This page contains a short history of the origins of the charity and extracts from the Treasurer’s report to the AGM 2025. You can view a more detailed account of the finances of The Mamie Martin Fund on our website www.mamiemartin.org .
Margaret and John Sinclair travelled to Malawi in 1991. Margaret’s mother had died there (in 1928) in childbirth of Blackwater Fever, a vicious form of malaria. Margaret was only 15 months old. Mamie Martin was that mother.
In 1991 not only was Mamie’s name still remembered, but there were people alive who had known her and had benefitted from her teaching. The Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP) Synod of Livingstonia, is the present-day successor to the Church of Scotland’s Mission which had sent Jack and Mamie Martin, and others, to Nyasaland in the 1920s. The Sinclairs planned to make a one-off commemorative donation of the small amount of money they had raised from selling some of Jack’s books and personal effects. The two wily Reverends Matiya Nkhoma and Mezua Maxwell Banda had a better idea. By the end of the visit they had convinced John and Margaret to set up a fund to help pay the school fees for a few “needy girls”.
And so it came to pass that in 1993 a new Scottish Charity, The Mamie Martin Fund, held its first AGM.
One of our strengths has been our focus. The core work of our constitution is to support girlsfinancially, by paying school fees and expenses; girls for whom there is a very real risk of dropping out of school because there’s no money left in the family to carry on.
Why is that so important? Because keeping girl pupils in secondary education is exactly what Mamie Martin was doing in her small but energetic way all those years ago.
In the 1990s forty-five pounds (£45) covered fees and some allowance for personal stuff for an entire school year. That was a human-scale amount of money and a good persuasive number with which to convince potential donors. The number of supporters grew and so did the number of pupils we were able to help. Inevitably, with time, costs rose, fees increased dramatically and exchange rates fluctuated wildly. Nowadays it costs around 10 times as much: £500 a year per girl (at the schools where they board). Choosing who is eligible for MMF support is done by the head teachers in the schools using guidelines developed and devised over the years by MMF in partnership with the CCAP. Transparency is what we aim for. The Synod of Livingstonia, The Diocese of Karonga and Mchengautuba Community Day Secondary School make specific requisitions and we send the money.
In keeping with our constitution the Board of Trustees meets formally six times a year, via Zoom, and we are delighted to be able to have MMF Malawi Director Mercy Sibande, at these meetings, electricity and connectivity permitting! Margaret and John Sinclair would be astounded and delighted that technology allows such close cooperative working. Sometimes technology is wonderful.
Two new Trustees were elected to the Board at the 2024 AGM: Francesca Munoz and Matthew Davidson. They have been diligent and effective and an asset to the organisation. Their knowledge, skills and experience are valuable and appreciated. Following this year’s call for Trustees we heard from Nasim Vadalia. She was elected to the Board of Trustees at the Annual General Meeting on 1 Nov 2025 and we look forward to working with her.
Day to day administration is taken care of by Moira Dunworth on a voluntary basis. She is a former Trustee and Co-convenor who has visited Malawi on MMF duty. We are indebted to Moira for her hard work, and her ability to herd cats (and Trustees).
In the academic year 2024-2025 MMF supported 133 girls in these 7 secondary schools:
- Bandawe Girls Secondary School
- Elangeni Secondary School
- Embangweni Secondary School for the Deaf
- Mchengautuba Community Day Secondary School
- Karonga Girls Secondary School
- Kaseye Girls Secondary School
- St Mary’s Girls Secondary School
Fifty five (55) girls finished their secondary education by completing Form 4 and sitting their MSCE, thanks to your donations. That’s 11 times more than the original trustees thought they could support! And that is why we do what we do.
In the New York Times of 4 Oct 2025 veteran journalist Nicholas Kristof wrote:
“The greatest untapped resource in the developing world is not oil, gold or rare earth minerals; it is village girls who often are held back from school, married as children and expected to spend their lives fetching water and caring for others. Talent is universal, even if opportunity is not.”
MMF has supported more than 700 girls through their secondary education in Northern Malawi since 1993. That’s about 3000 academic years worth of education.
The most proactively busy supporters of MMF are the Marketing and Fundraising folk. The group is made up mainly of current and former trustees and draws on a pool of volunteers as and when necessary. As well as the website, printing and social media they coordinate MMF’s presence at events like Scotland Malawi Partnership and other organisations’ AGMs, and they take “bookings” for MMF speakers to give talks (on-line and in-person) about our work.
It’s not just about the money though; raising our profile and being visible is key. Having said that our most impressive Fund-raising in 2024 was The Big Give. During one intensive week in October any money raised is matched by donors working through The Big Give organisation. We raised £2500 during that week which was doubled to £5000. Even more impressively, this year (2025) we raised £4730 which, with the Match Funding and Gift Aid, takes the total to just shy of £10,000, although that won’t appear in the Accounts until next year (2025-2026).
For the sake of brevity some of the slides that Alan Laverock used to illustrate his Treasurer’s Report to the AGM are shared here:
Independent Financial Examiner Andrew Cowling CA FCCA was unanimously re-appointed and his comprehensive Annual Report on the Accounts will be available to view on our website and in paper form, on request, if you’re really keen. His report will also form part of the Trustees’ Annual Report to OSCR (the Office of the Scottish Charities Regulator.
In summary the financial challenges ahead are:
- School fees will increase
- Inflation 30%
- Possible devaluation
- Fuel already increased by 35% – priced in US$
- Some funds now finishing
But:
- Favourable exchange rate via Victoria Forex Bureau
- Using shares money we can increase the number of girls supported
The Mamie Martin Fund is currently in a healthy position. Its work is well regarded in Malawi and Scotland (and Lancashire West!) but there is no room for complacency. The world is an unpredictable and volatile place and anything could happen to destabilise international cooperation. We are already seeing the effects of aid budget cuts to fund military spending.
Your continuing support is more important now than ever.
We are exceedingly grateful. You are making a difference. Please help us to carry on this important work.
Thank you.
The Trustees, Mamie Martin Fund
November 2025