Ibutuka Primary School received a new water tank in 2008 funded by grants from the Peter Cowley Africa Trust
The Peter Cowley Africa Trust was established in 1994 and is named in memory of Peter
Cowley. Peter spent his gap year in Kenya in 1976 teaching at Kegonge Secondary School in
Embu County. Peter died in 1992 in a presumed walking accident in Alaska and the Trust was
established by his parents Rob and Joan Cowley.
There are seven trustees: Michael and Andrew Cowley, Peter Cowley’s two brothers; Dave Eldridge, Maggie Peddar and Malcolm Macnaughton, who spent their gap year in Kenya with Peter; Ali Mbugua and Louise Eldridge.
Over the last 10 years the Trust has provided grants totalling over £207,000 and the total value of grants made since the first grant was given in 1996 is now over £270,000.
Andrew Cowley acts as Treasurer, Secretary and Honorary Correspondent of the Peter Cowley Africa Trust. He is a qualified accountant and has over 39 years of experience of working in various finance roles mainly in manufacturing industry before his retirement over nine years ago. Andrew has a degree in Economics and Business Studies.
Michael Cowley was the older brother of the late Peter Cowley. He is a Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries and retired in 2014 from a career in the actuarial department at Legal and General Assurance Society. He has been a trustee of the Staff Pension Fund. Michael’s key responsibilities regarding PCAT are to monitor the performance of the investments in the Trust Fund and to liaise with the Investment Manager.
Dave Eldridge before retiring in 2023 Dave worked for both local and national voluntary agencies and in local government mainly focused on housing and social care. He is currently chair of the Board of Trustees of Newham Community Renewal Programme, a multi-faceted community organisation working in the London borough of Newham. He has a Masters in Voluntary Sector Organisation from LSE and a Masters in International Development from Birkbeck, University of London. He spent his gap year in Kenya in 1976 and was a close friend of Peter Cowley..
Louise Eldridge currently works as Head of the Good Work programme at ShareAction, campaigning on responsible investment. She previously worked for CAFOD, Anti-Slavery International and several small campaigning coalitions working on human rights in supply chains and tax justice. She has a Masters in International Development from the Institute of Development Studies from the University of Sussex and has previously lived and worked in India and Uganda.
Malcolm Macnaughton worked with Peter Cowley at Kegonge Secondary School in 1976 and continues PCAT’s engagement with the school today. He currently serves as Bishop of Repton in Derby Diocese, where he has led on Derby’s partnership with Bujumbura Diocese’s tree planting and peace building initiative. He is passionate about PCAT’s role in empowering and equipping young people as agents of change.
Ali Mbugua first went to Kenya in 2008 to visit the PCAT projects. Since then, she has continued to volunteer and work in the charity sector, volunteering in Ecuador, Sri Lanka and in Kenya. Ali leads the support for Project Riandu through PCAT with her brother Peter. She is Director of Operations at International Needs UK, overseeing programme partnerships and fundraising.
Maggie Pedder has been a Human Resources Professional since 1990 and, since 2003, Director of iAupro Consultancy providing HR contract services to corporate clients and charities. She has previously served as a trustee and Chair for the Army Families Federation and the Military Wives Choirs and is currently a trustee of the Veterans Foundation and Army Widows Association. She spent her gap year teaching in Kenya.
The Peter Cowley Africa Trust has three main priorities, water projects, education & training, and projects which enable people to increase and diversify their incomes. Water projects include the construction of earth dams, water storage tanks for schools and water supplies for domestic farming. Education and training includes providing grants to schools and support for employment-focused training. Grants to increase and diversify incomes includes the provision of micro-finance loan funds for business development and support for rural income generating projects. The Trust does not provide grants directly to individuals.
The Trust’s grant programmes are delivered through partnerships with three community-based local agencies, two in semi-arid rural areas in Machakos and Embu counties and one in the Kasarani-Mwiki area of Nairobi. These agencies submit an annual funding application which is considered by the Trustees who meet three times per year. Once a project is agreed the local partners are responsible for ensuring the grant funding is used for the purposes for which it was given and that the agreed outcomes are achieved. In 2016 the Trust started working with a savings and credit union in Machakos County, Moco Sakko, to provide a loan fund for Moco Sakko’s members.
PETER COWLEY AFRICA TRUST IS A REGISTERED CHARITY NO: 1037257
