OLD CAMBRIAN SOCIETY EDUCATIONAL TRUST
Charity No. 1147210
For full
details of the Old Cambrian Society Educational Trust -
Click Here
Update -
February 2026
Steve Le Feuvre (Trustee - Clive House 1970-5)
and James Ilako (Clive House 1970-5) visited the school on Thursday
12th February, and met with the four pupils that are currently being
supported by OCSET (two in Form 3 and two in Form 4). Very polite and
conscientious boys who we feel sure will do well in life; and they
definitely have the school moto of "To The Uttermost" in the forefront
of their minds in whatever they do.
The interview process of boys in the 2026
intake (Grade 10) who fit the criteria for support from OCSET will be
taking place on Saturday 14th February. The Trustees are grateful to
committee members of OCS (Kenya) for acting as a selection panel and
providing us with a short-list of needy pupils for our consideration.
L-R: Mrs Naomi
Maina, four students currently receiving OCSET bursaries, James Ilako,
Mrs Susan Mwangi, Steve Le Feuvre
Mrs Susan Mwangi has been assisting Steve for
24 years with identifying needy boys for support with their school
fees, originally on an individual and private basis, and more recently
in the past ten or so years, through OCSET. After 29 years at Nairobi
School, being Head of Chemistry and Lead in Pastoral Care, Mrs Mwangi
is soon to be taking well-earned retirement. We wish he well for her
next chapter in life, and thank her for all her hard work over the
many years she has been there to help boys stay at the school through
finding donors willing to fund their education.
Steve Le Feuvre
thanking Mrs Susan Mwangi for all her help over the years with the
OCSET bursary scheme
Mrs Naomi Maina is now taking over the baton of
Pastoral Care at the school, and OCSET and the OCS look forward to
working with her in the future.
Success for OCSET bursary students in
2025 KCSE exams
OCSET also wishes to report that the all 12
students who received our bursaries over the past 2-3 years, and who
took their final exams for the KCSE (Kenya Certificate of Secondary
Education) in
Nov 2025, passed with fabulous results, and now all of them qualify
for entry to local universities and colleges of higher education.
The Trustees of OCSET wish those twelve
students all the very best for the future, and were are extremely
grateful to all the many donors who have enabled us to provide
bursaries to these young men who otherwise would not have been able to
complete their secondary education at our old school due to lack of
finances.
Update - January 2026
A donation to the Old Cambrian Society
Educational Trust (OCSET) helps to change lives!!
If you are able to help, we would encourage you
to donate whatever you can, and this money will be used to support
needy pupils at Nairobi School. All potential recipients of our
bursaries are fully vetted, so that only the most deserving are put
on to the short-list for us to consider. During the time we support
them with a school fees bursary, we expect them to do their very
best, academically and in extra curricular activities, as well as
being exemplary in their behaviour, and we
continually monitor their progress so that they live up to their
promises.
During 2024 and 2025, OCSET reached new heights
in its support of needy students at Nairobi School, with school fees
being paid for a total of 16 students each year.
Steve Le Feuvre (Trustee) visited the school
twice during 2025, and in September he and fellow Old Cambrian,
James Ilako (Clive 1970-5) held a meeting with all 16 students,
discussing their chosen career paths, and what motivates them to
better themselves and make full use of the generous bursary that
OCSET has afforded them, enabling them to stay at the school. We
were very impressed with the quality of responses we received to our
questions, and the debate we had with the group was quite inspiring
for us. After the meeting, a photo was taken of the group at the
front of school (below).
Sept 2025 - Steve Le Feuvre (Clive 1970-5) and James Ilako (Clive 1970-5) met with the 16 students who were recipients of an OCSET bursary
In December 2025, twelve of our bursary holders
graduated from Nairobi School, taking their final exams
for the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education. This now leaves us
with just four students for 2026 (two going in to Form 3 and two
entering
Form 4), and we intend to choose some more pupils in the next month
or so from the 2026 intake.
