About SANCHAT

Terry and Mary Coulson

SANCHAT was started in 1990 by Terry Coulson, who sadly passed away in 2011, who was born and raised in Kenya, and his wife Mary.

They loved the country and its people and were determined to do what they could to address the problems arising from acute poverty. It was important to the Coulsons that their help would cascade across to as many within the community as possible and also provide the bedrock of long-term improvement. So began the Sanata (means ‘healing') Charitable Trust (SANCHAT) and its focus on the plight of children in the town of Gilgil, casualties of homelessness, destitution and, in many cases, abuse. The Trust provides an holistic approach combining shelter and safety with education, care and skills to equip children for adult life and the real prospect of contributing to their community.

A boys' school was opened in 1990 with 4 classrooms and 30 pupils; the girls' school followed in 1998. Today there are around 200 pupils at each school, ranging from 11 years old to 19, on  30 acre sites including staff houses, dormitories, classrooms, laboratories, kitchen and dining hall and games fields.

Boys' school

Girls' school

Restart centre

The schools have so far provided approaching 2,000 youngsters with a standard of secondary education they would otherwise have been denied. There is also a third dimension to the Trust, a Restart Centre for ‘street boys' aged from 6 to 19 years who have been rescued from a life of crime, drug abuse and begging. Most have had no formal education so the Centre embarks on the gradual process of building security and confidence; for some the path will be to join the other children in the Trust schools; others will receive vocational training to equip them with a trade or skill for work.

So much has already been achieved by the Trust. The formula developed in Gilgil is sustainable and has great potential to enhance the lives of many more children. To do so the Trust needs support, both financial and talents, to help achieve its immediate objectives. The investment required is substantial but is to strengthen already strong foundations. The benefits will be shared in relatively short timescales by an increasing number of children passing through the Schools who will return to their communities as better educated adults with practical skills to contribute for the good of all.