St David's Marist Foundation UK Charity Trust

The UK Trustees continue to be committed to establishing a successful and vibrant UK chapter, which will focus on strengthening the ties between the Marist diaspora, their South African “brothers” and the Foundation.

The SDMF UK Charity Trust supports the endeavours of the Foundation by funding bursaries, scholarships and projects, as identified by the St David’s Foundation UK Charity Trustees.

We were delighted to be represented at South Africa House in London this past December as part of the annual SA-UK Trust Network gathering. St David’s Marist Foundation UK Charity Chair Paul Clare was invited to give a presentation on the St David’s Marist Foundation and the SDMF UK Charity trust (the UK Chapter of the Foundation) and shared stories of St David’s bursary recipients and the life-changing impact of the opportunity of a St David’s education, particularly in these time when Covid-19 and the pandemic has had, and is having a devastating impact on schooling: https://www.sa-uktrusts.org.uk/?page_id=194

The UK Old Boys’ Fund supports the endeavours of the Foundation by raising funds to support bursaries, scholarships and projects as identified by the St David’s Marist Foundation UK Charity Trustees.

Paul Clare (Chairman) (St David’s class of 1982) – Chairman UK
Paul is a 1982 old boy – since matriculating he has followed a career in international banking, which has taken him around the world; he is currently living in London. He has served on a variety of industry and civic boards and committees.

Svend Littauer (St David’s class of 1988) – UK
Svend matriculated at St David’s in 1988 and is a BCom (Law) and Economic Honours graduate of the University of Johannesburg. Having left South Africa in 2000 for the UK, he has since held various legal roles.

Gianpaolo Pera (St David’s class of 2000) – UK
Gianpaolo matriculated at St David’s in 2000 and has lived in the UK since 2003, holding various roles in the corporate finance and private equity industry. Gianpaolo is currently the CEO of African Capital Investments, a boutique corporate finance and investments firm focused on sub-Saharan Africa. Gianpaolo holds BA (Hons) and MSc degrees in Finance, and is a qualified chartered accountant and chartered financial analyst.

Simon Denny (St David’s class of 1994 and St David's Marist Foundation Vice-chair: South Africa)
Simon is managing director of Goldman Sachs and head of investment banking in South Africa, based in Johannesburg. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, Simon was managing director and co-head of Banking Africa at Barclays and spent over 10 years at Deutsche Bank, where he was the head of corporate finance for South Africa and a member of the executive committee. Simon matriculated from St David's in 1994 and previously served as a Trustee of the Old Boys' Bursary Fund and on the committee of the Old Boys' Association. Simon holds BCom, BCom (Hons) and LLB degrees and is a qualified chartered accountant. Simon was elected as Vice-chairman of the Foundation in February 2017, and as a member of the Board of St David’s Marist Inanda in September 2019.

SDMF UK Charity Foundation Manager: Fiona Budd
Fiona trained in Durban and at the Royal Ballet School in London, dancing professionally with PACT Ballet for seven years, before working for a private bank. In 2000 she was one of the six founder members of The South African Ballet Theatre, where she also danced as senior soloist, before taking the reins as managing director. In 2011 she was selected as one of the first 10 South African volunteers on the Vodacom Change the World Programme, working as fundraiser and marketer for the Sandton SPCA. In 2012 she joined CAF Southern Africa (a non-profit working to facilitate giving, philanthropy, social investment and volunteering) as business development manager, and presented on behalf of CAFSA at the international WINGS Philanthropy Conference in Istanbul, Turkey, in March 2014. In October 2014 she joined the St David's Marist Foundation and is currently Foundation Director.

Monthly or once-off contributions in support of the UK Charity Trust are most welcome:

• Please click here for the UK Charity Trust's banking details
• Please click here to donate via the CAF Donate online platform
• To complete a Gift Aid form, download the form below

Gift Aid allows charities to claim the basic rate tax on every pound donated. So if you donate £100 to the SDMF UK Charity Trust, it means that you could actually be giving us £125. Giving under Gift Aid means that so much more money can be raised at no extra cost to our donors.

Please click below to download a Standing Order Mandate Form (please return your completed form to foundation@stdavids.co.za).