The scholarship fund has now being running for 16 years. We started in September 2009 supporting 10 young people. At this point in time, 125 young people have received support from the fund. It is very rewarding for me to see so many of these youngsters now educated, in employment, married and with their own young children who will certainly access and value the importance of education.
In September 2024 we were supporting 48 students. In 2025, 5 have graduated from University, 2 have graduated from College and one student has decided to work rather than attend college. This meant we started in September 2025 with 40 students. We have accepted 2 new students so are now supporting 42 during this academic year……
8 are in University
10 are at College
24 are in the school system
In 2024/25 we have payed out 1,287,046 Birr which is the equivalent of approximately £9,000. The devaluation of the Ethiopian currency makes the exchange rate for the pound very good. It has therefore been decided to increase the monthly student payments from 2,000 birr to 2,500 birr. (still approximately £18 ).
As always, my grateful thanks to the teams of people who give their time and their expertise to keep the fund operating. Thanks to June, Margaret, Joan and Sandra who keep everything running in Scotland, Thanks to Tefera, Teshale and Habtamu who keep everything running in Ethiopia. Thanks to Simon, in London who donates his time and computing skills to keep the website updated. Thanks to Isobel for verifying our annual accounts.
A special thank you to Getnet Adane. He has been supported by the fund and now has a masters degree in software engineering. He has always been a big support to Teshale in the management of the programme. This year he has agreed to work with me on the annual report and will gradually take on more responsibility.
Many thanks for all your support to the fund. The number of young people we can support is directly related to the money in the bank. A special thank you to those who have set up a standing order as that gives us the confidence of monthly money coming in. The website also gives you a direct link into ‘Just Giving’.
A HUGE thank you to my friend, Doris Hogan, who has supported the fund since we started Iin 2009. In June, in the south of France, she ran an Ethiopian day followed by an auction of items donated by her artistic friends. An amazing 2385 Euros went into the fund.
Susan
You can download the full SASF Fund Report 2025 as a PDF for printing or offline viewing.
If you are able to help us then please use our Just Giving fund raising account to contribute.