Our final carol service on the 1^st December raised over £75,000 and was held after two cancellations due to covid. The 7 readers were all Henry’s friends who had read at his Thanksgiving Service in the Harrow School Chapel in January 2003. Again huge thanks to our sponsors and all those who advertised in the 12 carol services.   We were delighted with the amount raised and it was a wonderful finale to all our fundraising which started in 2003.

Read more about our Carol Service

Huge congratulations to our London Marathon runner Guy Smith Bingham. He has raised enough money for one of our schools to receive a borehole which will transform the lives of over 1000 primary school children.

We had six runners in the London Marathon which had been postponed from April until October due to Covid.   They were:  Milly Brook Shanahan, Rose Gemmell, James McKinnel, Oliver Renwick, Oliver Robinson and Robert Sloman.  Between them they raised over £26,000.  Arthur Pickthorn also completed the virtual London marathon on the same day,

We registered 4 runners.  Izzy Reeves, Jonathan Money, Oliver Robinson and Rose Gemmel. Due to Covid the event was postponed until October and eventually became a virtual event.

The walk was completed by David Martin Smith who raised £4,592.50. It involved walking 86 miles of Hadrians’ Wall in order to raise funds for his close friend Henry.   This event took place just before Covid-19 struck and everywhere was closed down. The funds were spent on the construction of 8 boys’ latrines and a staffroom, plus provision of a staff furniture package at Bukyonza Primary School.

Again St Lukes was packed with over 850 friends and a phenomenal £57,000 was raised.  We are very grateful to Katherine Jenkins for her superb performance, plus Naomi and Hannah Moxon who sang their version of Bing Crosby’s “I’ll be Home for Christmas”.  Our readers were Nicholas Soames and the television racing presenter Ed Chamberlin.

Many thanks to our two sponsors Brown Advisory and Knight Frank for their support.

Raised just over £7,600.  Funds went towards the 5.5 classroom block at Nalango Secondary School to include a specialist science laboratory  with running water and gas supplies.

The event was hosted by Top Srivaddhanaprabha and his family at Billingbear Polo Club in Berkshire, and was held in memory of his father, Vichai SrivaddhanaprabhaHv, who tragically died in a helicopter accident at Leicester City football stadium   HvSMF was one of the 15 charities to benefit from the enormous funds raised and we received £70,000.  Many thanks to all those who supported the day.  The Dukes of Cambridge and Sussex were both playing and funds have been spent on projects across many of our 51  supported schools.

We had 6 runners. Two of the runners, Jessica Bishop and Rosie Campbell, raised  a staggering £29,000 which has supported Kifuyo Secondary School.  With the raised funds the school received 10 desk top computers, printer and ancillaries, we constructed 4 new classrooms for A’Levels,  which included solar panels for lighting,  8 girls’ latrines and washroom, provided 30 x 3-seater desks.  This was a substantial sum of money.  Shafin Moledina, a Ludgrove parent, raised enough money to pay for a 1.5 boy’s dormitory at Bupadhengo Secondary School, and 3 runners supported an East African Playground at Nalinabi Primary School.

We had 5 runners  – Henry Butt, Sarah Coghlan, Rufus Hall, Jonathan Quinn and Elizabeth Santos.  We are very grateful for the £17,500 they raised and with the funds we constructed teachers’ houses and other projects at Matuumu Bumegere Primary School, plus an East African Playground at Bukyonza Primary School.

HvSMF is very grateful to the runners and their supporters for all the funds raised.

£800 – Funds going towards the new science block at Nalango Secondary school

£3,600 – Funds going towards the new science block at Nalango Secondary school, which includes 5.5 classrooms, completed in 2020.

This was our 10^th carol service which was supported by over 800 friends.  We would like to thank all the readers : the Duchess of Sussex, Edward Holcroft and Dr James Holland who was Thomas, Henry and Charlie’s house master at Harrow School.  Plus our guest singer, Harry Kersley, all of whom helped to raise £57,000 for the children of Uganda.

It raised £1,700 which was spent on teachers’ latrines and washrooms, plus science consumables at Nawanyago College.

Between 18 – 31 August 2018, 20 bike riders raised just over £18,000.  Funds were spent at Nalango Secondary School

During July & August 2018, Freddie Denison-Smith, James Hamilton-Ely and Theo Seeley all drove from the UK to Mongolia, 10,000 miles in 6 weeks.  They raised £1,700 for Kisadhaki Primary School where Theo had been a volunteer during 2017.

Many children from the nursery school walked through Battersea Park along the river Thames and raised nearly £7,000.  We constructed a new 3 classroom Nursery School at Bukyonda.

We had 1 runner, Sara Quayle,  and she raised sufficient funds, £2,500, for an East African Playground at Kawule Primary School.  Afterwards she travelled to Uganda to see some of our supported schools. Here she is standing outside our Charity Office

We were very grateful to have been one of the two charities to benefit from this amazing day.  Our Patron, Prince William, was playing and £40,000 was raised for HvSMF.

We had a record 7 runners and the total raised was a staggering £42,100, of which £19,200 was raised by Marcus Heal and spent on projects at Magogo SS.  With the remaining funds raised by Katharine Davenport, a past gap year volunteer at Busesa Primary School, Theo Gibson, Rufus Hall, Tammi Kane, Flora Marking and Jonathan Money we donated 2 x East African Playgrounds, plus projects at Buwoya Primary School, Kisadhaki Primary School and St Mary’s Nawanyago Primary School.

Archie Sinclair and Freddie Brun, two of Charlie van Straubenzee’s school friends, raised £4,275 which was all spent on projects at Kisadhaki Primary School and Magogo Secondary School

This was a wonderful and successful evening.  We had Cressida Bonas and John Standing each doing a reading, with Sophie Macrae as the soloist.  Thanks to our sponsors, Brown Advisory, and many supporters just under £40k was raised.

