RGS Partnership Continues to Support Communities in Ghana
For seven years, The RGS Worcester Family of Schools has worked alongside the Talensi Community Development Foundation to support schools and communities in the Talensi District of north east Ghana. This year, that partnership produced its most ambitious project to date, a 20ft shipping container of donated goods sent from Worcester to Talensi.
Pupils, parents and staff from across The Family of Schools were invited to donate books, coats, uniform, sports kit, furniture and decommissioned iPads and iMacs, with a special appeal for ever-popular football shirts! They were joined by England Disability Cricket, the University of Liverpool, Droitwich Rugby Football Club, King Edward VI College, friends of the Foundation, and residents of Cavendish Care Home in Evesham, who knitted blankets and cardigans for newborn babies.
Everything was stored at RGS The Grange, where Site Supervisor Keith Breese helped coordinate the collection and, in April, two days of packing with pupils, teachers and trustees. The container then sailed via Hamburg, Gibraltar and Morocco to Tema, before travelling north by road to arrive in Talensi in July.
In September, Juliana and Nick Parker, the Worcestershire couple who lead the Foundation, distributed the donations with the help of Chief, his family and Chief’s pick up truck. Books went to 21 schools across the district, including the Gbeogo School for the Deaf, and sports kit to 11 schools and the Talensi Rock Stars Football Academy. Clothing was shared between five villages, and baby clothes and blankets went to the maternity hospital in Tongo and the health centre in Pwalagu.
During the October Half term, Mr John Jones, Director of Innovation and RGSW International, travelled to Ghana to hear about the impact. On his previous visit, in February 2024, he spent time working with pupils and teachers in the villages. This time, he met the Chief, Juliana and Nick in Accra, where he was also welcomed by the Hon. Daniel Dung Mahama, Member of Parliament for Talensi. Mr Mahama spoke of the community’s gratitude for the project and the difference it has made across his district, and kindly gave Mr Jones a personal tour of Ghana’s Parliament House.
Mr Jones said, “It is quite something to think that a container packed by our own pupils at RGS The Grange has ended up in classrooms, on football pitches and in a maternity hospital in Talensi. Hearing about the joy these items have brought and the difference they are already making to children’s learning, was a real privilege. This partnership has been built on friendship over many years, and I am very grateful to everyone who gave so generously.”
Our sincere thanks go to everyone who contributed, to Keith Breese, John Jones, David Bousfield, Richard Millard and to Juliana, Nick, Chief, Hon. Daniel Dung Mahama and the wider Talensi community for their continued friendship and hospitality.
