Early Funders

From the beginning, the founders of Waterford Kamhlaba wanted all students who qualified academically to be able to attend regardless of their ability to pay, making funds for bursaries a necessity. Early fundraisers were Christopher Newton Thompson, chairman of the school’s Executive Council, which later became the Southern African Trustees, and South African businessman Clive Menell, a friend of Michael Stern’s. In 1963, Michael Stern established the Waterford School Trust in London, with Chairman Dr Eric Abbott, Dean of Westminster. The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Wolfson Foundation, and the Anglo-American Corporation were early donors, with Harry Oppenheimer, Chairman of Anglo-American, funding the science laboratories (which are still used today). Friends of Waterford also established a ‘Fifty Club’ in Johannesburg, for those who were willing to give £50 for the initial costs. All of these efforts allowed what seemed a crazy idea discussed over a campfire to become a reality.

Another family that contributed to WK was the Attenborough, whose relationship with Waterford started a long time ago between husband and wife, Richard and Sheila Attenborough, who were benefactors of the school during its early days. When Richard and Sheila tragically lost their daughter, Jane Holland, in a tsunami in 2005 they funded the building of the Arts Centre and the Centre for Creative Learning Drama in memory of their daughter.