St Andrews Athletic Union Donates Stove to Zambian Orphanage

A donation from the University of St Andrews Athletic Union and St Andrews students has funded a new five-plate gas stove for the Fountain of Hope orphanage in Lusaka, Zambia.

The Fountain of Hope orphanage houses and teaches approximately 140 children, with a further 150 vulnerable young people coming to the centre for hot meals every day. Founded in 1996, the centre serves as a home, medical centre, and school, providing a safe place for children to learn, have a safe place to sleep, and get a meal.

The donation was made possible through the University’s long-term partnership with the Zambian charity Sports in Action as part of the Wallace Group. The Wallace Group is a collaborative project between eight universities in the United Kingdom. Named after the former Vice-Chancellor of Loughborough University, Sir David Wallace, the group aims to support the development of sport in Zambia.

Following St Andrews joining the Wallace Group in 2012, Director of Sport Stephen Stewart stated that it was a “great opportunity for our students to start to mix with students from other universities, different sports, different backgrounds”. He added that the aim of the Wallace Group was to use “sport to convey the importance of education”.

For Athletic Union President Olivia King, sport is all about “bringing people together and fostering active wellbeing”. Developing sports is important because it “not only keeps people physically fit, [but it also] has positive effects on mental wellbeing [and] enables people to develop social skills, leadership skills, and many more”.

The stove will help to alleviate cooking challenges the centre has been facing, including the ongoing scheduled load-shedding and rising charcoal costs. These issues have been exacerbated by the rainy season, which made it difficult to cook outside and keep the charcoal dry. With the donation of the stove, the centre’s ability to cook and provide hot meals will be significantly improved, enabling the provision of better food and care for the young people they look after.

The stove is the latest donation in a long history of support for the Fountain of Hope orphanage. The partnership funded the installation of a multisport court in 2019, the renovation of the toilet and shower block in 2023, and the creation of a fundraising initiative which sees the Wallace Group and partners subsidise 100 per cent of food costs for the centre.

According to Stewart, 3.6 million meals have been funded by the Wallace Group, and around 50 children’s educations are funded every year, with a number of Zambian young adults being funded through university education in the United Kingdom. Over the last twenty years, the group has raised £750,000.

St Andrews students have directly funded the stove for the children at the centre. The money raised from ticket sales for the Union’s sports night, Sinners, goes toward these projects. King states: “An easy way for students to get involved with raising funds to help Sport in Action is simply by attending the Sinners event at the Union each month.” She also shares that another way to support Sports in Action is by donating any sports kit, clothing, shoes, teamwear, or equipment that is no longer needed. These can be handed into Saints Sport to be sent out to Zambia with the volunteers.

Not only are there plans to establish a Sport in Action society, but the University of St Andrews and the Wallace Group plan to launch a new project in rural villages in Zambia. The project will encourage students who do not have to come from a sports background and have an interest in areas such as teaching, dance, and music to volunteer in these villages during Summer 2026.

Image by University of St Andrews