Agona Swedru School Lab - Ghana

Update February 2024

I am very pleased to report that with the backing of a multi-club District Foundation Grant and the support of 21 clubs in District 1070, work has now started on the new science lab at the Agona Swedru School in Ghana. The building is expected to be completed by the end of April 2024 and will be officially called The Rotary District 1070 Science Building. 

Robert Dixon

Update as at 30 April 2023

I am absolutely delighted to tell you that an amazing 18 Clubs in our District have agreed to support our science lab project in Ghana. We have also had donations from a number of individual Rotarians. I really can’t express how grateful we are to everyone who has got behind this great endeavour. Thank you all so much.

Having reached our pledges target, we at Kettering Huxloe are now gearing up to send in the multi-club District Grant application. I will update you again once this has been done.

Robert Dixon

Before 30 April 2023

I would like to tell you about an International project we at Kettering Huxloe are getting underway for the 2023/2024 Rotary year and to ask for your Club’s support with it.

The project involves the construction of a science laboratory for a school in Ghana. The cost will be £25,000. The school and its former pupils will raise £7,000 and Kettering Huxloe will put in an initial £2,000.  That will leave £16,000 to be found. So that £8,000 (the maximum available) can be raised through a multi-club District Foundation Grant, our task is to find other Clubs in the District who will join us in funding the remaining £8,000.  Under TRF rules the most any club may contribute is £2,000 and, as the club leading the project and the Grant application, we at Kettering Huxloe will be contributing our full £2,000.  This leaves us with a balance of £6,000 to be raised from fellow clubs in our District which is why I am asking for your club’s support, please.

We have to raise this £6,000, in the form of pledges from contributing clubs, by the end of April 2023 otherwise the project will be put back a year or indeed abandoned. If we can meet this 30 April deadline and if the multi-club Grant application is then approved by TRF, we will be asking the participating clubs to make good on their pledges by paying their contributions in about September 2023.

We believe this to be an extremely worthwhile project which will bring science to life for hundreds of young people who are currently limited to learning about physics, chemistry, and biology from textbooks.

At this stage, all I’m requesting is the opportunity - sometime in January, February, or March – for my colleague Paul Bertin and myself to speak to your Club members in more detail about the project and to answer any questions they may have.  This could be done either at one of your regular ‘live’ meetings or by Zoom, whichever would suit you better.  

I hope our project will be of interest and look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards

Robert Dixon

Chair of International & Foundation Committee
Rotary Club of Kettering Huxloe