Christmas 2025
Wishing everyone involved with the Madrinha Trust a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year in 2026, thank you all for your continued support.
Madrinha Trust Christmas Party
Mon 1 Dec 2025 @ The May Fair Hotel, London W1
Madrinha Trust enjoyed a wonderful gathering of our trustees, mentors and partner charity representatives, with our founder, Jania Geoghegan, hosting a warm and insightful fireside-style chat with our special guest speaker, Thaira Bibi.
We were also delighted to hear from Mark Telling, one of our Madrinha mentors, as he introduced his scholar mentee, Adjei Mohammed, a Mathematics and Science alumnus from Ghana as they shared their mentoring journey.
2025 Christmas Party Video Montage
Mark Telling has been a Madrinha mentor for over 14 years and was introduced to us by Roger Green (past mentor) through the Institute of Physics and was one of the original team of mentors to support the Ghana scholars from Ada College. Adjei was his original scholar mentee specialising in mathematics and science initially as a teacher, then as a graduate and now Adjei is completing his masters at Lincoln University and is hoping to secure a two year teaching position here in the UK before returning to Ghana to eventually go into a job as an actuary.
The short video clip (below) is the edited highlight from their conversation.
Jania’s introduction and Mark & Adjei.
We were deeply honoured to have Thaira Bibi join us as our guest speaker—her presence and inspiring words made the event truly special, and we are so grateful for the time she shared with us. Thaira Bibi is a senior judge in the UK with a notably varied judicial portfolio. She is widely recognised as a prominent figure for diversity within the judiciary, as well as being the first hijab‑wearing judge to sit in the Crown Court.
We were advised that we would not be able to share the video or photos given her position as a Judge, and we fully respect and support that guidance.
With such an amazing group of guests it was impossible not to share all of our favourite photos from the evening. The positive energy and warmth in the room were palpable, reaffirming the joy and importance of giving back. It is this collective support that helps us all to celebrate the ongoing success of the Madrinha Trust.
It was wonderful to also have His Excellency Kevin Isaac, High Commissioner of Saint Kitts and Nevis to the United Kingdom, as a special guest alongside our past inspirational speakers Dr Casmir Chanda, Mac Chiromo and Ronke Kokoruwe.
The Madrinha Trustees Christmas Photo
Madrinha Trustees: Andrew (Treasurer), Ronke, Sui Chin, S-J (COO) , Amrit, Jania, Ellie, Sarah, Vanessa and Will.
Not forgetting Casmir who was not able to make the group photo.
A BIG THANK YOU to our trustees who steer and shape the Madrinha Trust.
We have pleasure in presenting the 2025 Annual Report from the Madrinha Trust which we hope reflects the full breadth of all our activities and the achievements of our scholar mentees and graduates and alumni too. We want to particularly thank all our partner charities who make all this work possible.
You can download a copy by clicking the link above.
KHULA students enjoying the Kruger Park Internship.
There have been many highlights this year and particularly our new engagement with Sophia for Children, a new partner charity in Kenya who we are delighted to welcome and with special congratulations to the 3 new scholars who are starting their University education in January 2026.
End of the day Skukuza, Kruger Park, SA.
This year was the first time we ran a collaborative internship programme with Nsasani Trust based out of Skukuza Science Faculty (Kruger Park SA) and KHULA and EduFun with 10 students attending a combination of 2 weeks, 4 weeks and 6 weeks internship programmes.
We hope to keep this internship programme going in 2026 with all our partner charities getting involved.
It goes without saying the importance of science and conservation programmes being available to all our bright scholars.
These interactions enrich and connect like‑minded, talented young adults who are the future changemakers. They embody the Madrinha Trust’s mission to develop future leaders in the developing world, creating a powerful ripple effect of opportunity and impact.
Finally, special mention to Danei Rall and her Finmaster Board Game that is making waves in all the entrepreneurial competitions this year. Danei is one of our MAD Leadership Foundation / Madrinha Trust alumna and also finds time to be a local buddy mentor in SA.
Special thank you to Amrit Singh (trustee) and her amazing team at the May Fair hotel for their kind generosity and wonderful evening.
Thanking Jania, for her vision and support the true “madrinha” to all the scholar mentees and alumni.
And special thanks to S-J, our COO, who has brought her life and energy to all of us and never stops flying the Madrinha flag.
May we hope for peace for all in 2026.
Last words from Jania …
To this lovely quote I would add that the gifts that the Madrinha mentors give - time and love - really epitomise the true spirit of Christmas, and keep it alive throughout the year.
I wish you all a joyous and peace filled Christmas and look forward to another year of shared and celebrated successes.
Happy Christmas
Jania