This took place on Sunday 16^th July 2017 at Watershipo Down Polo Club, the beautiful estate belonging to Lord and Lady Lloyd-Webber.  Prince Harry was playing and the funds raised were to go to two of his supported charities HvSMF and Map Action.  It was a wonderful day and we were very grateful to be co-beneficiaries of this event.

We had 7 x HvSMF runners which included Theo Seely and Alex Wade.  They had spent three months previously living at Bupadhengo Primary School, in very basic accommodation, and teaching there plus Magogo and Bupadhengo Secondary Schools and Busuuli Primary School.

This was undertaken by James Gibbs, Freddie Inglefield, Jack Mann and Thomas van Straubenzee.  The walk is along the spectacular southern cliffs, past the iconic Needles and up to historic Cowes at the half way stop.  Then it is on to historic Ventnor and back to the welcome base camp in Chale after an epic 106km journey!  Over £15,000 was raised and with the funds we were able to construct a a 3 classroom nursery school, plus latrines, playground equipment, desks, textbooks and teaching aids. Here is a picture of Thomas in one of the new nursery classrooms in March 2018

We had six runners, David Chalk and his daughter Melissa, Lulu Fletcher, Rupert Greig and Rupert Luff.  In total just under £17,000 was raisedand all the funds were spent  on projects in various schools supported by HvSMF.  Many thanks to you all for your support.

Daisy and Kitty Jenks took part in a 24 hour “Strictly come Dance with us” event  to raise over £7,500 for HvSMF.  Here is a picture of Daisy at Busuuli Primary School in March 2018 in front of the boys’ dormitory that we constructed with the funds she and her sister raised.

Billy Jenks took part in this along with three friends.  The funds raised were used to construct 8 x boys’ latrines at Busuuli Primary School

Our annual carol service was very well attended and we are so grateful to our readers, General Sir Nicholas Carter, Olly Hicks and Miranda Raison, plus our singers Alicia Lowes and King Charles,  who all contributed to the success of the evening and helped us raise substantial funds to support the children in Uganda.

Rio Ball, a past volunteer teacher at Magogo Seconday School, raised £880 which was spent on staff furniture and bunk beds.

is one of the toughest ultra races in Greece, 155 miles run within 36 hours, achieved by Martin Ilott who raised £1,900 for a new kitchen at Bukyonza Primary School and the inside and outside painting of Bukyonza Nursery School.

to celebrate their Ruby Wedding raised £800 which was spent on textbooks at Kasambira Primary School.

– raised just under £23,000. Funds spent on construction of 4 teachers’ houses, boys’ dorm. Provision of 10 laptops, 40 bunks beds, textbooks, sports and musical packages. Connection to mains electricity (£2,500)

Raised £102,000 to be shared between SkillForce, Map Action and HvSMF, each receiving £34,000.   Prince Harry was playing.

Funds have been spent on construction of teachers’ houses, teachers’ latrines and washrooms and a water tank.

They have also provided textbooks and sports equipment, and sponsorship of 5 students on their advanced certificate course at Iganga Technical Institute.

This took place in their amazing garden and raised £5,000 which constructed the girls’ dormitory at Bukyonza primary school.

A massive well done to the six runners who undertook the Ugandan International Marathon 2016 for the HvSMF.

Ed Straker, John Beaumont, Lewis Munro, Rob Clack, Bertie O’Brien, and Tom Perkins all put in a huge amount of effort and have raised money which will help continue to the great work that we has been doing in Uganda.

Thank you for your efforts boys.- see more pictures our Facebook Page

Fifteen children, their families and 6 teachers  walked 2 miles around Hyde Park ending at the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain (water).  After their walk everyone gathered for a picnic lunch afterwards.   2 miles is probably half the distance a Ugandan child walks in order to collect water after attending school for a day. We were very grateful to all those that supported the walk which raised £2,300 and the funds were spent at Bukyonza Nursery School.

HvSMF received six gold bond charity places in this year’s London Marathon, thanks to our Patron, Prince Harry, who is also Patron of The Virgin London Marathon.

In total we had 10 runners thanks to some who obtained places in the ballot. Though the day was cold thankfully all of our 10 runners completed the course. Charlie Brownlow deserves particular congratulations for continuing, despite tripping on a water bottle at mile 7 and twisting his knee. Between all of them they raised an incredible £50,000 which is a record for HvSMF.

We are so grateful because, for some runners, it is a once in a lifetime slog, given the training and psychological effort.

All the money raised will go to Uganda to help many children at rural school have a proper education and happier, healthier lives. Click here to see photos of our runners!

Will Jones and Freddie Brun, who had both been at Harrow School with Henry, joined 103 rickshaws and drove almost 3,000 km across India, in a three wheeler, achieving a maximum speed of 30mph. The lads drove for 9 hours a day from Kerala to Rajisthan, via Goa and Bombay, and came third in the race.

Afterwards Will wrote: “it really was an incredible experience and one that we will never forget but more importantly we are both extremely proud to have represented HvSMF and hope that the funds raised will help”.  Their funds are being used to construct 8 x boys’ latrines at Kifuyo Secondary School.

Our annual main fundraising event took place at St Luke’s Church, in Chelsea, on the 2nd December. Again tickets sold out within hours of going on sale.

This year our readers were Jonny Willkinson, Penelope Wilson, and Guy and Elizabelh Pelly, along with soprano Rose Farquhar.

With sponsors Strutt and Parker and Pemberton Greenish, the carol service raised over £45,000.

On the 14th October, Daisy Fellowes and Francesca Gentilli organised the Kapara gift fair at Tanyard House, ahead of Christmas in support of HvSMF. There were 10 stall holders and the event raised enough funds to give Namavundu Nursery School 4 latrines for the small children.

This successful event was organised by Alice Robinson, the deputy head teacher. The school has established a connection with Busesa Primary School to ensure British children learn about the world in which they live.

