About The Charity
Destiny Children, established in November 2009, helps the children at Destiny Garden School, Mombasa, to receive an education they would otherwise not have in this poverty stricken area. It achieves this through the sponsorship programme which covers the basic running costs of the school. The charity also holds fund raising events to supplement this income and help with the school’s development.
All the expenses and administrative costs of running the charity are met by the committee members enabling 100% of sponsors’ and donors’ funds, together with the Gift Aid, to go to Destiny Garden School.
How Destiny Children Started
The founder of Destiny Children, Judy Roper, visited Destiny Garden School, Mombasa, Kenya, in September 2009, to meet her Australian sister, Jacky Price. Jacky had volunteered to help set up Destiny Garden School in May 2009.
Both Judy and Jacky were born in Kenya and lived there for the first 14 years of their lives. They attended Hospital Hill School, the first multi-racial school in British Commonwealth Africa in the 1950s, at a time when Kenyan society was informally racially segregated. Although as a child Judy was not fully aware of her parents’ brave and controversial action, she was aware that the school was very special and she recognises how she benefited from the education she received and the life-long friendships made. Resulting from this, both sisters felt that they owed something back to Kenya, hence their involvement with Destiny Garden School.
Jacky decided to do voluntary work in Africa instead of having a 6 month luxury cruise and was pleased to be involved in setting up a new school in a very poor suburb of Mombasa. She was impressed by the enthusiasm and dedication of the founder Jacob and his wife, Brenda, along with the early team they had gathered. However, she could see the enormous task that lay ahead without a regular source of income for the school. With some help from friends back home, Jacky purchased chairs, desks and uniforms for the children and taught the school’s administrator, Masikah, basic book keeping whilst setting up the school accounts for Brenda to control.
Judy joined her sister in September 2009 with the main aim of building a school website and setting up a pupil sponsorship programme. This entailed gathering information, taking photos, and writing a profile on all the children. Judy was so impressed with what Jacob was trying to do in Mombasa and the enthusiasm of the children at Destiny Garden School that she felt she had to do something to keep this school going. With the help of some of her very good friends, Judy set up the charity ‘Destiny Children’ through which the sponsorship programme and fund raising for the school operates.
The Charity’s Objectives
Destiny Children’ was formally established on 23rd November 2009 by the Trustees, when the constitution was drawn up and signed, and a UK Charity Bank Account opened.
The charity’s objective is –
“The advancement of education of children in Kenya, in particular but not exclusively pupils of Destiny Garden School, Mombasa, by providing and assisting in the provision of educational facilities and materials and the provision of grants.”
To carry out this objective ’Destiny Children’ is aiming to obtain sponsors for all the children at Destiny Garden School. Sponsors can choose either to support the whole school, from £10 per month, or to to sponsor a named child, at £15 per month, or to sponsor a class at £45. Our aim is to cover the school’s running costs and to ensure its future development.
The charity and supporters also hold fund raising events, and applies for grants to supplement this income and to help with the school’s development.
100% of sponsors’ and donors’ funds, together with the Gift Aid, go to Destiny Garden School. The committee members meet all the expenses and administrative costs involved in running the charity.
Destiny Children’s Committee and Supporters
Destiny Garden School sponsors, who contribute a monthly donation, provide the day to day funds needed to keep the school running and provide the poorest of children in this area with an education.
Generous donations and grants provide funds to cover the shortfall in the running costs of the school and ensure all the children receive a nutritious lunch. Donations and grants also enable us to improve the facilities at the school and purchase much needed items such as text books and stationery.
Trustees and Committee Members
Alan Slater
Trustee and Chair
Judy Roper
Trustee and Treasurer
Debi Weir
Trustee, Secretary and UK Sponsorship
Kathy James
Trustee and Social Media
Colin Cliffe
Trustee and Governance and Risk
Stephanie Donaldson
Trustee and DGS contact based in Kenya
Hannah Weir
Trustee and Youth Engagement
Brenda Ongola
Trustee and DGS Sponsorship
Jan Bell
Committee Member and Minutes Secretary
Maricela Chao
Committee Member and Accounts Assistant
Many keen supporters provide extra voluntary help including:
Gail Delaney
Developed and supports the DC website.
David Ward
Examines the charity’s accounts.
