News
September 2023
Higher education successes
NGCF school graduates continue to show resilience in the face of multiple challenges concerning higher education. Both the pandemic and ongoing strikes by university teachers have made the admissions process more than usually chaotic. However, we are delighted to announce that three NGCF scholars from the girls’ school started university courses this year (in Biochemistry, Theatre Arts and Law), whilst four from the other school have also gained admission to university or polytechnic, on courses including Music, Nutrition and Dietetics, and Chemical Engineering. A fifth has a vocation to the priesthood and has gained admission to a seminary. We are very pleased, proud and excited for all these scholars and wish them every success in their studiesNGCF school graduates continue to show resilience in the face of multiple challenges concerning higher education. Both the pandemic and ongoing strikes by university teachers have made the admissions process more than usually chaotic. However, we are delighted to announce that three NGCF scholars from the girls’ school started university courses this year (in Biochemistry, Theatre Arts and Law), whilst four from the other school have also gained admission to university or polytechnic, on courses including Music, Nutrition and Dietetics, and Chemical Engineering. A fifth has a vocation to the priesthood and has gained admission to a seminary. We are very pleased, proud and excited for all these scholars and wish them every success in their studies.
October 2022
Gospel Choir sings again for NGCF
By mid-2022, the country was comfortable with holding public events. Graciously and very kindly, the Reading Community Gospel Choir agreed to perform again for us and a date was set for Saturday 15th October 2022. It seemed as if an eternity had passed since our last concert had taken place. Many things had changed in the intervening period but perhaps the most important was that our normal venue, in the church of Our Lady of Peace and Blessed Dominic Barberi, was no longer available to us and we had to hire a more basic church hall. Covid had also severely impacted on ticket pre-sales. To our great relief, numbers on the night were greater than expected. The choir immediately lifted the audience into a state of euphoria. People were moving with the music and everyone, without exception, was wearing a broad grin on their faces. It was a brilliant evening, raising all our spirits and encouraging us to move into the post-pandemic era with new enthusiasm. A couple in the audience were sufficiently moved and sponsored a new scholarship. The ticket sales raised £700. It was a fantastic evening.
October 2021
Fundraising drive for NGCF
In the UK, lengthy lockdowns have unfortunately had a severe impact on NGCF’s ability to raise funds, either by recruiting new sponsors or by holding fundraising events. Funding for all our current scholars remains secure, thanks to the continued generosity of our regular sponsors, and this money is ring-fenced so that, whatever happens, no student will be forced to abandon their education before it is completed. We are committed to supporting all our students throughout their secondary and higher education. However, a consequence of the pandemic is that, for the second year running, NGCF has been unable to offer any new scholarships. This is not how we wish things to be, so we have set ourselves a target of raising an additional £15,000 each year, in order to be able to support three new students each year at each of the two schools. In order to reach out to new potential sponsors the trustees have been working on an e-brochure which sets out the mission and work of the charity. We hope this will enable us to present our work to sponsors with greater clarity and bring in more pledges of support.
September 2021
Back to school at last
After an unprecedented 18 months of severe disruption to education and many other aspects of daily life, NGCF scholars and their classmates are finally getting back to some sort of normality in their school life. Covid lockdowns and political protests have both played a part in disrupting and delaying both teaching and exams. However, we can now report that in the schools we support, end-of-year exams, postponed from the summer, took place in mid-September, immediately followed by entrance exams and the start of the new school year. NGCF students have also resumed their studies at university and polytechnic. Because of all the disruption it will be another two years before we congratulate our first NGCF graduates, but the students are all glad to be back studying again.
June 2020
Lockdown in Nigeria
Like most of the rest of the world, Nigeria has been affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Lockdown measures began to be imposed on the different states of the country from the end of March. The two schools supported by NGCF were closed indefinitely on 27 March. Local circumstances and a lack of technology mean that the teachers have mostly been out of contact with their students and do not know how they are faring. Some state education departments have been providing lessons over the radio. Although lockdown measures have started to ease in some parts of the country, including a limited reopening of churches, schools have not yet been given permission to reopen. Please pray for the schools, the teachers and the children.
June 2020
Lockdown in Reading
Throughout the lockdown in the UK the NGCF trustees have continued to meet via phone and videoconference. The charity’s AGM was conducted in this way on 18 March. The trustees approved the accounts and annual report for the year ending 30 September 2019. One unfortunate result of the lockdown for NGCF was the cancellation of this year’s concert by the Reading Community Gospel Choir, which was due to be given in May. The good news is the Choir has agreed to reschedule the concert for May 2021 by which time, God willing, we will be free to gather again to hear great music, to sing together and to celebrate God’s mercy.
February 2020
New scholars start and older scholars progress
For the academic year 2019-20 NGCF is sponsoring six new scholars, three at each school, starting in the first year (JSS1). All are from poor families and would not be at school at all without the support of NGCF. Meanwhile, all three of last year’s graduates have secured higher education places: one at university (sociology) and two at polytechnic (science and laboratory technology; mass communications). We congratulate them on their achievement. This year the first two NGCF scholars will graduate from the girls’ school. They are just about to begin the process of applying to university and polytechnic. We wish them every success.