The Philippines Schools Project started in 2006. Jo and I decided on a whim, to visit Jo’s old school, she hadn’t seen it for 30 years.

Jo said it hadn’t changed much and, sad to say, I quite believed her. The facilities were appalling, yet the standard of teaching was excellent, and the enthusiasm from the children, absolutely fabulous.

You just knew straight away, that something had to be done. From small beginnings, the project just gained a momentum of its own, thanks to all our friends. We became a registered charity in the UK (no.1148559) and then had to have a dedicated website, which I struggled to complete. We needed a board of Trustees to oversee what we did, and the husband of one of them was a computer whiz, and thankfully he took over the website from me.

There are storybooks on the site which chart our progress as we increased our activities for the two local schools. When we started there were about 600 pupils in the elementary and high schools we support, at the last count there were over 1,300! Why not take a look, hit this link to find out more!

We thought hygiene would be a good place to start; this was the only washing facility for three hundred children in the elementary school when we first visited.

This was our solution, a facility with ten positions and proper drainage. Subsequently we built several more at locations across the two schools.

We built an external toilet block, but later went on to incorporate toilet facilities into every classroom.

Initially we upgraded some of the existing rooms, adding facilities, providing better chairs, tables etc. Painting, renewing windows, just generally brightening up the space and making it nicer to learn in.

There was never a plan, or a goal, never a desire to be considered as benefactors or philanthropists. It was really the generosity of our friends in England, the racers and musicians we knew who offered help in many forms. Some gave cash, others their old computer. Paper, pencils, old clothes. The Project just found its own momentum, as our dining room turned into a store cupboard. These items were packaged into parcels which we freighted out to the schools, the contents were always well and gratefully received.

We also have a YouTube channel where we show some of the school's activities and views of the school

As our fortunes increased and the charity got more support, we were able to turn our attention to building new classrooms, This was our first, more followed.

To all those that have helped with the Project, what can I say? Without you, it would never have happened. Thank you is hardly enough.

PSP