Pound A Week 2025 Report

Hello, and first of all, I’d like to thank all members of the Pound A Week group for their amazing support again during 2025!

This was a significant year as Eugene McGivern stepped down after running the group since its inception in 1996. The work he has done is incredible, and has made a huge impact for so many people. I took over in September, and appreciate all the help I’ve received since then.

What is the Pound A Week Group?
The purpose of the group is to support our extended family in the Pokot region in the west of Kenya.

We do this through the Holy Ghost Fathers. Alongside the spread of the Gospel, education is at the heart of the Holy Ghost Fathers missionary endeavours, as the means of lifting the poor and disadvantaged out of poverty in the long-term. Our main focus is in Barpello, which has a church and a secondary school, and Rotu, which is more remote and has a primary school. Fr Sean is based in Rotu, and we now have a new priest Fr Callistus looking after Barpello, as Fr Francis was asked to take over as Parish Priest in St Austin’s Parish in Nairobi.

As you know, 100% of the money we raise goes directly to help those who need it.

Donations Received And Sent
In 2025 we received an amazing total of £55,766.05 in donations, and transferred a total of £50,583.57 to the people of Pokot, via the priests.

This brings the total sent to the mission since 1996 to an amazing £751,048!

Current Appeal
We are still looking for more sponsors. There are a total of 21 school students who have been identified as needing financial support, and we currently have 5 sponsors. To fully cover the needs of a school student for a year is £400. If you know anyone who might like to join our group, or sponsor a student, please get in touch at this email address.

All donations are of course extremely welcome, and you may prefer to make a general donation towards the school fees rather than fully sponsor an individual student. Donations can be made by bank transfer (details below), or by using one of the little orange Pound a Week Group envelopes. There is a supply near the entrance of both churches. If you are a taxpayer and a member of the Parish Gift Aid scheme, we get the benefit of the Gift Aid tax refund which increases the value of your donation by 25% at no additional cost to you!

Bank: HSBC
Account Name: RCD A&B Cranleigh
Sort Code: 40 05 20
Account: 41077465
Please make sure you put ‘POKOT’ in the transfer reference!

Cathechumens
Fr Sean shared some photos with me:
“Yesterday we had a stage of Baptism for 43 catechumens at our outstation church at Akarapet some 18 kilometers from Rotu. Baptism [will be] at Easter.”

Thank you and God bless!  James Golding

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Hello,  I wanted to give a brief update on the POKOT Pound-A-Week project, since I took over from Eugene (an impossible act to follow!)  Things are going smoothly, we are continuing to track your very generous donations, and have made two transfers in November:

• £1,000.00 from a parishioner to support a seminarian
• £1,212.65 to pay for necessary hand surgery for Cephas Yatich

Cephas, a university student we are sponsoring, had his surgery on 11 Nov, largely paid for by this group. He will be going back for check-ups for the next few months. He wrote a note of thanks, attached to this email.

As you know, Fr Sean unfortunately had a bad fall in August, but was treated in Nairobi, and is now back in Rotu. We hope he continues to recover well. He has sent me some photos to share:

“This is a blind lady Chepkerial being led home by a helper.  If you enlarge slightly that photo you’ll see the houses on the hillside.”

“Our bull camel needed treatment for a badly cut foot. He doesn’t like it but it is very necessary. £ a week were the original great supporters of our camel project.”

“The rains are a great blessing but can create big problems with flash floods and no bridges.  Nor any paved road in the parish. This episode took 4 hours of hard work.”

Fr Francis has been transferred to a different parish in Nairobi, so there is a new priest, Fr Okeke Callistus,  taking over the Barpello mission.

There are a couple of new appeals I wanted to make people aware of. We can send some money from general funds, but if anyone would like to contribute directly, please let me know.

Fr Sean asks:

I am writing about a student that was sponsored for some time by £aweek. She is Deborah Cheduka.  In 2023 she completed a Diploma in early childhood education.  Then I employed her to start a pre primary school in a very neglected area called Akarapet.  She has done great work there with 30 or so children who otherwise would never get a chance to go to school.  Now. She wants to do a Diploma in primary education.  She can do the course by attending the college during the school break months of Christmas, Easter and August.  It is a course of 9 such Semesters over 3 years.  Each Semester costs KSh. 25,000 [£145]..   there would be a few Extras to bring it to Sh. 30,000 [£174] per semester.   

Could you consider her case as she has been a very loyal member of our missions work over recent years. She would continue to teach at Akarapet while attending college in the break months.

Fr Francis asks:

Caroline [a university student we are sponsoring]‘s  mother needs to have started her chemotherapy sessions. I am afraid she has not yet. Chemotherapy is very expensive here in Kenya, the reason why many cancer patients from poor families succumb to it. I have made the efforts to forward this case to SOCIAL HEALTH AUTHORITY and they have promised to pay a certain percentage. At the moment, the caretaker sister is giving her painkillers and other herbal concoctions to relieve her of pain. Keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

I contacted the Hospital. It is Ksh. 55,000 [£320] per week. For a month it will be Ksh. 220,000 [£1280]. The Social Health Fund Scheme will pay ksh. 5000 [£29] every week. We need therefore Ksh. 200,000 [£1160]  for the beginning, one month’s chemotherapy sessions.

As always, if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact me on this email address.

Many thanks again for your tremendous care and support for this project. I hope you all have a wonderful and prayerful Christmas season 🎄 James Golding