The Nasio Trust | Changing Lives For Good

Director Of The Nasio Trust

• Reading University 2023: Awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Reading in recognition for the work of The Nasio Trust
• Open University 2017:  Awarded an honorary doctorate for services to the educationally underprivileged
• Interview in Kenya Airways Magazine 2015
• Venus Awards 2015: UK Inspirational Woman award
• Venus Awards 2014: Oxfordshire Inspirational Woman award
• Thames Valley Police Force (UK) 2004 to 2007: Leadership and development team
• Oxford County Council Social Services 1999 to 2004 : County Domestic Violence Co-ordinator

In 2001, Nancy and her husband Jonathan founded The Nasio Trust, alongside close friends and family.

My mother, Irene, founded the original day care center after finding an abandoned baby in a sugar-field plantation. Whilst visiting in 2000 I couldn’t help but be touched by the plight of Moses and other children like him and decided to fundraise in the UK on my return. My husband Jonathan and I founded the UK arm of the Nasio Trust and I am now Director of the charity. The amazing thing is to see something so positive that started with just one child, found in a sugar cane field.

• Nasio Featured In “The History Of Parliament”
• Interview In Kenya Airways Magazine
• Nancy Wins UK’s Most Inspirational Woman!

Social Media Assistant for The Nasio Trust (volunteer).

Retired teacher of P.E and health & social care.

I started volunteering with Nasio in 2014 as a youth leader – fundraising and organising group trips to Kenya.   We visited as a family in 2019 – ran school music workshops and built a cowshed and a rainwater collection system for our sponsored child’s family. I responded to the call for help during the pandemic and began posting stories on social media in the summer of 2020.

Visiting the Nasio community in Kenya made me feel passionate about the work they do. I am proud to be part of a team that makes a real difference.

Child Sponsorship Administrator

Oxfordshire County Council 2021-2024: Social Worker
Frontline Programme/ Lancaster University 2020-2021: Trainee Social Worker and MA in Advanced Relationship Based Social Work with Children and Families
Cardiff University 2020: Undergraduate Degree in Religion and Theology

I joined the team in August 2024.

I’m so pleased to have the opportunity to contribute to the incredible works of The Nasio Trust. I have a passion for supporting young people and communities and am looking forward to everything the Child Sponsorship role has to offer.

Assistant programme and administrative officer.

Student at University of Exeter.

I joined Nasio in September 2022.

I have just graduated university and am taking a gap year. I am extremely excited to be a part of the Nasio team and looking forward to helping them complete their missions.

Grant Administrator

Before starting with Nasio, I was working as an Editorial Assistant for an online education company and worked on producing curriculum-based history content for school children in the UK and US.

I joined Nasio in February 2020.

I have had the pleasure of knowing both Nancy personally and the work of The Nasio Trust for more than ten years now. However, working for the charity over these past two difficult years has shown me how truly vital Nasio’s work is, also how deeply passionate the UK and Kenyan teams continue to be in delivering it. It is a privilege to be able to add my own contribution to the charity’s great work.

Programme Officer

Student at University of Oxford

I joined Nasio in August 2022.

I interned with the Nasio Trust in 2021, and am now very excited to contribute to the charity’s objectives in this new capacity.

Digital Design

I currently work in data for Specsavers by day, and look after the Nasio Trust’s website & design interests on evenings and weekends. Since leaving university I’ve worked a broad spectrum of roles from tele-sales and customer service, to eCommerce at an online beauty retailer. (I also really like going in the sea!)

I began working with Nasio around 2007.

Being able to be a small part of the incredible work undertaken by the Nasio Trust is a privilege and an honour. They truly are changing lives.

Supporter Relations Manager

I worked for 20 years for the BBC in many production teams working behind the scenes on a variety of programmes from Drama to Documentaries.

Hello, I’m Emma and I love working with Nancy Hunt and the team at The Nasio Trust. The  purpose of my role at Nasio, is to ensure we continue to build on the relationships we have with our  loyal friends, child sponsors and business partners. Working together we can continue to raise funds and volunteer support which in turn benefits the lives of our children.

Part time Financial Controller of the Nasio Trust

Finance Director, Fish Brothers (Holdings) Ltd

So long ago I can’t remember!

I’m a Chartered Accountant and retired as FD of a large privately owned company in 2021. I’m very pleased to be able to help the charity make a positive difference to so many young lives.

Treasurer

Current Director at Expert Wealth Management, Co-founder of the Nasio Trust Treasurer of the Trust before becoming the current Chairman.

In my professional life I have a successful Oxfordshire Based Financial Planning Business, Expert Wealth Management. A Chartered Financial Planner and Fellow of the Personal Finance Society. Jonathan has also completed the Investment Management Certificate and Level 1 of the Chartered Financial Analyst. Find out more about Jonathan’s work as a financial planner here.

