Sponsor
It is a real pleasure to be able to support a gifted youngster to gain a KEHS education and benefit in the way I did under the Direct Grant System in the 60s. My father was a clergyman and certainly we could never have afforded to pay fees.
Carol Kennedy (née Welch) chose to sponsor a pupil throughout her time at KEHS. Here she speaks about how she hopes her donation will help a girl to flourish just as she did. Carol is also a Patron of DELYVERE.
"I joined KEHS in 1962 in form 3A. I remember fondly that our form mistress was Miss Hartley (“Jammy”), herself an old Edwardian, who taught us Maths. She also encouraged us to think of others and I remember having great fun helping her with fundraising for “War on Want” and its work in fighting the root causes of global poverty - a subject which remains dear to my heart with the recognition that education is a key factor in eliminating poverty.
In my early years at KEHS we lived in Handsworth and my clergyman father’s parish was in Lozells, which was even then one of the most deprived areas of the city. When I was in the Lower 5th, my family moved out to North Warwickshire and a daily commute to KEHS was impractical. With tremendous kindness, one of my classmates Enid and the Dawkins family agreed to let me stay with them in the week so I could complete my O-levels. I remain eternally grateful to the Dawkins for enabling me to stay on at KEHS and gain the confidence, life skills and “can do” attitude as well as an academic education that set me up for life.
At 16 I was in for a shock. I joined the 6th form of the local co-ed Grammar School in Atherstone to study Physics, Chemistry and Maths. I was the only girl in the Science 6th but fortunately had a very encouraging teacher who spotted a talent for physical chemistry. At 18 I came back to Birmingham to university across the road from KEHS to read Chemical Engineering - not a topic studied by many girls in those days.
I graduated before the days of equal opportunity and set my cap at getting a job in industry and became the first woman in management in Europe with Procter and Gamble. In the early 80s I took the project finance skills I had learned in industry across into private equity and venture capital. Then in 1990 I joined an old colleague from my university days who had set up a financial services business, which became Pantheon, investing globally in private equity funds. We sold that business a decade ago and I continued to work in it until I retired at the end of 2011."
I believe the education and confidence I gained from my special time at KEHS set me on course for a successful career.
I strongly believe that gifted youngsters, whose families cannot afford to pay fees, should have the opportunity that I had. I hope that my donation will be the first of many that grateful Old Edwardians give to enable today’s young people to share the experience we had."
If you are interested in sponsoring a pupil at KEHS, our Development Director would love to hear from you.
It is a real pleasure to be able to support a gifted youngster to gain a KEHS education and benefit in the way I did under the Direct Grant System in the 60s. My father was a clergyman and certainly we could never have afforded to pay fees.
