About us

Jason’s story

How the school was started

The Hannah Memorial Academy is the vision of Jason Lepcha who was inspired to build a school in memory of Hannah Foster.
The school, in the Dhooteriah Tea Garden, is a lasting legacy to Hannah Foster, a 17-year old Hampshire girl who was murdered in the West End District of Southampton in March 2003 by Maninder Pal Singh Kohli.

Just over a year after Hannah’s tragic death, Jason Lepcha, a local taxi driver with a good understanding of English, was hired as a driver in Darjeeling by the chief murder suspect. He subsequently responded to a national appeal for information that led to the arrest of Mr. Kohli in Darjeeling in July 2004. In return for providing the police with the vital information, Jason received a reward of £4569 from the Hampshire Police.

Jason is an educated man from a modest background but he always had a dream to provide free education for the children in the Dhooteriah Tea Garden, one of the country’s poorest regions. Instead of spending the reward on himself, Jason used the money and help from the local villagers to secure a plot of land suitable to build a school on.
In 2005 Jason’s vision became a reality, with the opening of an English school in the Dhooteriah Tea Garden. The school is situated in the village of Santi Gram, 21 km from Darjeeling town, in the foothills of the Himalayas.

Today, Jason and his wife Isabella manage and administer the school under an Indian trust, with the support of 7 local Trustees. Most importantly, the school is named after Hannah and serves as living memory to her while helping the regions children to get a good start in life.

Christine and Roger’s story

How the trust was formed.

In November 2006 Christine and Roger had been travelling in Darjeeling, when their driver, Jason told them about his school. One day they visited it and immediately decided they would like to support such a wonderful, practical memorial.

They came home to Hampton and with the full support of Trevor and Hilary Foster, Hannah’s parents, started collecting funds. The school had opened with one building, 5 teachers, a few teaching materials and 22 pupils. Gradually, with a lot of hard work and cajoling, funding has enabled the school to grow to a maximum roll of 125 pupils.

Gradually, Chris and Rog involved their friends, sending books, funds and anything they could muster. Then in August, realising how much more funding is needed to guarantee the continuation of the school, they set up the Hannah Memorial Academy Charitable Trust.

The Charitable Trust

How the trust supports the school.

Purpose

The Trust supports the school through Jason, his family and the staff – who have the skills, knowledge, determination and vision – but not the financial wherewithal.

The Trustees:

• Christine Browning, BSc (Hons) –  Company Director
• Roger Maclaverty, LLB – Retired Solicitor, Notary Public
• Camilla Maclaverty, LLB(Hons), MSc Overseas Development
• Ben Pattie – Public Relations and Social Media
• Ram Varma –  ACA Chartered Accountant, Treasurer
• Helen Wilde – Charity Fund Raiser and former High Sheriff of Bristol

The work of the Trust is fully supported by Hannah’s parents Hilary and Trevor Foster, who are kept informed at all times of what we do and what is happening in Hannah’s school.

How we manage the Trust

The Trustees give all their time for free, charge no personal expenses, and apart from minimal essential costs, every penny raised is used entirely for the benefit of the school and its pupils.

Even our interest bearing Bank Account is free! School Budgets are agreed in advance, all expenditure is recorded and monitored, and our aim is for at least annual visits by one or more trustees.