“The Zoe Trust has partnered with Misty Meadows School since 2015 and the Trustees’ efforts on our school’s behalf have been nothing short of extraordinary ever since. The Zoe Trust now sponsors five children at Misty Meadows, including their full fees, stationery, clothing and extra-murals. These children feel truly cared for by their sponsors, and “seen” in a way that not many children from disadvantaged backgrounds are recognised and valued. As a direct result of their Zoe Trust sponsorship at Misty Meadows, these children are being equipped to create meaningful lives for themselves, not just academically, but socially and emotionally too.
Not only does The Zoe Trust sponsor these specific individuals through our school, the Trust has also played an absolutely invaluable education partnership role in helping our school grow and evolve over the last 8 years. Their partnership with Misty Meadows has included securing a wide range of funding and support for projects over the years. Some of the specific projects that The Zoe Trust has supported us with include: building a high school classroom, securing two years of funding for us to hire an extra teacher, funding tools and equipment (and running costs) for our maker-space workshop, funding our school’s Internet access, securing several computer donations through HP and private sponsors, sponsoring sports equipment, helping us support our students through the COVID era, helping us with our funding proposals, and offering much valued advice and input whenever it has been requested.
In particular I would like to acknowledge both Tanya Murphy and Emily Young for all that they have done, and continue to do, for Misty Meadows School. Every time I ask Tanya for fundraising help or advice, she instantly gets to work making connections for us, and nothing ever seems to be too much trouble for her. She is a truly amazing force and much loved and appreciated by me. Emily has also offered us so much support and wisdom on a wide variety of educated-related matters, including Safeguarding policies, teacher training, learning resources for dyslexic readers, and many other things. Emily has come to visit our school on several occasions, making a huge effort to ensure that our Zoe Trust sponsored children know that they are seen and appreciated. She also ran a teacher training course for us on one of her visits, sharing her teaching experience and creativity so willingly with us. Emily’s son Joseph shares a birthday with one of our Zoe Trust sponsored children, and the delight with which Njabulo received that news is testament to how much our students value Emily.
I cannot emphasise enough the value of the work that The Zoe Trust does to support innovative education projects around the world, and to enable children from highly disadvantaged backgrounds to receive real difference-making educational opportunities”.