Nationally, there are major changes taking
place to the whole system of education in Kenya beginning January 2026.
For the past 40 years, it has been the 8-4-4
model (8 yrs Primary, 4 yrs Secondary, 4 yrs University), but this
is transitioning to a new Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) under
the 2-6-3-3 system:
2 years Pre-Primary: Ages 4-5, with two
levels (PP1 & PP2). 6 years Primary: Grades 1-6, focused on
core competencies.3 years Junior Secondary: Grades 7-9,
emphasizing practical skills.3 years Senior Secondary: Grades 10-12,
offering specialized pathways (Academic, Technical/Vocational,
Arts/Sports). Then, as now, 3 or 4 years of university.
The new system plans to focus on skills,
practical learning, and digital literacy to replace rote
memorisation.
Nairobi school will therefore be providing the
3 years of Senior Secondary CBC education from January 2026 – BUT
alongside this it will also have to run the old 8-4-4 system for a further
2 years. Annual intake of Grade 10 students will be around 1,200 –
but the school will be reintroducing day pupils after an absence of over 30
years, as the boarding facilities at the school cannot cope with
such a large annual intake.
This next two years will be challenging
with two curriculum systems running alongside each other, and there
will be big pressure on classroom space and teaching staff.
I would welcome any questions you might have on
any of these issues, but would call for as many of you as possible
to support OCSET so that we can truly make of efforts felt now and
long in to the future.
If you wish to make a donation, please go to
the top of this page for details of how to do this.
Thank You!
Update - January 2024
Every little helps our wonderful cause, so please donate what you
can and when you can. Thank you!!
With very generous donations from Old Cambrians continuing, we have seen
funds as at 30th September 2023 rise to £71,714.88 but this is
before we finalise all fees due for the school year 2023. Thank you
to everyone who has donated, but we still need to keep raising funds
so that we build a more sustainable fund for the future.
Steve Le Feuvre (Trustee) visited Nairobi School on 3rd July 2023 and
had meetings with the Principal and other senior members of staff,
and spent a whole day engaged with a group looking at the strategic
plan for the school. The group consisted of Old Cambrians and
representatives of the school's management team, and the plans for
the future of the school are very exciting and will provide a much
enhanced environment for an enhanced learning experience for the
boys moving forward.
At the Strategy meeting was William Otieno (Kirinyaga-Grigg
2015-2018) and some of you will remember that he is one of the
students that the Old Cambrian Society Education Trust assisted with
a bursary for his school fees during his time at Nairobi School. He has developed in to a fine young man, and has
trained as a special needs teacher and has a tech company that he
has developed and runs. A fabulous example of the the
invaluable work that the Trust is doing, creating citizens that
really make a difference to the rest of society and truly living up
to the school's motto of "To The Uttermost".
We are aiming to make contact with more students that have gone
through our bursary scheme, and in due course will publish some
details of them and the careers they have pursued.
William Otieno (Kirinyaga 2015-2018) recipient of an OCSET bursary
with Steve Le Feuvre (Clive 1970-1975) at the strategy planning day at the school July 2023
Update - December 2022
With the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in early
2020, Nairobi School was forced to close for around three quarters
of a year in total, and there was no infrastructure in place to
allow for remote learning. As a result here has been a very
frustrating haitus surrounding the taking on of new students to the
bursary scheme that we operate, as access to the school by anyone
from outside the school community was severely restricted until
around six months ago in order to protect the students and staff
from this dreadful virus.
For a couple of years the UK-based Trustees were
unable to meet physically due to Covid restrictions, but during that
time we were in regular contact by e-mail, phonecalls and Zoom
calls. We resumed 'face to face' meetings in April 2022 and have
since met in August and November this year.
