruth Sutherland
- Balfour Thomson, CA