Jonathan Hunt set up The Nasio Trust with his wife Nancy in 2001.

Starting the Charity when we only had 5 faithful supporters each contributing £10 per month into an account to support the only first 15 orphans, it is truly amazing what has come out of this small band of people who wanted to make a difference with the little they had. Because of them the trust now supports over 300 orphans & vulnerable children. That is simply amazing. Above all though I have been privileged to see God’s miracles happening at first hand. That can only build and strengthen one’s Faith.

Chairman, Nasio Kenya Board of Trustees.

CEO of a level four hospital in Kenya.

Entrepreneur.

2018

Having worked as a healthcare provider for several years, my greatest fulfilment has been to see my patients get better health wise or restore their hope for a better tomorrow. Joining Nasio Trust, a charitable organization, as a board member and eventually as the Kenyan Board chairman, has granted me the undeniable opportunity to not only impact lives positively, but to do so in the most compassionate way I can.

Together as a team we will create a difference with humanity.

Consulting Analyst at Mercer

2017-2020: BA, University of Warwick
2020- 2021: MA, University of Warwick

I have had experience in publishing, accounting and education before joining the Nasio team.

I joined the team in November 2021.

I am passionate about the importance of equal access to education for everyone. Once I heard about Nasio’s educational projects and future plans, I knew I wanted to get involved. The work that Nasio does is inspiring. Nancy and the team’s close contact with communities in Kenya and focus on sustainable development means one person can make a big difference.

There is more to do and I am excited that I get to work with the team and volunteers to develop the charity’s future and help change many more lives.

Owner at Gareth Lawrence Accounting & Bookkeeping

I have worked in accountancy from the age of 16 working in both small and large practices. After qualifying, I started my own practice in April 2019 and have been on a mission to help small businesses understand their finances ever since.

I joined Nasio in 2020, shortly after starting to advise on an update in accounting processes.

While I find the work my business does incredibly rewarding I’ve always felt I could do more to help wider society. When I got introduced to the charity I knew this was a cause I could get behind and really make a massive difference to some amazing people. Nancy is an incredible person and the charity is under fantastic leadership. I am so glad to be a part of this journey.

I love adventure! Every year I go on a cycle tour with my father. In 2019 we did the biggest trip yet, cycling and wild camping from northern France to Valencia.

Nasio Kenya Board of Trustees
Director, Management Decision Information, Consultancy Services, Kenya
Principal, Leadership Academy, Kenya

In February 1990, I embarked on a teaching career in Western Kenya for a several years before joining an audit consultancy firm providing administrative support. I was later briefly involved in company secretarial work before joining the NGO sector where I worked for over 20 years in different capacities gaining varied exposure in program administration and management, program implementation and ultimately to providing international consultancy services in policy advocacy and data use.

Having heard the good work about Nasio Project over the years and my two adult children volunteering for internship with the project, I eventually joined as an guest during the October 2018 Board Meeting and volunteered to serve on the Kenya Trustees Board in March 2019.

Nasio Trust’s Mission, “Changing Lives for Good” creates an ideal match for my involvement with the Program. Empowering communities in Western Kenya to break the cycle of poverty has provided me an opportunity to put into practice my life mission; “Service to Humanity”. The opportunity to serve the Vulnerable Orphans and Widows building on a legacy from my family heritage – Irene Mdenyo, my Grandmother and Matriarch to the Project, offering them hope and sustenance, is my passion and driving force to contribute in a small way. I’m proud to be a part of this great work and trust that Nasios’ light will blaze brighter as we pull our resources together for good.

Clinical Psychologist in the NHS

I have been working as a Clinical Psychologist for the last nineteen years I have been working for the NHS Trust offering psychological assessments and interventions and have experience and a track record of promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable people. This is within multi-disciplinary teams within different services and in community settings. I have experience in providing speciality psychological assessment of referred clients based upon appropriate use, interpretation, and integration of complex data from psychological and neurology psychological testing. I have worked with adults, their families, carers and support systems to facilitate psychological assessments and interventions. I specialise in working with people with learning disabilities and have extensive experience in the field of mental health. I have previously undertaken several assessments of persons suffering from learning disabilities from rural villages of Kutch district of Gujarat and other parts of India. I am currently working as Clinical Psychologist with the Berkshire National Health Trust Health Trust. I am HCPC registered.

I was one of the co-founders

It has been an incredible journey and wonderful opportunity to work with the Trust. My experience has been most enriching as the work resonates centrally with my core values. I am born and raised in Kenya and am a practising Christian. The work with orphans and widow is centred on my Christian faith to support the underprivileged. It has given me an invaluable opportunity to contribute to the community that I originally come from and hold dear to my heart.

