From the outset, Magoo Giles and his co-founders at Knightsbridge School felt strongly that they wanted a method for the school and its families to give back to the local community and to support children less fortunate than our own. This was achieved just one year later, with the creation of Knightsbridge School Education Foundation in 2007 under the tireless leadership of Hugo Eddis, who served as Chairman for our first ten years.

The early years were naturally constrained by the modest budgets dictated by the absence of an endowment. Nonetheless, many KS families gave generously during those years, enabling several local charities to benefit from KSEF’s donations, and enabling the creation of the first bursaries for children in years 7 and 8.

True to the ethos of the school’s founders, the school fees were discounted by 50%, meaning that KSEF’s donors were funding half of the bursaries and the school’s shareholders were funding the remaining 50%.

Once Knightsbridge School became part of Duke’s Education, we were delighted that Duke’s not only continued the same generous approach to the charity, but has also supported an expansion of pupil numbers from two per year (in Year 7 and 8) to four per year, from Year 7 all the way through to Year 11.

This expansion of pupil numbers could only have been achieved with growth of donations from our KS families and alumni. It has been a delight to see these donations continue to increase, even through the difficult times of a global pandemic and a tough domestic economy. We have also benefited from the immense generosity of other stakeholders; for example, KS’s music teachers have given tuition free-of-charge to KSEF students, and KS’s uniform provider has provided free school uniforms to our students.

The charity’s main aim is to enable highly-talented children from the local area to benefit from a KS education, and to support them financially right through to A Levels, both at KS and at their future independent schools. We are very proud that, in many cases, our students have been so successful that they have been awarded 100% scholarships by their future schools, meaning that KSEF’s donations can cease at that point.

As well as supporting our KSEF students through Knightsbridge School, and their selected future schools, the Foundation has continued actively to support the local community. In recent years this has centred around financial support of two local primary schools in Chelsea: Marlborough Primary School and Ashburnham Community Primary School. The head teachers of these two schools have been overwhelmed by the generosity of KSEF’s donors, as KSEF has been able to provide everything from books and laptops to therapists and residential trips to their pupils. This support was especially needed and valued during the lockdown era of the pandemic.

Now under the energetic leadership of Valentina Pan, the Foundation has transformed the life chances of our KSEF students and has made a meaningful impact in the wider community beyond our own front door. For this we thank all of our donors, past and current, and the shareholders of Knightsbridge School and Duke’s Education.

ABOUT KNIGHTSBRIDGE SCHOOL (KS)