Making a difference to local and global communities
With its strong Guernsey heritage and roots in the local community, Rihoy & Son is committed to helping sport on the island and is involved with a number of sports clubs and organisations.
The company has a long history with Northerners AC and has been involved as main sponsor with the club since 2003. Rihoy & Son provides financial support for every age group at the club, from the young minis to North’s successful 1st XI team.
The Rihoy family’s association with North dates back over 85 years. Jack Rihoy, who founded Rihoy & Son in 1924, was passionate about the club and had a policy that there would always be work available at the company for North players. The company’s name also appears on the shirts of the Rihoy & Son five-a-side team which plays in the over-35s’ business league.
Other help for young footballers includes sponsorship of two Guernsey College Football Academy players. Rihoy’s support contributes towards the cost of their travel off-island to matches and other development opportunities offered by the Academy.
As a Gold supporter of the KGV, Rihoy & Son has contributed to necessary improvements at one of the island’s leading sporting facilities, including a new Pavilion, changing rooms and hard landscaping. A commemorative concrete bench, No 18, reflects the company’s contribution.
Rihoy & Son’s involvement with youth sport extends to their sponsorship of the Elizabeth College 1st XI football team and the Guernsey Rugby Academy. The Academy gives players of all ages the opportunity to learn the game and play competitive matches. Teams travel to the UK to participate in the Sussex League and the club even has an Elite Player Development Pathway for talented youngsters.
Rihoy & Son also has links to the Royal Guernsey Golf Club and the company is supportive of the island’s elite athletes via the Guernsey Sports Commission’s Rising Stars programme. This scheme helps to develop promising talent across all sports and Rihoy & Son has also stepped forward to sponsor Magda Puzio, a member of the Guernsey Island Games Triathlon team.
Rihoy & Son has extended its involvement with local sport and announced the sponsorship of Island Games triathlon team member Magdalena Puzio. Jersey 2015 will be Magda’s first Island Games appearance and she is training hard to consolidate her recent local success. She placed second overall in this year’s Ana Leaf Foundation Triathlon series and was the first woman home in the summer’s Havelet competition.
Rihoy & Son’s international support is co-ordinated by The Ellen Jane Rihoy Trust, which is named after the mother of Jeremy and Gavin Rihoy.
Since 2000, the Ellen Jane Rihoy Trust has been providing financial support to improve the livelihoods and opportunities of some of the world's most impoverished and marginalised communities.
Support is targeted at institutions that have dedicated and talented leadership drawn from within local communities who have demonstrated that, with a small amount of initial seed funding and external support, they have the energy, commitment and dedication to address the problems facing their own communities.
In addition to providing its own financial support, the Ellen Jane Rihoy Trust also works in close collaboration with the Guernsey Overseas Aid Committee, which provides additional funding for the development of infrastructure.
The following reports demonstrate the impact of the Ellen Jane Rihoy Trust's support on the lives of thousands of people, particularly women and children, in communities across the world.
2024 EJ Rihoy Charitable Trust Board of Directors:
Chairperson: Dr Elizabeth Rihoy
Treasurer: Ms Patricia Wangui
Secretary: Mr Gavin Rihoy
Director: Mr Dan Taylor
Director: Mr Jeremy Rihoy
The Ellen Jane Rihoy Charitable Trust is a registered and fully compliant Guernsey international charity no CH618.
Our small grants programme allows communities to then access much larger grants from local government and international donors. An example of this process in action was recently demonstrated in Malawi, where our initial grant of £3,000 to a Community Based Organisation (CBO) ultimately secured a further US $171,000. These funds are now being effectively used to enhance the management of Kasungu National Park in Malawi, bordering Zambia.
The new 20 bed maternity clinic project at the Segera Mission in Laikipia, Kenya is now under construction, thanks to financial support from the Ellen Jane Rihoy Trust and Guernsey’s Overseas Aid & Development Commission. Once constructed the Laikipia County Government have committed to providing staff and equipment.
Since 2000, the Ellen Jane Rihoy Trust has been providing financial support to improve the livelihoods and opportunities of some of the world's most impoverished and marginalised communities. Chiuzira Education and Development Centre in Malawi, southeastern Africa, is one such project that has benefitted from the Trust's support, which has triggered additional funding from other development partners, including the Guernsey Overseas Aid & Development Commission. This report highlights how valuable funds from the Guernsey Overseas Aid & Development Commission have helped overcome a severe shortage of school classrooms.
All structural work was completed in August 2016. The four classrooms were finally handed over to the School Administration, School Management Committee and the Parent Teacher Association on 6th September 2016. Standard 7 and 8 pupils occupied the Classrooms( the 2016-2017 school year started on 5th September). This report provides a final update on the activities that were done with the financial support received from the Ellen Jane Rihoy Trust.
Rihoy & Son is pleased to report the excellent progress made on the Chiuzira School Extension in Malawi with the completion of two school blocks and a toilet block, funded by the Ellen Jane Rihoy Trust.
The four classrooms will help to ease congestion when the pupils start back at school on 5th September this year. Despite some early setbacks the project is on track and a final report will be submitted at completion. Building will continue into the future with the hope of constructing a total of 14 classrooms to accommodate the increasing number of pupils.
The Ellen Jane Rihoy block is the girls’ dormitory at Endana school in Laikipia, Kenya. This is the first girls’ dormitory that the school has had. It has transformed educational opportunities for girls from pastoralist communities in Laikipia, providing for the first time an opportunity for over 100 girls to attend the secondary school. Construction was financed by the EJ Rihoy Trust and Guernsey Overseas Aid. The EJ Rihoy Trust also provides bursaries for bright but impoverished children to attend this secondary school in Laikipia. The school decided to name the block in honour of Ellen Jane Rihoy, a frequent visitor and long time supporter of the school.
In 2012 the Commission made a Grant Aid award of £40,000 to a local charitable trust, the Ellen Jane Rihoy Charitable Trust, for the construction of a primary school in Laikipia, Kenya.
The school has been built using the “Waterbank” design, which has been developed by the Zeitz Foundation and engineers and architects from Princetown University to maximise rainwater harvesting and has been specifically designed for arid areas of Africa.
Baphumelele is located in the township of Khayelitsha, 20km southeast of Cape Town. Initially an informal settlement, Khayelitsha has grown into a community of over one million.
One of the most marginalised and poverty-stricken townships in South Africa with many residents living in self-constructed shacks, without access to clean water, electricity, or sanitation.
Chiuzira Education and Development Centre is a community based organisation, located in Chiuzira Village, about 10 km east of Lilongwe Capital City Centre in Malawi.
The Centre is a collection of an orphan care, a nursery and primary school, an underfive health care clinic, an adult literacy centre, a library, and the community centre hall.