Audrey Galloway
Developed and supports the charity’s accounting system.
Elizabeth Wright
Former Trustee who now organises fundraising events such as dinner dances and coffee mornings.
Imojen Jean
Supports our social media and marketing plans.
Anyone who feels a strong empathy with our cause would be very welcome to join us; we need more enthusiastic people to support the charity and help the disadvantaged children at Destiny Garden School. For more information please contact us
Destiny Children’s Annual General Meeting
The charity’s AGM was held on Tuesday 23rd June 2026. It reports on its year from the 1st April 2025 to 31st March 2026. Both the charity and Destiny Garden School had a successful year with great help from all our supporters. You may be interested to see the AGM presentation on this link.
A big thank you goes to all our sponsors and supporters, the DGS’s management team and staff, and the Charity’s Trustees, committtee members and volunteers.
Looking ahead: 2026/2027 Goals
- Reducing the charity’s reliance on one member of the committee
- Recruit a Treasurer
- Help DGS to become more self sustainable
- Increase the number of sponsors to improve DGS’s staff salaries
- Encourage sponsors and supporters to run fundraising events
- Find corporate sponsors
- Apply for grants
- Explore Destiny Children’s long term model for the next 5 years.
Charity’s Activities
The school currently relies almost totally on Destiny Children for funding. The charity covers the school’s basic running costs, paying the salaries of the teachers and support staff and providing the children with a nutritious school lunch and safe drinking water. Destiny Children achieves this by:
- the sponsorship programme whereby sponsors pay £15 per month to help educate a child, or £10 + to sponsor the school, or £45 to sposor a class.
- organising fundraising events to help cover any shortfall in the running costs of the school; to provide educational materials; and to help with the development of the school.
- encouraging the charity’s supporters to raise funds for Destiny Garden School.
- using other initiatives such as ‘Gifts That Make A Difference’, ‘easyfundraising’, to raise further funds.
- applying for grants or funding from trust funds and other organisations or individuals to support the on-going development of the school, or for special projects agreed by the committee.
Funds are sent to Destiny Garden School, Mombasa, at the end of each month and a breakdown of monies received and how it is spent is provided by the school. 100% of sponsors’ and donors’ payments, together with the Gift Aid, are sent to Destiny Garden School. The committee members cover all the administrative costs and expenses incurred by the charity.
The charity provides sponsors anddonors with regular feedback on the school’s progress.
Members of the Committee regularly liaise with the founders of Destiny Garden School and the School Manager to monitor how the charity’s donations are spent. They also help advise on the planning and development of the school and assess its immediate, medium and long term requirements.
From time to time, members or representatives of the charity visit Destiny Garden School, at their own expense, to assess and monitor the performance of the school.
Ultimately the charity aims to provide Destiny Garden School with all their running costs, plus all their educational materials, and to improve the school’s facilities. In time and when appropriate the above activities could apply to other schools when the charity’s work to help improve the education and wellbeing of disadvantaged children in Kenya expands.
All the Trustees of Destiny Children abide by the UK Charity Commission’s guidelines and have completed their statutory declaration to this effect.
Sponsorship Programme
As a charity, we now have sponsors to pay for the education of two thirds of the children at Destiny Garden School. We need to increase this to ensure that the school has sufficient funds for all its running costs.
Currently the school is kept afloat by the charity’s fund raising events, donations, grants and Gift Aid. We need, however, to arrive at the position where the ongoing costs are covered and any funds from donors or fund raising events can be used to purchase text books, educational equipment etc, and to help the school to develop.
100% of the sponsors’ payments received by the charity are given to Destiny Garden School with all the administration costs and expenses being absorbed by the committee.
The sponsors’ funds are transferred to Mombasa in one lump sum at the end of each month and are sent to the School’s charity account which is a registered Kenyan Charity subject to audits etc – just like the UK Charities. We get a full breakdown each month of the School’s running costs and how our funds have been distributed, so we are confident that everything is being well spent.
For more details about sponsoring Destiny Garden School and providing an education for children who would otherwise not go to school, please click on sponsor
UK Charity Status
Destiny Children is registered by the UK Charities Commission under registration number: 1137680.
It is also registered with HMRC (Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs) as a charity for tax purposes and is eligible for Gift Aid; the HMRC reference number is XT21940.