With the funds raised we have been able to give the school 26 x 3-sealer desks so that 80 children no longer have to learn their lessons sitting on the ground. We are very grateful to all who participated in the event.

Once again, Ceri Davies, who taught Henry at Harrow, has raised funds for HvSMF. Through the Orley Farm School’s Edge Programme £650 was raised and the donation was put towards desks and chairs for the teachers, plus shelves and cupboards for textbooks, at St Mulumba Primary School which Orley Farm first supported in 2011.

Despite a rather pessimistic weather forecast, the rain luckily held off for this years ‘Sure Run to the Beat’ 1Ok run in Wembley.Amongst those participating to raise money for The Henry van Straubenzee Fund were sisters Bella and Georgie Grubb. Spurred on by their sisters on the sideline, they were very happy to have completed the course in 56 minutes. They are pictured left post-race, no doubt very relieved it was over! Well done to Jim and Charlie who also ran. Jim completed the course in 41 minutes and Charlie in 51 minutes.

The Gauntlett family have been supporting Nalango Secondary School for several years now. in memory of their inspirational son Rob.

Louise reported: “Pretty chuffed to have got round without any walking in 1hr 20 having only started running on the 15th of May when Ollie was two months old. It was a very emotional day as I know Rob would have been very proud of my achievement. It may not have been the fastest time but I am still lapping those on the couch!

A big and huge thank you to all of our runners!

One Mile Closer riders rode 1000km Sea to Sky in South Korea to raise funds for Nalango Secondary School, in memory of adventurers Rob Gauntlett and James Atkinson. The expedition was led by adventurer and Korean TV personality James Hooper and supported by TeaMax Adventures and Discovery Expeditions Korea.

The trip took novice and experienced riders alike from the southern city of Yeosu to Nansam Tower in Seoul, via the east coast and the mountains of the north. More information on Rob, James, and the regular One Mile Closer rides can be found on www.onemilecloser.com

Click Here to see more photos!

On Saturday 11th July 2015. this prestigious event took place at the Watership Down polo field, on the beautiful Sydmonton Court Estate – home of Lord and Lady Lloyd-Webber. This charity event was held in support of The Henry van Straubenzee Memorial Fund and Tusk Trust.

We were very fortunate to have been chosen by our Patrons, The Duke of Cambridge and Prince Henry of wales, to be the beneficiary of this fundraising event, along with Tusk. The Duke was a member of the Urbanologie team. who took on Westcombe Group. The match was a dose fought draw. The players were presented with gifts from Tiffany & Co. as well as a bottle of specially produced luxury scent from Italian perfumier, Xerjoff.

Almost 450 guests attended the champagne reception. which was held in a stunning marquee, overtooking the Berkshire downs. This was followed by a superb lunch and entertainment by singer Rebecca Ferguson culminating with two charity auctions.

Congratulations to Georgina Elliott and Celsa Ezra who ran in the first Uganda International Marathon – A Race Like No Other last weekend and have raised an astonishing £13,000 for HvSMF and local projects in Masaka. Described as “one of the most amazing experiences of our lives”, the girls saw various HVSMF projects, then spent 6 days immersed in the local community before running a marathon through beautiful rural Uganda alongside local and inlernalional runners.

HvSMF had six gold bond charity places in this year’s London Marathon, thanks to our Patron, Prince Harry, who is also Patron of The Virgin London Marathon. It was a very successful day with cool weather and all of our six runners finished. What an amazing achievement! Particular congratulations to our husband and wife team, Ed and Nats, who completed it in 3 hrs 42 mins.

Click here to see our runners on the day!

On Sunday 29th March Rio Ball, a long time supporter of the charity, who spent time teaching at Magogo Secondary School, ran the Yeovil half marathon. She raised just over £400 all of which has been spent at Magogo where we provided much needed science equipment and chemicals.

Report by Angus Ropner:

“I wanted to drop you a line to say thanks once again for very kindly sponsoring me for the Tokyo marathon. In the endwe managed to raise a brilliant £1368 for the Henry van Straubenzee Memorial Fund. This will certainly go a long way and make a big difference for the Ugandan children this Charity supports through providing classrooms, dormitories, teachers housing and so on. I am also glad to say that I successfully dragged myself around the 42km course in 3 hours and 32 minutes. It was a sore but amazing experience. and I am happy to have made it back in one piece. It was a brilliant city, and we managed to see various sites too induding the fish market, the Tokyo tower, some interesting Sake bars, and the famous Robot show.”

Tickets sold out again this year for our annual Christmas carol service in St Luke’s, Sydney Street, Chelsea, London. We are very grateful to all who attended and made the event once again a huge success. We are so grateful to our Patrons, their Royal Highnesses, The Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry of Wales, who both attended the service. We would also like to thank this year’s readers, Ben Fogle, Santa Montefiore and Dan Snow, who very generously supported us.

Read the Daily Mail Review

The Thriller South of the River · Charity Boxing Match – Miguel’s Boxing Gym

Haroon “HURRICANE” Shaikh vs Al “CRASH BANG” WALLACE

Approximately £2500 was made by ticket sales alone making this event a great success. Thank you to all involved.

Serena Richards organised a very successful coffee morning in her apartment in Kensington Palace. She raised funds for HvSMF with the sale of her marvellous “Slightly Potty” silk flowers. some special Christmas crackers and other Christmas presents. Thanks to the 25 people that attended we have raised enough funds to sponsor a much needed 20,000 litre water tank at one of our schools. HvSMF is incredibly grateful to Serena for her time and wonderful flowers.

The 204 Sure Run to the Beat 10K run took place on Sunday 14th September in the new exciting venue of Wembley Park. It was a wonderful music filled run with live sets from incredible DJ’s and hundreds of charity participants took part. All our runners enjoyed themselves. Please click here for photos

Should anyone wish to compete in future events please contact Claire on 01572 767976 or email:claire@henryvanstraubenzeemf.org.uk

A group of 35 cyclists rode 1500km fromPrague to the UK in order to raise money for Natango  Secondary School. Cyclists of many abilities and nationalitiestake part in the biennial One Mile Closer cycle ride s in order to fundraise for the school in memory of adventurer Rob Gauntlett.