Product Manager at RM Results

I have been working in Publishing (Education sector) in various roles for over fifteen years; I have a passion for Technology and Organisational Change. I am a very keen Yoga practitioner and passionate about the World and Environment.

I officially joined Nasio in 2020, but my husband has been sponsoring a child for the last couple of years, and we have been admiring Nancy and her work since he first met her during a Golf Day in 2018!

It is a great honour for me to be welcome in the Nasio’s family and be given the opportunity to use my skills and expertise for a cause it is very worth fighting, with a team that I immensely admire, and from which I learn more and more every day.

Chair of Trustees, The Nasio Trust

Joined the board in a support and advisory role after a short period in 2010/11, then fully in May 2013 to advise on the five-year strategy for Nasio and assist with policy and management issues both in the UK and Kenya.

One thing I can say is Nasio is charity which sets ambitious goals and then meets them. It is highly effective in all that it does in improving (and saving) the lives of the people in Western Kenya and breaking the cycle of poverty. It delivers what is needed on the ground efficiently and quickly and is recognised by other NGOs as an organisation which is highly effective at achieving what others are unable to do – it is the leading NGO in this part of Kenya. The standards and values set at the Early Childhood Development Centres is of such high quality that children are well ahead, happy and confident, when they go to primary school and the ECDs attract students from outside. The Nasio is now positioned to broaden its outreach across Western Kenya and take the lead in in the education, welfare and self-sustainability of the communities

Director/founder of two international start-ups focused on cyber-security (GardPass Cyber) and Dementia research (Oxonix)

IT/cyber professional at Hewlett Packard

2017

I discovered Nasio back in 2012 when I climbed Kilimanjaro and visited the projects in Western Kenya. I was immediately excited by how a small charity like Nasio was having a big impact. Even in my time there, I witnessed that in several ways.

Subsequently I helped establish the UK youth work at Wallingford School which occasionally involved me teaching very simple Kiswahili!

Excited about helping move Nasio onto its next stage in the journey.

Charity Secretary

Before I retired in 2015 I worked as the Administration Manager in the Nasio UK office.

I came from a teaching background of 30 years’ experience, where I was Deputy Head of a local Primary School. I have had advisory role experience in training, coaching and mentoring new teachers and students. I also worked for 5 years as an Administrator for Thames Valley Police in their Learning and Development section.

I joined the NASIO trust in the administration role in February 2012

I have been a supporter of the Nasio Trust since 2004, when my daughter selected one of the first 15 orphans admitted to the Noah’s Ark kiosk for me to sponsor. My first visit was in 2005. I went to join an Exit 7 group, who were painting the new building ready for its opening later that week. I have since returned 11 times to witness NASIO’s work grow from feeding and education to community health care, medical intervention, farming projects, HIV awareness, medical clinics, the conversion of the chief’s house into accommodation to medical clinics. God’s hand has been over this work and He has never failed. I have seen miracles happen!

Our Guesthouse team ensures that your stay with Nasio is relaxing and accommodating:

• Edna Oluoch – Guesthouse Manager
• Vivian Okwara – Guesthouse Chef
• Evans Kanali – Guesthouse Chef
• Luttah – Groundsmen
• Regina Auma – Guesthouse Housekeeper

Our Accounts and Admin team help ensure our finances are in order and help procure items for our beneficiaries and volunteers

Our Youth department work alongside our young people with our Peer Education programme, along with working in local schools and communities to promote safe and healthy living.

Ensuring that the children at Noah’s Ark get the best possible start in life.

Ensuring the children at St Irene’s get the best start in life.

Godfrey, Caroline, Lynn and team work tirelessly at the Medical Centre to support over 20,000 in the community each year.

Nasio’s agriculture team do an amazing job working across: our tree nursery, spirulina production, fishponds, farms, gardens, and with our dairy animals.

Olympic Gold Medallist Rower

Joined in 2015!

The Nasio Trust are making a really positive and crucially important impact in a very remote corner of the world. It is hard to imagine the position that these orphans would be in without the support of the charity. They are highly ambitious and believe in a sustainable model, which I really admire.

Head of English, Summer Fields Preparatory School

Head of Junior English, Cokethorpe School

I joined the Nasio Board when the charity started over ten years ago.

It is a privilege to work for a Christian charity like The Nasio Trust; to see truly humanitarian work being done among remote communities in Kenya, and to see children cared for and supported. ‘The King will reply, ”Truly I tell you, whatever you did for the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”’ Matt 25:40

Currently works as a Community Health Support Worker.

Volunteer as a Church Warden.

One of the co-founders in 2001 and daughter of Irene Mudenyo who found baby moses.

I have so much compassion and being a board member I can influence how we change lives for good both in Kenya and around the world regardless of age.