Dear Friends, 

on July 9th I join 10,000+ amateur cyclists on France’s largest and most prestigious gran fondo, L’Étape du Tour 2023, six days before the Tour de France professionals ride the same route in Stage 14. The stage is 157km long with 5 categorised climbs for a combined 4100m of vertical elevation.

The climbs:

1. Col du Saxel with 4.3km at average gradient of 4.6% 
2. Col du Cou with 7.7 km at 7.4%,
3. Col de Feu 5.9km at 7.8%
4. Col de la Ramaz 14.3km at 7.1%, 
5.  Hors Categorie Col de Joux Plane with 11.6km at 8.5%!
   
   

I anticipate being on the course for 9+hrs. 

I am using this challenge to raise funds for West Africa’s oldest educational institution and a place very close to my heart - my alma-mater the Sierra Leone Grammar School (SLGS). Though the school has a history of excellence in learning and continues to support tomorrow’s bright young minds from across Sierra Leone, a decade of civil war has left it in need of repair, renovation and modernisation.

I join classmates and Alumni of the SLGS raising funds to complete the construction of the school’s new Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) labs, part of a wider initiative to transform the SLGS into a STEM and computer science hub.

With other investments including improved internet connectivity, new study spaces, refreshed ICT facilities and an ongoing Covid strategy including remote classrooms, every penny raised will have an impact on the richness of education available to SLGS’s pupils. 

The Grammar School provided me with the tools to succeed in the world setting me up on a path for success and instilling in me confidence, skills and a love of learning. It is my turn to give back.

I am finalising my preparations and appreciate all your donations. I have covered all travel, accommodation and registration fees so 100% of donated funds will go to the school!

Next stop: ANNEMASSE!

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Sierra Leone Grammar School (SLGS)

Sierra Leone Grammar School, or SLGS, is West Africa’s oldest educational institution. It has supported and developed the country’s most promising young minds since 1845, and alumni of the school include Ministers, senior civil servants, eminent lawyers and pioneering medical professionals

Though it has a proud history of excellence in learning, a decade of civil war in the region has left the school in urgent need of repair, renovation and modernisation. All funds raised in this challenge will help complete the school’s ongoing projects, such as the construction of new STEM science labs, part of a wider initiative to make the campus a hub of STEM and computer science.

With other investments including improved internet connectivity, new study spaces, refreshed ICT facilities and an ongoing Covid strategy including remote classrooms, every penny raised will have an impact on the richness of education available to SLGS’s pupils.

Other areas supported by your sponsorship include: the SLGS Gifted and Talented (GaT) scholarship fund, established in 2005 to support families experiencing financial or personal difficulties with their child’s education; the SLGS Innovation programme, immersing our students in a world standard STEM curriculum; the wider modernisation of our science facilities, replacing our outdated, crumbling classrooms with spacious, fully equipped and state-of-the-art spaces; the first Cisco Net Academy School in Sierra Leone, giving our young innovators and their teachers free access to their world-renowned ICT Curriculum; a modernised computer lab with the latest hardware and programs; increased internet connectivity throughout the school; and our exceptional response to COVID, including rapidly deployed virtual classroom learning.

Sponsorship support from events like L’ ETAPE DU TOUR DE FRANCE continue to have an impact on the richness of education available to SLGS’s pupils, and the standard of education throughout West Africa.

We are planning for a bright future, embedding STEM learning at the School. All of this is dependent on the continued belief and investment of the School’s donors. Our science facilities are currently in desperate need of renewal, and the state-of-the-art plans we have to update them simply won’t happen without the vital donations we oversee. More details can be found here: https://stemforslgs175.com/stem-at-slgs/