Rob sledded. cycled and sailed from Pole to Pole at the age of 21, was the youngest Briton to climb Everest, and spent much of his lije in schools inspiring youngsters to follow their dreams. More information can be found on www.onemilecloser.com. Please do support, and get in touch if you would like to know more.

Report by Alex Wedderburn

“It was an absolute privilege to be raising money for HvSMF during my first Olympic Triathlon. It was a fantastic day. The 2km swim took me just under 28 minutes. which was my best time to date, before getting onto the bike. This did not start well and, within the first quarter of the cycle, one of the stewards sent myself and a few others in the wrong direction. It was 20 minutes before we realized we had to tum back, having not seen another single cycle. Psychologically, this was fairly tough but we powered through and, bar the diversion, I was still on track to hit the 3 hour mark which was my aim before starting. The 10km took 56 minutes in total and the last 3km were really tough but amazing to finish! My overall time was 3 hours and 4 minutes including the diversion, so I am very proud to say that I completed it in under 3 hours.”

The London2Brighton Challenge started in Richmond, West London. Steve Firmin took up the challenge and agreed to raise funds for HvSMF. The day after the event he sent me the following quote: “lots of very muddy and narrow trails made this challenge really tough but I managed to get my 34 miles done in just under 11 hours and was25th fastest out of 217 starters.  Not bad for a 63 year old!” Congratulations to Steve and very many thanks for all the funds raised: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/SteveFirman

This was completed by Olivia Andrews, and her father Nicholas. We are very grateful to them both, and to the amount of sponsorship they received.

Olivia was a past volunteer with Africa Asia Venture in 2010 at Bupadhengo Primary School. Thus all the money will be spent on projects at Bupadhengo Primary School.

Should you wish to sponsor them further please visit http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/OliviaAndrew

The Tough London Mudder West claims to be the toughest event on the planet. It features a 10 mile obstacle course designed by Special Forces. Mark Perera was going to take up the challenge and raise money for HvSMF but unfortunately due to injury he had to pull out. His company, Old Street Labs. has pledged to support us with other fundraising throughout the year.

All 7 runners completed the event, and the fastest was Sam Priestly, in 3 hours and 27 mins, which is an excellent time. Between them all they raised just under £18,000 which is a significant sum and will support many projects in Uganda, all to be completed within the next 6 months. We are very grateful for their efforts.

HvSMF’s Filth Christmas Carol Service was held in SI Luke’s, Sydney Street, Chelsea. London. The event was another sell out within 8 days and we are very grateful to our readers James Blunt, Harry Hadden-Paton and Olivia Colman.

We also enjoyed our wonderful soprano Juliet Fraser and the fantastic L’Inviti Singers under the guidance of David Guest, plus the Ludgrove Chapel Choir – all of whom contributed lo a magnificent evening. Over £40,000 was raised which was a record sum and we are indebted to all our supporters.

HvSMF had 18 runners in the above half marathon, 13 miles/20 kilometers, which was held for the first time in the beautiful setting of Greenwich Park.

The temperature was perfect, the music played constantly and all runners completed the event. We are most grateful to all of the runners’ friends who have donated over £9,000 for HvSMF.  If anyone is interested in running in future events,  please contact claire@henryvanstraubenzeemf.org.uk

HvSMF is grateful to Claire Dimpfl, the headmistress of the above nursery school, for agreeing to raise fun ds for one of our Ugandan Nursery Schools. The walk was asuccess, with teachers and very young children, all walking carefully around the playground with full buckets of water, determined not to spill a precious drop. The children were asked to imagine what it would be like to have a nursery with no toys or games, not to be able to tum on a tap to get water and having to walk a long distance to collect water. We are grateful for the funds donated, which will support one of our Nursery Schools.

Nicola Gauntlett and her friend, Sheila Francis, took part in this 54 mile bike ride to raise money in memory of Nicky’s son, Rob Gauntlett.Previous donations raised in his memory have been given to Nalango Secondary School in south east Uganda and we  hope to keep supporting the school in Rob’s name.

The Dalwhinnie Crook Charity Polo Match – was held at the Longdole Polo Club in Gloucestershire. HvSMF was delighted to have been chosen for the second year in succession to benefit jointly with Map Action, thanks to the sponsorship of Halcyon Gallery.

Our Patrons, the Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry of Wales played for the home team and won the match. Even though the weather was wet and windy, the event was very successful and well attended. We are very grateful to the Halcyon Gallery for such an enjoyable day.

For the second year in succession we are very grateful to Jeremy Allen who completed this 10k run around Kings Lynn in Norfolk. Jeremy has been a great supporter of our charity, as has the St James’s Place Foundation, of which he is a trustee.

We are very grateful to all our marathon runners for having completed the run . Click here to see them on the day!

Our six runners all completed the marathon and we are extremely grateful to them for their fundraising achievements. In total they have raised over £19,000 with which we can do significant project work in Uganda.

It is 125 miles by kayak or canoe from Devizes in Wiltshire to Westminster in London. Those entering the race were in their boats forapproximately 24 hours with no breaks. This year Jamie Supple competed and he decided to support HvSMF for which we are most grateful.

On 1 st April Jamie reported: “We arrived at Westminster Bridge at about 11 am yesterday, some 27 hours after setting off from Devizes!  Very relieved to have made it to the end. Some ice smashed a hole in our kayak less than 3 miles in and we began taking on a lot of water, we managed to plug it with some gaffa tape before reaching newbury where we repaired it with some poly filler during a prolonged pit stop. Thankfully that did the trick!”

