The name is Nijboer, Johannes Nijboer. I am incredibly excited to be running the London Marathon for the The Hannah Memorial Academy on 2nd October 2022. This story section provides some bits about what The Hannah Memorial Academy is all about. The Hannah Memorial Academy is an amazing charity supporting a primary school in a poor region of India. I am hoping that any funds I raise will be put towards the charities next big project – to install an all weather sports pitch for the children to use all year round.

The Hanna Memorial Academy

The Hannah Memorial Academy Charitable Trust is a foundation supporting a primary school for under privileged children in one of the poorest regions of Darjeeling, India. With the support of the charity, the school is able to provide free education, food and healthcare services for the local community, situated around the Dhooteriah Tea Garden.

The school also serves as a permanent memorial to the life of a young Southampton girl, Hannah Foster. Setup in Hannah’s name, the school is the vision of Jason Lepcha, who wanted to provide local children with free education and a good start in life.

To help Jason realise his dream and ensure the continuation of the school and vital services it provides to the local community, the Hannah Memorial Academy Charitable Trust was setup in 2008 by a group of UK based trustees.

Funds raised by the charity are used to cover a range of things to help ensure the school runs smoothly including spend on: uniforms, books and equipment for the children; construction and maintenance of the school buildings and grounds; staff training; and financial support for the children as they move onto Secondary school.

The pandemic saw a tough few years for the school but it remained an important part of the community and stayed open for education when possible. It was also used as a vaccination centre and for vital health services.

The charity recently used funds to install solar lighting for the school and all its classrooms. The next big project for the charity will involve installing an all-weather sports pitch to be used by the children to play a range of different sports and allow them to participate in physical education all year round. Currently the school has a dirt playing field, which gets very muddy in the rainy season. Funds from my marathon run will be put towards this important project.