Double Blue Trust

The Double Blue Trust

Dear Old Boys and Friends of Wesley College Colombo,

We write to advise you of an initiative being taken to enable Wesley College Colombo, stand among the top ranking boys’ schools in Colombo. It follows suggestions and active encouragement from many Old Boys, especially those resident in Australia. The initiative is completely apolitical and is intended solely to assist the Alma Mater. There is no intention to compete with any other body associated with Wesley; this activity will be complementary to theirs.

As Wesley is a non-fee levying school it is difficult to maintain desirable standards academically, in sports and in building maintenance. The birth of the “Double Blue Trust” follows a discussion at the Galle Face Hotel on 21^st May 2006, which was hosted by William Deutrom. The others present at that meeting were M.A.P. Fernando (Principal), Lalith Wijesinghe, Afghar Mohideen, Mahendra Dissanayake, Richard Ebell and David Hills.

This summarises what was discussed:

· To arrest any decline and raise standards at Wesley- academic, sporting and infrastructural- the establishment of a Trust to receive contributions from Old Boys was agreed.

· David Hills would assist on a full time basis from 1^st July 2006, to help carry this intention through.

· A Plan will be drawn up and used to harness support from a network of Old Boys, expanded over a period of time. Disbursements of monies collected will be based on the Plan.

· Linkages to all College associations are important, and will continue to be so in the future.

· The appointment of a group of Trustees was envisaged- individuals who it was felt would be acceptable to Old Boys and College associations, to help credibility and the continuing buy-in of stakeholders.

· These Trustees will be the Principal (currently Mr M A P Fernando), Prof. Mahroof Ismail, Mahendra Disssanayake and Richard Ebell

· A committee comprising old boys resident in Sri Lanka and overseas will be appointed to assist the Trustees.

This action has taken place since then:

ü A website for the Trust, which is now accessible at: www.wesleycollege.org/dbtrust/ has been established . We have also set up a database for Old Boys’ information and email communication.

ü A Trust Deed is being finalised by a leading professional firm of lawyers.

ü A Funding Plan for the Trust is being finalised. This will include a prioritized list of projects to be undertaken in the short- and long- term.

Regular feedback, accountability and audit have been identified as important aspects of the “Trust”.

We invite contributions to support this initiative, so we may build up the resources available and proceed with this task.

Cheques / Drafts must be made out to “The Double Blue Trust” and crossed ‘A/C Payee Only’ and mailed to: Mr. David Hills, c/o Wesley College, Colombo 10. Australian contributors – you may prefer to mail your cheques to the WCOBU, Box 123, Glenway MDC, Mulgrave 3170 Australia, for onward transmission."

Yours sincerely,

M A P Fernando, Principal, Wesley College, Colombo
Prof Mahroof Ismail
Richard Ebell
Mahendra Dissanayake.

PS: Please feel free to forward this correspondence to any Wesleyite you may know, whom we have not informed for want of an address.