The governor of a Mansfield school has been recognised by two separate organisations for her humanitarian work.

Val Leivers, of Samworth Church Academy, will receive the Champions of Change award from Rotary International Great Britain and Ireland and has also been made an honorary member of The Townswomen’s Guilds.

The latter award was also given to former Paralympian Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson and historian and writer Jane Robinson this year.

A retired deputy head teacher, Val taught English as a volunteer for a few weeks at Nottingham Prison before being asked to stay on a formal basis for six years.

The income from that was used for voluntary projects in India. She now dedicates herself to voluntary work in the country’s orphanages and tribal villages.

One of her main projects is the transformation of a school in Secunderabad, which has taken it from an under-resourced and ill-equipped school for 100 children, to a thriving and fit-for-purpose school for 1,390 children from disadvantaged families.

The national Rotary award was specifically awarded to Val for the £1.2m she has raised, and her unstinting work to improve conditions through many projects in India, mainly in the Hyderabad area of Telangana, and especially at the Sri Sai Vidyarthi School.

In 2010, Val changed the face of Rotary when she became the first female Rotary District Governor in the Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, and Staffordshire district.

She is the only female Rotarian in Great Britain and Ireland to receive both of Rotary International’s highest accolades — the Service Above Self award and the Rotary Foundation’s Distinguished Service Award.

Val said that in the seven years she has been supporting the school in India, a difficult but ultimately successful transformation has taken place.

“My involvement with the school began when my husband, Terry, and I were looking to sponsor some children throughout their education. We contacted our Indian friends in Rotary, and this eventually led to my husband and I sponsoring two boys after we had visited the school ourselves,” she explained.

“When we arrived, it was one big room with an awful corrugated tin roof, in boiling heat, and with a tree growing through the floor of the classroom where 100 children sat. The teachers were working extremely hard with little infrastructure or facilities and so we decided to see what more we could do to help.”

That is when Val’s life became a quest for funds and equipment to transform the school from an unsafe building with few resources, to a beacon of learning for its community.

Now the school meets fire and safety regulations, has large, clean classrooms, a library, tables and seating, a science lab, computers, and ample learning resources for the 1,390 pupils.

The school’s principal, Dr Prasad, has been recognised as the Best Principal of 2020 by the India Science Institute.
Val spends five weeks in Hyderabad each year, staying at friends’ homes, at an Ashram school in a tribal village, and in the Secunderabad school with Dr Prasad’s family.

On her return to the UK, she fundraises by various means, including gardening and decorating, as well as speaking to many different organisations to seek their support.

“I try to raise funds wherever I can, and I am always busy,” said Val. “The school can now operate at a high standard with committed and fully-qualified teachers, with amazing children and in a community whose aspirations are rising.

“They understand that education offers their children better life chances than ever before. They inspire me to keep going. They never give up so why should I?”

It is that spirit and dedication to her charity work that led to Val’s invitation to speak to a large audience at The Townswomen’s Guilds’ International Women’s Day Conference in 2019 about her quest to improve education, particularly for underprivileged girls, in India.

Subsequently the membership voted to make Val an honorary member with the following citation. “At The Townswomen’s Guild we are immensely proud of the outstanding women who through their actions and principles have had a positive impact in the fight for equality.”

Now Val says she has more work to do. After providing every child at the school in India with a pair of shoes last year, all 1,390 of them, she says her shopping list is still full.

The principal of Samworth Church Academy, Lisa McVeigh, said: “Val has served on Samworth Church Academy’s board of governors with the same energy and commitment she shows to everything she does. It is no surprise to us that she has been recognised for such awards and she thoroughly deserves the recognition for her service.”