The Bujagali Trust: Strategic Framework
The Charity – background and purpose
The Bujagali Trust is a small UK charity that fundraises and finances educational projects in Uganda, principally in the nursery and primary schools sector (Private and Government).
Our mission: To support and develop the infrastructure and provision of quality primary education in specified rural or remote areas of Uganda.
Key values: partnership, trust, sustainability, respect, resilience
Vision: To make an impact on the lives of children in Uganda by establishing, developing, and improving educational facilities and materials in schools. This is carried out in a manner that encourages self-sufficiency in the schools and communities that are supported.
Education Environment: The Ugandan education system operates both a state school and a private school sector. The latter is formed by a variety of different organisations including, for example, those with religious or charitable connections. The Bujagali Trust supports both selected private and state schools.
Modus operandi: There are several key features of the way the Bujagali Trust operates. These include:
• Fundraising: The charity relies on: donations and gifts from family and friends; working in partnership with other organisations, for example, other UK-based charities; and fundraising events.
• Planning: This is driven by business plans from the schools, visits by trustees and regular reporting on progress by schools.
• Geography: Specific communities are identified prior to project consideration. Increasingly, the focus is on rural or remote communities where need is greatest.
• School Selection: We choose those that require the most basic and fundamental assistance in order to deliver quality education. However, they must have good leadership and they must have a business plan; schools are required to define, cost and prioritise requests for support before they are considered for funding
• Project identification: An annual budget meeting is held to select viable projects from those identified in the school business plans. This is dependent on cost and availability of funds
• Project control: The charity works in partnership with appointed ‘local ambassadors’, with a background in education, who have proven skill in managing and delivering a project to budget and
in timely fashion. It is the responsibility of the local ambassador to communicate between the school(s) and the Trust. Identified trustees communicate with each local ambassador.
• Trustee operational control: Initially, new ambassadors and communities are offered a small trial project to manage, for example, construction of a water tower. Projects are monitored through the receipt of evidence (photographs, progress reports, receipts) on an ongoing basis via emails and social media. Trustee inspection visits are undertaken frequently (at trustees’ own expense). Once the trial projects are satisfactorily completed further funding is usually offered to finance the next priority project in the business plan.
• Local Economy: Where possible, labour and materials are sourced from the local area or region in Uganda.
• Impact: Every Ugandan shilling can make a difference. The Bujagali Trust has no overheads so 100% of each donation goes to benefit the education of young people in Uganda. Furthermore, the local community and the Ugandan economy benefit from the policy of sourcing labour and materials locally. The provision of a water supply at the new campus for Mama Elisabeth, for example, has benefitted the community.
• Review of outcomes: Progress for each project (for example, building/renovation) is reported by local ambassadors in written and photographic form. The effectiveness of projects, against the charity’s mission, is reviewed during trustee visits. This process includes visual inspection together with consultation with head teachers, school governors, staff and local government officers. Each visit is documented in a written report.
Our Experience
The Bujagali Trust was founded in 2003 by the Riley and Hollinghurst families as a result of their introduction to Uganda through Bristol Cathedral School From very small beginnings it has grown to support many children and projects and has been successful in achieving sustainable development in schools and orphanages. Early work was based in Jinja, located on Lake Victoria, overseeing the establishment and development of two nursery schools, five primary schools and three senior schools. Since 2014 the Bujagali Trust has worked in the Eastern and Northern Regions of Uganda supporting schools in Kumi and Gulu
Our experience has yielded several challenges together with solutions and strategies which have had a positive impact. Much of this is due to the personal relationships that have been established over time; the effectiveness of the charity’s projects depends on a strong relationship with able, driven and knowledgeable representatives on the ground. These ambassadors understand the community, schools, and priorities emanating from the challenges that are faced. It is they who can scope and cost each project, appoint local/regional suppliers, oversee the project completion and report back to the charity throughout the process.