With a visit to the school possible by Steve Le Feuvre (Trustee) in June 2022, and a series a slightly modified
selection process performed remotely, the Trustees are pleased to
announce that we have now chosen eight new needy students to support
for their education at the school, four currently in Form 2 and four
in Form 3 for the 2022 school year (who will be in Form 3 and Form 4
respectively during the school year 2023. This is in addition to
four Form 4 students who have just completed their final exams and
have now left the school.
We begin the selection process again soon to
identify some needy students entering in to Form 2 in January 2023.
School fees and
boarding fees per student remain are at KES75,554 (equivalent to
£530) per year,
but for several years now this has included a KES22,000 charge
towards the School
Infrastructure Development Fund. Whether that continues in to 2023
is yet to be decided, but with the rising cost of everything in
Kenya, we cannot see that overall charge being reduced.
High inflation rates and soaring cost of living is a
huge problem in Kenya, and the requirement to support very needy
students at Nairobi School has never been greater or more critical.
We appreciate that times are tough for everyone, but we would urge
you to continue to make much-needed donations to our Trust if at all
possible. Your money is certainly making a difference to the lives
of the dozen boys that we wish to support on an on-going basis, and
the good news is that our efforts are being matched by the member of
the Old Cambrian Society (Kenya) who have vowed to support the same
number of students as OCSET.
If you can see your way to supporting the Trust,
please Click Here for details on
how to donate towards this extremely worthwhile cause.
We have had a tremendous year for income to the Trust, mainly
due a couple of large donations from individuals and also a payment
from HMRC from a claim we made for Gift Aid accumulated by donations
from UK taxpayers. Our total funds as at 30 September 2022 stood at
£62,844.40 but since then we have paid out the 2022 school fees for
the twelve students we have supported, so the balance as at the end
of this year will be well below that figure. We need your help to
boost the funds so that the Trust has a sustainable future. Please
help if you can.
We are gathering information on the students we have
supported in the past who have now gone on to further education and
careers, and we will publish some of this soon, and this will show
you that your donations are indeed having a huge positive impact on
the lives of many under-privileged students of Nairobi School. Thank
you for your support.
Three of the Form 4 recipients of OCSET bursaries (photo
taken June 2022) with Steve Le Feuvre (Clive 1970-1975)
Six of the Form 4 recipients of OCSET and OCS (Kenya) bursaries (photo
taken June 2022)
with Mrs Susan Mwangi, Leonard Mudachi (Naivasha/Serengeti-Nicholson
1990-1993), Steve Le Feuvre (Clive 1970-1975)
Update - January 2020
The Trustees met
three times during 2019, and at their meeting on 18th November 2019
in London, they agreed to support a further four students at Nairobi
School for the years 2020 to 2022 (inclusive). These four young men
were successful out of a pool of eight candidates that the Trustees
and the local selection process considered. For the school year 2020
we will therefore be supporting ten (10) student - two in Form 4,
four in Form 3 and four in Form 2.
All the
students eligible for assistance are from disadvantaged and poor
families, with their school fees and boarding fees being paid from
January 2020 for the duration of
their time at the school, subject to them complying with all the
conditions of the OCSET bursary scheme.
We have requested updates from the school on how the
recently graduated students faired in their final exams, and those
results will be relayed to the membership in due course.
School fees and
boarding fees per student remain at KES53,554 (equivalent to £410) per year,
and again in 2020 we believe all students will be required to pay an additional
KES22,713 (or £175) to the School Infrastructure
Development Fund, which will help with much-needed infrastructure
projects. More details will be published once information of the
specific projects are released. A new block of ten additional
classrooms has been completed ready for the 2020 school year,
and we are pleased that OCSET funds have assisted the school to
realise this much-needed asset for the benefit of all present and future
students.
The Trustees are
once again making
an appeal to all Old Cambrians to give whatever they can to this
very worthy cause. Our contributions are making a huge difference to the
lives of these young men, and giving them a real chance to be
successful in life. If you are able to donate, the Trustees would be
extremely grateful to receive any amounts, be they lump sums or
pledges on a monthly or quarterly basis. Please go to the OCSET web page
for more details and to make a donation.