December 2012 – Jill, James and Freddie Palmer held their second Christmas Tree sale at their home at Dorney Court in Berkshire. We shared the proceeds of this day with the trust set up in memory of Dougie Dalzell MC who lost his life fighting in Afghanistan.

Please see: www.dougiedalzellmemorialtrust.co.uk

HvSMF’s 4th Carol Service in St Lukes, Sydney Street, London. Again we sold out of all 800 tickets within 6 days and we apologise to those that were not so lucky. The St Luke’s Singers, the Ludgrove Chapel Choir and. the highlight of this year’s event, the African Childrn’s Choir all contributed to a wonderful evening.  Not forgetting Freddie Fox, Humphrey Ker and Mary Killen whose readings were excellent.

From the wonderful response we received after the service we intend holding another event next year.

The Rosary Roman Catholic Primary School, in North London, Key Stage One made HvSMF their chosen charity for the academic year 2011-2012.

Claire van Straubenzee, along with Sue Macpherson, who has accompanied us on our last 3 trips to Uganda, producing many stunning photographs of schools and the country, visited the school in November 2011 and gave a talk about “a typical Ugandan school day”.

Since then they have raised £1,700, and we plan to support Kawule Nursery School in early 2013 and give them a 20,000 litre water tank and 15 x 3-seater desks so that 50 children can sit at a desk and not on the floor. We are very grateful for their support

Harrow School held Churchill Songs at the Royal Albert Hall in celebration of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee.  5500 old Harrovians, families and current pupils filled the hall and sang loudly 20 Harrow Songs plus listening to other events.

Profits from the event were divided between HvSMF and Development Priorities at Harrow School. Henry attended Harrow from 1997 – 2002. We were overwhelmed and delighted to have been chosen to benefit from this event.

The Sladmore Contemporary Gallery in Mayfair, London, held a launch party for the Mark Coreth 2012 exhibition of JUST CATS created in bronze and plaster.

Directors Gerry and Jo Farrell kindly offered a donation to Henry’s Fund from the proceeds of all the sales of the exhibition

Run to the Beat Powered by Nike. London’s Half Marathon. around Docklands. On a cold and wintery morning 211 intrepid runners completed the course.Congratulations to everyone who took part. in particular Fred Bethell, the first of the HvSMF runners, in 1 hr 20 minutes.

The total raised so far is In excess of £13,000. We are very grateful to all donors as this amount will support many projects in Uganda. Click here for photos.

Brad & Josh Weller, cousins of Rob Gauntlett, along with fiancee Charlotte Read and close friend Tom Gilbert successfully completed their South Downs way challenge, walking the 100 miles in four days,covering up to 30 miles and walking for up to 14 hours some days, from sunrise to darkness. It was a long grind!

The weather treated them quite well, being cool and partially overcast, with the exception of one early morning of a constant downpour. It was tough, putting a lot of strain on the body and joints in particular, but through blisters, sweat and tears it was completed, raising £2,715 (before gift aid). “We had set a hard challenge for ourselves, but had a great time along the way, in beautiful countryside, and raising money for a cause very close to our hearts!“

In 2009 Rob Gauntlett and James Atkinson tragically died in the Alps. A team of 28 cyclists bicycled from Provence to Sussex to raise money in memory of them both. All the money raised in memory of Rob will be donated to the HvSMF to support Nalango Secondary school. where 5 classrooms and 8 latrines have already been constructed in Rob’s memory.

This was an amazing event and required huge organisation, our thanks go in particular to Richard Lebon and the Gauntlett family. For more information, or if you wish to sponsor any of the bike riders. please see:
https://www.justgiving.com/teams/One-Mile-Closer

The whole school, along with some parents all took part in the sponsored MOVE! After a quick warm up everyone ran. skipped or walked three times around our lovely village field, and then filtered back onto the school field to play rounders, netball or other ball games. George Mitchell, an expert in the field of rowing came along to coach the children. Refreshments were sold and the rain just about managed to stay away!

We are delighted to have been chosen as one of the two beneficiaries of the above polo match which was held at the Longdole Polo Club in Gloucestershire. Both our patrons, The Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry of Wales, were playing and Henry’s brothers, Thomas and Charlie, represented the charity to support the event. This was a very special fund raising event and we are thrilled to have been involved. Our thanks go to St James’s Palace for offering this opportunity which, made a significant contribution to our 2012 fundraising.

In the beautiful setting of Nelherwylde Farm, in Hertfordshire, guests were entertained to a delightful perfonnance of Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte by Opera a la Carte.

We are so grateful to Howard and Sheila Guard for supporting Henry’s Fund at their lovely house and for raising over £4,000.

Kiki Wetherell travelled to Honolulu, Hawaii, to brave the waves. hills and heat and take part in the half iron man. This involved a 1.2 mile swim, a 56 mile bike ride and a 13.1 mile run. What an achievement! We are so grateful to Kiki for raising over £4,000 for Henry’s Fund.

The Brompton Club in South Kensington, London, very kindly donated part of their ticket sales from a talk at the club by Simon Mann, author of Cry Havoc. This event was organised by Astrid Harbord and we are grateful to have been chosen as their charity.

Jeremy Allen, a partner in St James’s Place Wealth Management, took part in the Grand East Anglian Run, a 10k road race around King’s Lynn, Norfolk. We are grateful to Jeremy for having chosen Henry’s charity as one of the two charities that he supported. We are also very grateful that Jeremy Allen Wealth Management has chosen HvSMF as their Charity of the Year.

Walk for water event in Battersea Park by Miss Daisy’s Chelsea and Belgravia Nursery Schools. Sophie Carter, one of the Chelsea school teachers and a great friend of Henry’s. introduced Miss Daisy to HvSMF, in 2009, when HvSMF held their first carol service in St Luke’s Church. She has generously supported our carol services with a fullpage colour advertisement each year.

The children from the two Nursery schools walked from Albert Bridge to Chelsea Bridge, the same distance that a typical Ugandan chld has to walk to collect water each  day.

