Thirty years of youth friendship and cultural understanding, across no fewer than sixty two different countries, was celebrated by the Frome-based GIFT trust in the Futures Building at Frome Community College this week.
The Reg Gilbert International Youth Friendship Trust (GIFT) was established at the College in 1986, at the behest of the respected geography teacher at the time, Reg Gilbert, who with other colleagues had undertaken several pioneering overseas cultural visits with Frome students.
These visits, some of the first ever undertaken by a ‘state school’ in the late 1970s and 80s, included Iceland, Algeria and Ghana, culminating with an ambitious journey to Papua New Guinea. The knowledge gained from living directly with indigenous communities was the founding ethos of the GIFT trust.
From GIFT’s humble beginnings in 1986, when the Trust simply supported youngsters from colleges in Somerset, the Trust has evolved as a respected national organisation to encourage cross-cultural understanding with universities and colleges across the UK.
Almost three hundred bursaries have been granted to young people over the years to enable them to live and work with local people in diverse locations in Africa, Asia, Central and South America, the Middle East, even to remote islands in the Pacific Ocean.
Although it has not been possible to locate and get former bursary holders to Frome for the 30th Anniversary Celebration, local students were able to hear about recent cultural visits made by bursary holders.
The occasion was attended by the 94 year old founder of GIFT, Reg Gilbert, and the only other remaining ‘founder trustee’ Derek Trick.
Derek, who has been Chairman of GIFT for the past eight years, announced his retirement from the Trust after 30 years commitment, saying,
“GIFT has always advocated that young people should broaden their classroom experiences by expanding their knowledge of other cultures and to appreciate their place in the ‘global village’.
“It has been a privilege to have been connected with so many young people from around the UK who have done just that. We claim cultural visits would be a life-changing experiences, and I am so proud to have been part of the thirty years development of the Trust. GIFT has also been my life changing experience!”
Patrick Cusworth, also a former geography teacher at Frome College, and who worked with Reg Gilbert before his retirement, has now been elected to undertake the role as the new Chairman of the GIFT Trust.