At the end of September 2019 the total amount in
the trust fund was £32,925 and as ever we are conscious that we need to boost this
considerably if the support given by OCSET is going to be
sustainable in to the future.
The Trustees continue to receive a
copy every term of each students' report and a personal letter
informing us on
how they are getting on in school academically and socially. Our
students are highly motivated, and are extremely grateful to us "old
boys" of the school for assisting them to realise their dreams of
attending one of the best schools in the country.
In July 2019, Trustee Steve Le Feuvre
visited Nairobi and had a meeting with the local Selection Panel and
they visited the school to meet with some of the students that are
being supported by OCSET. Steve was very impressed to see the
quality and outward confidence being exuded by the boys, and it
brought it home to him just what a vital role we are playing as "old
boys" to give them a chance in life that they would otherwise not
get.
The
Old Cambrian Society (Kenya branch) is now mirroring what OCSET is
doing, and in 2020 they will be supporting eight students in total.
That brings the number of disadvantaged students being supported by
Old Cambrians during 2020 to eighteen. A tremendous effort, and we commend
everyone who is involved in this very worthwhile project.
Update - January 2019
The Trustees
met three times during 2018, and at their meeting on 13th November 2018
in London,
upon the recommendations of the local (Nairobi) Selection Panel,
they decided to support a further four students at Nairobi School.
This brings the total being supported by Old Cambrians through OCSET
to ten (10) students, with two of our original batch having
graduated from school in December 2018.
All the
students being assisted are from disadvantaged and poor families,
with their school fees
and boarding fees being paid from January 2019 for the duration of
their time at the school, subject to them complying with all the
conditions of the OCSET bursary scheme.
The "new" students chosen
have all just started in Form 2, and the Selection Panel and OCSET
Trustees were very impressed with the high quality of applicants
this time, with some really high achievers and general all-rounders.
They are: Adrian Chege, Benaiah Kipyego, Ian Njuguna Njine and
Lordvicus Onyango.
School fees and
boarding fees per student remain at KES53,554 (equivalent of £410) per year,
and this year all students are required to pay an additional
KES22,713 (or £175) to the School Infrastructure
Development Fund, which will help to construct much-needed new
classrooms to accommodate the growing student numbers entering the
school.
The Trustees are
again making
an appeal to all Old Cambrians to give whatever they can to this
very worthy cause. We are really making a huge difference to the
lives of these young men, and giving them a real chance to be
successful in life. If you are able to donate, the Trustees would be
extremely grateful to receive any amounts, be they lump sums or
pledges on a monthly or quarterly basis. Please go to the OCSET web page
for more details and to make a donation.
At the end of September 2018 the total amount in
the trust fund was £25,688, and we need to boost this
considerably if the support given by OCSET is going to be
sustainable in to the future.
The Trustees continue to receive every term a
copy of each students' report and a personal letter letting us know
how they are getting on in school academically and socially. Our
students are highly motivated, and are extremely grateful to us "old
boys" of the school for assisting them to realise their dreams of
attending one of the best schools in the country.
In December 2018, Trustee Steve Le Feuvre
visited Nairobi and had a meeting with three of the Selection Panel,
including the Chairman, Leonard Mudachi. Unfortunately, Steve was
unable to make his annual visit to Nairobi School due to the fact
that it was being used as the main national base for the marking of
the KCSE (secondary school) exams. It is pleasing to note that the
Old Cambrian Society (Kenya branch) is going to mirror what OCSET is
doing, and will be offering a similar number of bursaries to needy
students at the school. This is fantastic news, and the OCS
involvement at the school is now at an all-time high.