The Walk has raised over £6,000 which is incredible, and way beyond our expectations. We are hoping to be able to build a complete Nursery School in Uganda, with its own 20,000 litre water tank attached. We are very grateful to head mistress, Daisy Harrison, for organising this event.

We are very fortunate to have obtained several places in the London Marathon. This was because HvSMF is one of the charities of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry. These charities have each been donated 5 places thanks to the London Marathon Charitable Trust. This is a wonderful fundraising opportunity and the total raised was over £20,000. All the money raised will be sent to Uganda and spent on a project. Each completed project will have a granite plaque to acknowledge the runner/donor and to thank them for their huge effort.

Form 1A and 1B of Eaton House The Manor Girls’ School, Clapham, London walked 2 miles around Clapham Common, organised by their teacher Emma Buxton. The children, aged 4-5, completed their sponsored walk and succeeded in raising over £1,300 which will buy a 10,000 litre water tank to be attached to a classroom block in Uganda.

We are incredibly grateful to Emma, who was a great friend of Henry’s, for organising this event. Please see their fundraising page. https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/form1walkforwater

In August 2009 Bob Thompson and his friends supported the HvSMF by holding an Art Auction at their local pub, The Royal Standard , South Buckinghamshire.

This year they have decided to have an exhibition of Bob’s 20 paintings and to have a collection box for any donations. The event has been really successful and it has raised in excess of £1,000.

Many thanks to Mark Lloyd and Jim Prendeville for assisting in organising this event.

On the 1st December. we held our third carol service, again at St Luke’s Church in Chelsea. We sold out of tickets very quickly, as we did with the last two services. Like 2010, the weather didn’t stop 800 of our friends and supporters squeezing into St Luke’s Church. Prince Harry made a heartfelt address about his friend. Henry. and Julie Bonham- Cozens described her 3 months, teaching in 2 of our schools. Our readers this year, were Sam Whaley-Cohen, Donna Air and Elizabeth McGovern.

During November 2011, Anna Mikhailova, took part in a worldwide writers’ challenge, for charity, to produce a novel, with a target of not less than 50,000 words in 30 days. She raised £1,000 for which we are very grateful and it will be spent in Uganda during 2012.

October 2011 saw the launch of De Bouverie-an exclusive collection of handmade jewellery. De Bouverie offers high quality gold, silver and precious stone jewellery, making independent designers more accessible to the busy professional.

The launch took place on 19th October at the Frameless Gallery. in Clerkenwell, London. Harriot Pleydell-Bouverie (founder) was a good friend of Henry’s, and De Bouverie will be supporting the HvSMF by donating a percentage of all sales to the fund.

Orley Farm School again supported our charity by organising a “Lads and Dads” Odyssey bicycle ride around a number of prep schools in the London and Berkshire area on 18th September. Eight intrepid cyclists, raised £ 1,000, which was split between The Henry van Straubenzee Memorial Fund in Uganda and the Amani Children’s Home in Tanzania. This money will be spent at St Mulumbas Primary School, Kamuli during 2012.

HvSMF was selected as one of the beneficiaries of the 2011 Bernard Wetherill Charity Polo Day. The day was held at the Beaufort Polo Club in Gloucestershire and Prince Harry who was playing, chose the HvSMF and The Royal Marsden Hospital, as he is Patron of both charities. We are very grateful to all those that supported and attended such an enjoyable day.

On the 17th May 2011 there was a private view of an exhibition of paintings held at Frost and Reed Gallery in St James’s, London. The exhibition was of African. Scottish and English paintings by the artist Lynne Moore. Lynne formerly worked in watercolours but, more recently, has become an accomplished oil painter. She very kindly selected HvSMF as the charity to receive a percentage of the sales proceeds. The exhibition ran for a month.

On the 25th May, Emma Bonham celebrated her 30th birthday with an entertaining race night in Kings Road, London. in aid of the HvSMF. The evening was kindly sponsored by St James Place Wealth Management www.sjp.co.uk. We are very grateful to Emma for choosing Henry’s charity.

We are incredibly grateful to our 6 runners in the London marathon. The day was fine, warm but not too hot. They all completed the event in excellent time and have raised approximately £15,000 between them all.  The £1,500 raised by Alice Fineh-Noyes has already been sent to Namwendwa Nursery School to fund urgently needed infant latrines.

Sarah Price’s donation has refurbished the head master’s house at Busuuli Primary School and the £3,000 raised by Charlotte Macpherson has supplied 8 latrines at St Mulumbas Primary School, lganga. The remainder of the money raised will be sent to Uganda during 2011/2012. Click here to see photos!

During March the leavers’ event at Bryanston School, Dorset was organised by the head girl, Rhian Richardson, and the head boy, James Schuster Bruce. This is an annual occasion and we were very fortunate to be chosen as the Charity to benefit from the fund raising. Parents arrived on Sunday and started the day with brunch in the basement.

There were various sporting events followed by an acoustic concert in the Main Hall, with tea and scones afterwards. There was a silent auction an approximately £13,500 was raised which will provide 4 classrooms and an office at Bupadhengo Secondary School in Kamuli District, south east Uganda. In 2004 this school had six students and now in 2012 there are 800 students and many HvSMF buildings.

On the 1st December 2010 our second carol service was, again, a sell out. 820 tickets were sold and, despite the bleak freezing mid winter weather, almost everyone turned up. Among our galaxy of readers and Alicia Lowes our wonderful soprano, the Ludgrove Chapel Choir sang beautifully.

On 7th November, 11 year old Orley Farm pupil, Alex Clarke, accompanied by father, Andy, Ceri Davies and Mark Ludlow, bicycled from the school to Ludgrove, where Henry was a prep school boy. The 39 mile journey took 4 hours and was a brilliant achievement for the men. let alone Alex. He raised £1,000 from friends and relatives and we congratulate Alex and his fellow cyclists.

