The Latymer Uganda Project

The Latymer Uganda Project was established in 2013 and supports M Lisada, The Mummy Foundation and Hidden Treasure Primary school in Kampala, as well as Soft Power Education, a forward-thinking charity based in Jinja.

The Latymer Uganda Project remains hugely popular with our pupil and staff community who fundraise tirelessly to support the various initiatives and who visit the country every other year. To fund the project we have raised more than £83,000 over the last five years, from non-uniform days, cake sales, sponsored cycle rides, Friday Night Lights (rugby), concerts, sponsored skydives and lots more.

The most recent trip to Uganda was in October 2018, where 50 pupils and 6 members of staff volunteered with the four organisations, including teaching some lessons to pre-school children and painting classrooms. They also enjoyed a couple of days off admiring the incredible wildlife of Murchison Falls National Park. The next trip will be in October 2020. The Latymer Uganda Project is a fantastic cause, of which Edward Latymer would be proud!

Aims

There is no free education in Uganda and many families simply cannot afford to send their children to school. In the spirit of our founder Edward Latymer, who started Latymer Upper nearly 400 years ago ‘to clothe and educate eight poore boyes’, we decided to sponsor the education of eight children from M-Lisada. M-Lisada stands for ‘Music Life Skills and Deprivation Alleviation’ and it is a youth centre and orphanage, which supports underprivileged adults and children in the Katwe slum.

We pay for the children’s school fees, school uniform, school trips, books, stationery, toilet rolls and brooms (an essential item for any school child in Uganda!). It is always lovely to receive their termly reports and read of their great progress in school.

Resources

One member of staff has responsibility for the Latymer Uganda project, but the whole school community is involved in the fundraising. Since 2013, around 200 pupils from Latymer Upper have visited the projects and volunteered at them. 

Impact

Apart from providing a life-changing education for eight Ugandan children, the fundraising has also paid for a two storey classroom block to be built at Hidden Treasure Primary school, along with a complete refurbishment of the whole school. Hidden Treasure is in the heart of the Katwe slum and it shares many of Latymer's values.

We have also funded four classroom blocks to be built and painted at primary schools in the rural areas around Jinja, which are supported by Soft Power Education.

The Mummy Foundation is a centre which supports girls, teenage mothers and women. Over the last five years, our financial support has enabled them to refurbish their building, install a solar power system and have adequate medical and educational supplies.