Old Cambrians
who have donated to the OCSET to date are: Aikin, Keith
Allen,
Peter
Baxter, Victor
Breed, Derek
Burton, Anthony
Capon, Tim
Coleman,
Ed.
Cosgrove, John
Coventry, George
Davis, John
Dawson, Henry
Dokelman, Bernard
Dokelman, Charles
Erisat, Martin
Foxton, Richard
Ghadialy, Narendra
Green, John
Howie, Charles
Hvass, John
Jenkins, Richard
Kuhn, Roland
Le Feuvre, Steve
Lecchini, Sergio
Lyle, Christopher
McCulloch, Colin
McCulloch, Michael
Riches, John
Sherwin, Philip
Simpson, Peter
Storrar, Jim
Stott, Hugh
Thornton, George
Vernon, Hugo
Wainwright, Eric
Watson, Neville
Update - January 2018
The Trustees
met three times during 2017, and at their meeting on 29th November 2017
in London,
upon the recommendations of the local (Nairobi) Selection Panel,
they decided to support a further four students at Nairobi School,
all from disadvantaged and poor families. Their school fees
and boarding fees will be paid from January 2018 for the duration of
their time at the school, subject to them complying with all the
conditions of the OCSET bursary scheme.
The students chosen were: Ryan George Angienda, Titus Kipkogei, Jesse Mwangi Njenga and Rogers Musyoki.
The cost of supporting each student is
currently KES53,554 (equivalent of £410) per year, and
this year the Trustees are making
an appeal to all Old Cambrians to give whatever they can to this
very worthy cause. Please go to the OCSET web page
for more details and to make a donation.
At the end of October 2017 the total amount in
the trust fund was £22,028. Total income in the calendar year 2017
up to the end of October was £4,935.
We need to boost the fund
significantly to ensure that we can continue to support students at
Nairobi School in to the future.
At the end of every term, the Trustees receive
a copy of each students' report and a personal letter letting us
know how they are getting on in school academically and socially.
This regular feedback is vital to ensure that the Trustees are
comfortable that their continued support is justified for all the
right reasons, and that the young men being supported are model
students.
In September 2017, one of our Trustees Steve Le
Feuvre visited the school and met with the four students that
we have been supporting since January 2017. He spoke at length with
them, and they also joined a meeting with the officers of the Old
Cambrian Society (Kenya branch). The confidence of the boys has come
on leaps and bounds, and their academic results have also improved
significantly. They now have a chance to reach their potential and
the Old Cambrian Society Educational Trust is allowing them to "live
their dream". Without the support of generous Old Cambrians, the
future of these students would be very insecure, as without a good
education it is difficult to secure gainful employment in modern-day
Kenya.
The 2017-2019 recipients of OCSET bursaries (photo taken Sept 2017)
L-R: Mr Caspal Maina (Principal
of Nairobi School), William Otieno
Onyango, Humphrey Cheruiyot, Godfrey Koome, Lawrence Masika,
Mrs
Susan Mwangi (staff), Steve Le Feuvre (Clive 1970-1975)
Update - January 2017
The Trustees
met three times during 2016, and below is a summary of actions and
decisions:
Bursaries
(covering tuition fees and boarding costs) would be given to needy
and deserving students of Nairobi School.
The Trustees
formed a local (Nairobi) Selection Panel made up of Old
Cambrians based in Kenya. This was decided at the meeting of
Trustees held in London on 11th August 2016, and on 10th Sept 2016
Trustee Steve Le Feuvre met at the school with members of the
Selection Panel to discuss the criteria to be used to choose
recipients of the bursary.
The members of
the Selection Panel are:
- Leonard
Mudachi (Naivasha/Serengeti (Nicholson) 1990-1993) - Chairman of
the Selection Panel
- Dr Wacira
Kariuki (Nicholson 1965-1969)
- James
Ilako (Clive 1970-1975)
- Abed Malik
(Clive 1970-1975)
- Moses
Watatua (Tana/Marsabit (Scott) 1983-1988)
The Selection
Panel interviewed all the applicants for the bursary on 16th Nov
2016, and produced a report containing their recommendations for the
students to be supported. This report and recommendations were
discussed at a meeting of the Trustees in London on 28th Nov 2016.