In October, Ceri Davies, headmaster of Orley Farm School in Middlesex set out to raise money for Henry’s charity. This was particularly special for us because Ceri and his wife, Philippa, had taught Henry at Harrow and coached him at tennis. From the start, the fundraising ideas mushroomed, from a quiz night to a bicycle ride, cake sale, mufti day and, in December, 14 pupils and 2 teachers climbed to the 5000m summit of Mount Kenya for the charity.

The quiz night raised a magnificent £3,000, culminating in a heart warming presentation about the memorial fund by Ceri Davies, as well as his fond memories of Henry’s school days at Harrow.

The charity purchased 25 charity bond places in the 2010 Run to the Beat half Marathon in London. Due to injury only 21 of our runners made it on the day, but all finished in good times. Edward Lebon came 53rd out of 16,000 runners in a time of 01.23.07. Considering that a number of international athletes tookpart, this was an amazin g achievement.

Our runners also did a wonderful job in getting sponsorship/ donations and we raised £15,000 as a result of their efforts. We are very grateful to our team and hope that they enjoyed the day.

Once again, our Patrons, Prince William and Prince Harry. showed their generosity by bolh playing in a charity polo match in support of Henry’s Fund. The 2010 Chakravarty Cup Polo Day was held at the Beaufort Polo Club in Gloucestershire on 10th July 2010. The event raised more than expected and the proceeds were shared with two other member charities of the Princes’ Charities Forum – WellChild and The English Schools Swimming Association. This was a typically generous gesture by our patrons and we are extremely grateful to them.

Sacha Craig and her team of 9 others (Team Wilderness) took part in the Kenyan (Safaricom) Lewa half marathon. The team ran 21 km at an altitude of 5,500 feet on uneven surfaces in severe equatorial heat. The whole team managed to complete the run in less than 2 hours 30 minutes coming 13th out of 85 teams that took part in the race.

On the 26th April George Dennis and Alexander Puxley completed the London marathon in under 4 hours. We are very grateful to them for their enormous physical effort and fundraising achievements which will go towards a new project in Uganda shortly. Once again, Tusk, the African Charity who, like us, is a member of The Princes’ Charities Forum, kindly donated the two Gold Bond places.

Hugo Chittenden, who set up The Volunteer – an organisation which helps charities involved overseas, raised enough money to build 2 classrooms and a water tank for Henry’s Fund. With help from his friends Chloe Hill and Richard Dunwoody, Hugo spent 9 days in Uganda helping to build the classrooms and repaint some existing latrines at Kisadhaki Primary School. Hugo filmed the 9 day project, and is producing a documentary about his trip and our charity. We are very grateful for all the work and support we received from Hugo and Chloe.

More about Hugo can be seen at www.thevolunteer.com

On December 1st 2009 KPMG sponsored our first Carol Service in the magnificent St Luke’s Church, Chelsea, London. The event was a huge success with tickets being sold out in 3 weeks to 800 family and friends.

Broadcaster Sir David Frost, actor Julian Fellowes, TV personality Tara Palmer-Tomkinson and the Oscar winning actress Emma Thompson did a mixture of fesitve and amusing readings, while the Chelsea Voice and the Ludgrove Chapel Choir delighted the audience with various carols and anthems. We are most grateful to all who supported us and, as a result, we will be sending at least £25,000 to Uganda to assist our building projects.

On the 12th September 2009 Rick Walker swam in the Great North Swim to raise money for The Henry van Straubenzee Memorial Fund. The Great North Swim is a one mile open water swim in Lake Windermere, in the Lade District, it is England’s largest lake. Over 5000 swimmers took part in water temperatures of 17C.

The following words are written by Rick after the event: “The swim was a lot of fun, although infinitely harder than I had imagined! I managed to get around in a rather modest time of 32mins 15secs. I’ve attached a photograph of myself looking worse for wear having literally just finished the race.“

Over the August Bank Holiday Weekend, The Royal Standard, in Wooburn Common, Buckinghamshire, hosted their second annual beer festival, in aid of Henry’s Fund. This was no ordinary beer festival as, on display, were 14 watercolours, painted by local artist, Bob Thompson – a former executive of Times Newspapers and friend of Henry’s father Alexander.

In addition, another regular at The Royal Standard, Jim Prendeville had produced a selection of wood carvings and walking sticks. After the last of the 4,500 pints of various beers had been consumed, a raffle of the art took place, which raised over £2,000. On top of this, donations from the busy drinkers and a very generous contribution from pub owner, John Meredith, produced a total gift of £3,000 to the charity. Our thanks go, primarily, to artist Bob Thompson, but also to landlord Mark Lloyd and auctioneer, Jack Hallett.

Charlie van Straubenzee, Henry’s younger brother, and Tom Brooksbank ran in the Kenyan (Safaricom) Marathon for the Henry van Straubenzee Memorial Fund. It was run through the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy near Mount Kenya, at an average altitude of 5,500 feet above sea level.

This is a gruelling 26 miles in the African heat on uneven tracks inhabited by wild animals and where the risk of severe dehydration is an issue. With the majority of the run being uphill and a lot of the second half only being able to see each other, they managed to complete it in just less than 5 hours. 1000 runners started the race, 900 did half and only 100 completed the full marathon including themselves, making it one of the top 10 hardest in the world.

On the 27th June, Ian Craig, the Executive Director of the Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT) and the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, also ran the Safaricom Marathon through the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy.  Ian, who was born and bred at Lewa, converted his family’s 40,000 acre Kenyan cattle ranch into Lewa Wildlife Conservancy after witnessing an elephant massacre in Kenya in 1988.  Ian realized that wildlife had no future unless local communities participated in its protection.  Ian has shown a huge interest in The Henry van Straubenzee Memorial Fund and it’s aim to educate young African children. We are most grateful for all the funds raised through Ian’s run for Henry’s Charity.

