SFCT Information


For Parents
We all know just how important a child’s school years are. It’s about far more than gaining a first-class education.

A school provides a child’s support network, moral guidance, and creates a platform for adult life. To lose all that a school provides can be totally devastating, particularly in the final years before crucial exams. That is why SFS Group founded The School Fees Charitable Trust in 1991. The aim of the Trust is to help parents who are unable to pay their school fees because of genuine hardship, arising from a sudden and unforeseen change of circumstance over the past 12 months.

student working with teacher
The School Fees Charitable Trust is funded by the surplus remaining from School Fees Insurance claims. Grants are awarded by a board of Trustees under strict criteria:
  • Grants are made to cover the final year of GCSEs, A Levels or equivalent exams, such as the International Baccalaureate. In exceptional circumstances, the Trustees may consider making a grant for a longer period.
  • The maximum award granted is 25% of the net fee after deduction of any other awards from the school or other charitable trusts.
  • The parents must be able to demonstrate a recent and serious change in their circumstances.
  • The Trust expects the School to make a contribution to the fees and will look for a report on the parents’ and child’s circumstances.
students working on laptop

Trustees

Tim Love is the Investment Director for 'Rathbones Asset Management’ and has 35 years investment experience. Tim was educated at Sherborne School and Kent University and holds a BA in Accountancy and Politics. He trained as a chartered accountant at Price Waterhouse. He is married, has a large family and enjoys running and swimming. He presently lives in Wimbledon, London.

Martyn Gowar is a retired solicitor and chartered tax advisor who specialised in private client and succession matters as well as having experience in charity and education law and governance.   He was educated at Kings College School, Wimbledon, and Oxford. He was Clerk to the Governors of Wellington College for nearly 20 years, and was a Governor for 15 years of St Paul’s Cathedral Choir School

Angus Cater was formerly the Chairman of SFS Group, the company which founded the School Fees Charitable Trust and provided its funding. He was educated at Sherborne School, is an accountant (ACCA) and has an MA in Finance. He has been a Governor of four schools. He is retired but likes to write, to sail and to run. He lives in Kingsclere, Hampshire.

Norman Wallace was commissioned into the Royal Artillery in 1970 and, after service worldwide, retired as a Colonel in 1993. He was Bursar and Clerk to the Governors of St Dunstan’s College, Catford from 1994 to 2018. Duties included administration of Benevolent, Scholarship and Bursary Funds. He is married and has a son, a daughter, and three grandchildren.

Neil Roskilly spent 40 years in education as a teacher and headteacher. He ran the Independent Schools Association for 11 years, was a long-standing board member at the Independent Schools Council, and was the independent sector’s representative on the General Teaching Council for England. Neil advised the Department for Education and HM Treasury on education matters, as well as examinations awarding bodies. He is an experienced school governor and devotes much of his time to advising schools, parents and acting as a charity trustee.

Chris Shipley is a retired solicitor who specialised in corporate and commercial law, with a focus on private company takeovers. Chris was educated at Merchant Taylors’ School, Southampton University (Law) and Boston University (MBA). He has been a Trustee/Board member of several charities and was a Governor of Kingswood House School (Epsom) for 10 years.

Heidi Berry is currently Headteacher at King's College Prep School, Taunton, having previously worked as Headteacher at Sherborne Qatar and as Head of Pre-Prep at Sherborne Prep in Dorset since 2010. She holds an MBA in Senior Leadership in Education and is an inspector for ISI (Independent Schools Inspectorate) and BSO (British Schools Overseas).

The Trust has helped hundreds of families over the years at a host of independent schools up and down the country. Initial enquiries from the school are welcome. Please email: trustsecretary@sfctrust.org
In the first instance please use the contact us form, but if you have any questions then please email: trustsecretary@sfctrust.org

Registered Charity Number 1011711

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