UK Registered Charity Number 1165906
Welcome to Green Olive Trust UK
A small UK based charity working with our Kenyan partners to fund education for young people in poverty in rural Kenya
A huge thank you to everyone who came along to enjoy our fabulously uplifting day of singing at the Barcombe "Come and Sing" event on 9th March. Forty people attended the workshop, learning new songs to sing together.
A huge £1,490 was raised and donated to Green Olive Trust by this event alone.
We are very grateful to Angela Spencer from the Lewes Singing Circle for organising and running the day.
Our Mission
At Green Olive Trust UK our mission is to help relieve poverty in the Kakamega area of Western Kenya by funding education and training. Take a look at our Education Bursaries page here to find out more.
Our aim is to provide bursaries to as many high school, college and university students as we can - but we can only continue this work with the help of donors, which is why we are asking for your help.
Please consider making a donation - see how you can donate and how your gift will make a difference here.
Kakamega is a very poor region of Kenya, with extreme hardship and poverty, high unemployment, and poor access to education, public services, and health care.
The region suffered badly from the Covid 19 epidemic. The catastrophic effects of climate change bring both flooding and drought, devastating farming and the local economy.
In Kenya, public funding for children's education when they leave primary school is not guaranteed. Many families cannot afford to send their children to high school, college or university and a lot of potential is unmet.
The children and young people we support at Green Olive Trust UK are from very poor backgrounds, but they all have high aspirations and want to learn. With Green Olive bursaries they are able to gain the education that they deserve, reach their potential and achieve their ambitions.
We work closely with our partner organisation, the Green Olive Foundation in Kenya, to ensure that the money that we raise in the UK goes directly towards funding the education of local children and young people in the greatest need.
We believe that sustainable change starts with empowering young people through supporting their education. Not only does this help to lift the young person out of poverty, but it also has a wider, positive impact on their family and their community.
Many of our past students contribute to their local communities by volunteering to help those in need, or helping others through their work and their professional lives. Some former students are actively involved with the work of Green Olive Foundation, Kenya.
Our Bursary graduates have gone on to achieve success in a range of work areas and professions. Our former students include a doctor, a pharmacist, a teacher, a lawyer, a TV journalist, and an agronomist.
You can find out more about our graduates and hear some of their inspirational stories here.
Watch Michael's amazing video to see how Green Olive support has transformed the life of one young person from Kakamega.
How it all started
How it all started
How it all started
The UK based Green Olive Trust charity was set up in 2013 following a visit to the Kakamega area by some of our trustees who witnessed first-hand the dire need for funds for education for local children and young people.
A lot of good work was already going on locally to support young people to access an education, driven by many of the people who later went on to start up the Green Olive Foundation, Kenya.
But funding this work locally was proving very challenging. The UK visitors were approached and asked if there might be financial help available from the UK.
The founding UK trustees could see how education was a pathway out of poverty and they set up the UK charity as a way of directing more funds to our Kenyan partners.
Since then Green Olive Trust UK has funded over 60 bursaries to enable young people to gain an education and find a pathway to a better life.
Our special projects
How it all started
How it all started
As well as providing educational bursaries, Green Olive Trust has recently supported two very successful projects in the region.
The Primary School Project
We received funding from the Kitchen Table Trust to partially rebuild a local primary school that was in such a poor state of repair that it was in danger of being closed down. The newly refurbished school is so popular that it is now oversubscribed! Find out more here.
The Greenhouse Project
Green Olive Trust received funding from Quaker Peace and Social Witness (QPSW) for the construction and running costs of three large greenhouses. They were built on land that was no longer fit for traditional farming as a result of climate change.
So far, 15 young farmers have been trained to use this sustainable farming technique, gaining a new life skill, and a way out of poverty. The greenhouses are now self-financing, and the hope is that many more young people in the area will learn about greenhouse farming in the future. Read all about the Greenhouse Project here.
Green Olive Trust bursaries fund student fees, books, equipment and some living costs So far we have funded 61 young people to gain an education and help them to a better life We are currently funding 18 high school, college and university students
As a small charity we rely on the generosity of our donors £20 a month will buy a data bundle £50 a month supports a high school student £120 a month will support a young person at college or university £250 buys a refurbished laptop for a student to use