Jamie Gordon organised the Rope a Dope charity boxing night at York Hall, Bethnal Green, in support of The Henry van Straubenzee Memorial Fund and Tusk Trust. The evening saw 10 boxers slugging it out for these two charities, having only learnt to box 2 months previously. One of Henry’s more eccentric friends, Christopher Ramsay, was fighting and put on a nimble, brave and victorious performance, much to all his fans surprise! Jamie Gordon worked extremely hard to make this evening possible, both organising and boxing in the event. A huge thank you to him!

Susanna Warren, a close family friend and huge supporter of The Henry van Straubenzee Memorial Fund, organised a charity performance of the new hit musical Sister Act at the London Palladium.  Susanna worked extremely hard in organising the evening and was generously helped by Added Dimension Events www.addeddimension.co.uk where she has been working during this last year.

The evening was a huge success with Henry’s friends, relations and godparents all turning up to support his charity and enjoy the show.  This was the second event Susanna has so kindly organised for us, having previously been part of the trio which put on The Wibble party in April 2008.

Prince William and Prince Harry both played in the Audi Charity Polo Day on the 10th May, raising important funds for our Charity. Three charities, including Henry’s Fund, were the beneficiaries of the sponsorship. We are very grateful to our Patrons, Audi and Coworth Park Polo Club for their part in raising important funds.

Christopher Foyle, Rufus Gordon-Dean, Laura McGowan and Harry Savory ran in the London Marathon for Henry’s Fund. These gold bond place were generously given to us by Charlie Mayhew, chief executive, of Tusk. Tusk helps to forge the link between the preservation of Africa’s natural heritage and the future of its land, culture and people.

During the autumn a corporate hospitality company, Lucid Events, offered us the opportunity to receive the proceeds from an after lunch raffle, held prior to Autumn Rugby Union international matches at Twickenham.  The match was between England and South Africa and, although the Credit Crunch had already started to bite, there was a good turn out for the lunch.  Again, during the 6 Nations competition, Lucid Events offered another opportunity at the lunch, prior to the England v France match, which was eagerly accepted.  Our thanks go to Richard Lamb and Jacqui Gough for organising the donations.

Ralph Patel is the current president of the London District of the National Federation of Retail Newsagents. At the annual dinner, on 15th February, Ralph generously donated one third of the proceeds of the raffle to The Fund and asked Alex van Straubenzee to be the guest speaker.  After the dinner. Alex was told by former president, Kirit Patel, that he had been born in Jinja.

Freddie Palmer, a very close friend of Henry, and his mother Jill, decided to sell some of their Christmas Trees, for £10 each, which had been grown at their home Dorney Court, Windsor, for Henry’s Fund. Little did they realise the success this would be. 400 trees were sold on a very cold Sunday 7th December and the exhausted family and volunteers were delighted with the result. We are very grateful to them.

Prince Harry took part in a polo match at Cirencester Park for the Dorchester Polo Trophy – sponsored by The Dorchester Hotel. The Prince played for the Umbogo Team against Laird and the money raised was donated to Henry’s Fund as well as Sentebale – Prince Harry’s Lesoto charity.

The Wibble Party, organised by Jamie Murray-Wells, Susanna Warren and Guy Pelly was held at Wiltons Theatre on 16th April and sponsored by OK Magazine. This was a glittering event, which took place in what is known as “London’s most beautiful ‘ lost’ theatre. It was a totally different fundraising event, “shocking, unstuffy and informal” said Marina Fogle, the party organiser.

Each year, Ludgrove School put on a charity musical concert sponsored by the parents of the boys at the school. The outgoing headmaster, Gerald Barber, chose The Fund as the beneficiary of the funds raised, in memory of Henry, who was at the school as a boy (1992 – 1997) and junior master (September 2002).

Prince William played in a charity polo match, for the Chakravarty Cup. The match was held at Ham polo ground and the funds raised were donated to 3 charities. one being Henry’s Fund.

James Gibbs, Henry’s cousin, ran the London Marathon to raise money for The Fund. Thanks to everyone’s incredible generosity, the money raised was used to build a 4 classroom block at Bukyonza Primary School in Uganda. James hopes to be able to go over and have a look for himself in the not too distant future.

Jeff Bardsley. then captain of the Woodham Walter Golf Club, in Essex. chose The Fund as his preferred charity for the annual club tournament. Tragically, Jeff died of cancer in May 2008.

Prince William generously nominated The Fund as one of the charities to benefit from a polo match. at the Guards Polo Club, sponsored by Audi.

Sam Adams, Emily Knight, Richard Knox, Freddie Palmer and Alexander Stileman, all friends of Henry, bicycled from Camelford in Cornwall to Newton Stewart, in Dumfriesshire to raise money for The Fund. The journey took them 12 days and covered 600 miles.

William Davies, also at Harrow with Henry, completed The Marathon des Sables in the scorching heat of the Sahara Desert. This competition is one of the most gruelling runs in the world, covering 150 miles over 6 days, with temperatures of up to 120 degrees centigrade. William’s feat was phenomenal and he was congratulated for undertaking such a task.

William Littlejohns, another of Henry’s Harrow friends, organised a charity ball in aid of The Fund at Newcastle University, where Henry should have joined him as an undergraduate.

Charlie Reid, a friend of Henry, both at home in Hertfordshire and at Harrow School, ran the London Marathon for The Fund.

Hattie Stead organised a teenage charity party and held it at the Kirklington Polo Club, in Oxfordshire.

Charlie Budgett. Rufus Gordon Dean, Henry Grant and Oliver Hicks took part in the 125 mile Devizes toWestminster International Canoe Marathon. to raise funds for The Henry van Straubenzee Memorial Fund. The winners of the marathon took just 18 hours to complete the distance. Henry and Rufus took a creditable 29 hours, while it took Olly, who later rowed the Atlantic single-handed, and Charlie 38 hours.