• School challenges: In rural areas there are fundamental challenges which face those trying to provide quality education. These include:
- Lack of suitable robust buildings
- No nearby water supply: children having to walk some distance to collect water
- Lack of desks: children having to sit on the floor
- Lack of books and teaching equipment
- Library provision: schools do not have dedicated study areas with furniture, books and secure storage
- No food provision: hungry children unable to engage the learning process
- Poor attendance: schools have an ongoing challenge to encourage pupils (and their families) to attend consistently over time
- Lack of teacher accommodation: necessary to enable the recruitment and retention of quality teachers
- Rurality: children having to walk some distance to school
- Lack of dormitory accommodation for pupils travelling prohibitive distances
- Non-payment of fees: parents sometimes cannot afford fees, which leads to poor attendance and non-payment of teachers
- Parental engagement: children kept at home to undertake domestic duties
- Trauma: children as victims of war and poor healthcare.
• What works: The charity, given limited funds, must prioritise projects. Projects that have been shown to benefit the whole school and local community include:
- Provision of water tower and pump
- Supply of desks and books
- Building classrooms
- The building of a kitchen
- Provision of latrines.
• Infrastructure Strategy: The charity operates in such a way that:
- Priorities and appropriateness of projects/elements within projects will be scrutinised, and discussed with local ambassadors
- Procurement and project management will be delegated to local ambassadors once each project is defined, costed and agreed. That is, the charity governs the ‘what’ but not the ‘how’ within a project
- On completion of each project, the success of that project will be assessed and will influence any funding of future projects.
• Education Strategy: Given the experience and expertise in education amongst the charity’s trustees and its main purpose - to develop education in Uganda - it will endeavour to:
- Monitor each selected school’s academic record
- Gain awareness of school attendance rates
- Identify, share and promote best practice among supported schools
The Changing Environment
Uganda has a rapidly growing population: as of 2024 the total population was 49 million, an increase of over 10 million in the past 12 years. The median age of 15 is one of the lowest in the world, representing a huge and growing challenge for the education system. In addition, Uganda hosts over one million refugees from South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
One response to this need is the emergence of non-government schools. Since liberalisation in 1993 the number of schools in the private sector has grown to 4000, double the number of government schools. Within the Ministry of Science, Technology and Sports, the Department of Private Schools and Institutions has been set up with the following objectives:
• To ensure that all private schools and institutions are appropriately guided for provision of equitable access to quality education
• To protect the interests of all stakeholders in privately owned/managed education institutions
• To advocate for, support and promote the development of the private sub-sector in education to supplement the government effort in increasing access to quality and affordable education
• To establish and maintain an up-to-date data bank on private schools and institutions in the country
• To ensure that all matters of foreign students in Uganda private education institutions are fairly and adequately addressed
• To promote and coordinate Public Private Partnership in education
Future Strategy
The planning cycle of the Bujagali Trust operates from 1st January on an annual basis. The effective strategic horizon is three years during which current projects (on a school by school basis) are followed through and completed, whilst new geographies, communities and ambassadors are identified, considered and tested through agreed trial projects.
The strategic priorities 2026-2029 are
• Mama Elisabeth: to continue to develop the new Mama Elisabeth campus at Olony as per their business plan.
• Dormitories: To provide dormitories and classrooms at the Kumi schools when funds are available
• Protocols: Establish protocols to aid prioritisation of project requests by defining baseline requirements and identifying support available.
• Financial controls: To ensure effective controls to support the Trust’s work in Uganda and the UK. To develop effective controls for the transfer of UK funding to Uganda and to ensure operational efficiency and accountability on a project basis.
• Stakeholder engagement: To develop and enhance two way engagement of stakeholders (friends, donors, partners and interested external parties/organisations). This is in order to ensure they are fully aware of the Bujagali Trust’s effectiveness in making a difference, and of the further opportunities and project work open to the charity were funding revenue to increase.
• Marketing and promotion: To increase awareness of the charity’s work within relevant geographies both in the UK and Uganda.