It was
decided to support four (4) students with bursaries covering
100% of their fees (tuition and boarding) for the academic years
2017, 2018 and 2019. The Trustees also decided to settle all
outstanding fees that three of the students had been unable to pay
during their first year at the school.
There is a robust system in place at the school
to identify needy students, to check their backgrounds and current
family situation, especially in relation to whether their families
have the necessary funds to pay fees for the full four years that
students are at Nairobi School. Mrs Susan Mwangi (a Chemistry
teacher at the school) is in charge of pastoral care of the
students, and looks after the welfare of the students.
Details of the
successful students will be published once we have received
permission from their guardians (and a parent where they have one),
as under the law in Kenya they are all minors. We will then be
publishing regular updates from the students that we are supporting,
and following their progress at the school both academically and in
the many extra-curricular activities that exist ....... as they did
at the time that you will have attended the school.
Cost of Tuition Fees and Boarding Fees
Currently, tuition and boarding fees for one school year are in the
region of £750 (seven hundred and fifty Pounds Sterling).
Total amount donated to date
The fund currently stands at just
over £20,000 and this has been through one-off donations and
also regular monthly (standing order) donations.
One-off
donations: £15,000
Monthly
donations: £5,000
Annually the
monthly donations total approximately £2,800 (including the Gift Aid
element).
Old Cambrians
who have donated to the OCSET to date are: Aikin, Keith
Allen,
Peter
Baxter, Victor
Breed, Derek
Burton, Anthony
Capon, Tim
Coleman,
Ed.
Cosgrove, John
Coventry, George
Davis, John
Dawson, Henry
Dokelman, Bernard
Dokelman, Charles
Erisat, Martin
Foxton, Richard
Ghadialy, Narendra
Green, John
Howie, Charles
Hvass, John
Jenkins, Richard
Le Feuvre, Steve
Lecchini, Sergio
Lyle, Christopher
McCulloch, Colin
McCulloch, Michael
Riches, John
Sherwin, Philip
Simpson, Peter
Storrar, Jim
Stott, Hugh
Thornton, George
Vernon, Hugo
Wainwright, Eric
Watson, Neville
Message from the Chairman of OSCET - Keith Aikin
(Clive House 1954-1958)
"With a target of £100,000 or
more, the Old Cambrian Society Educational Trust has to date raised
just a little over £20,000. This has been through the generosity of
just 34 "old boys" of the school that played a large part in what we
all are today. I would urge other Old
Cambrians to consider donating money to this excellent cause, as we
have only raised one fifth of the amount that we consider to be a
sustainable fund for the future. The
OCSET fund will be kept and invested in the UK, from where pupil
fees at Nairobi School will be paid. We are confident we have a
stringent system of checks in place to monitor the proper
implementation of the bursaries that we are awarding on behalf of
all of you. We need your help if the
bursary scheme is to continue in to the future, as funds need to be
available on a rolling basis. Costs for a student to attend Nairobi
School (tuition and boarding) are now in the region of £750 per
year, let's say £2,500 for the three years that we propose to offer
bursaries for. Why not sponsor a student
that has been vetted by us throughout his time at the school?
Alternatively, you may wish to donate a sum of money to OCSET,
and you may wish to make a legacy or add a Codicil to your existing
Will. This is an
opportunity for all Old Cambrians to give something back to our old
school that gave us all so much, and I do urge everyone to donate any amount that they can, whether it be in the form of a single
payment, or a regular monthly/quarterly/annual donation.
I know you will give generously, and I thank you."
Webmaster: Steve Le Feuvre (Clive House 1970-1975)
webmaster@oldcambrians.com
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