Stephen Gosztony was a lifelong friend of Build It International.
In 2007, he provided seed funding to allow the newly registered Charity to start work. As well as being a friend of the founder and CEO, Andrew Jowett, Stephen was enthusiastic about the proposition of supporting education and training for disadvantaged young people in Africa. He had a real interest in creating opportunities for people to grow and develop and for encouraging others at an early stage in their working lives.
So, it is no exaggeration to say that without Stephen’s early involvement, Build It might not exist today.
As the charity grew, Stephen remained a hugely generous supporter and advisor. He was a founding member of the Development Board. He also set up and sponsored an annual Build It dinner at Walbrook Club in the City which is still going strong after 10 years.
Although a very busy person, Stephen was always interested in the challenges Build It faced and was always on hand to help. He twice visited Zambia to see Build It’s work first hand, including a trip with his family to attend the opening ceremony for new classrooms at Mikumbila school that they had sponsored.
It’s been a privilege to be involved with Build It over the years and a real joy to see its impact on people’s lives… I feel proud of being associated with Build It.”
Stephen Gosztony, message to Build It in 2021
As his friends and colleagues at Capital Group well know, Stephen was a great believer in taking the long-term view. He understood the immense value to charities of having a reliable ongoing income stream, and was an advocate of the benefits that can flow from setting up an endowment fund.
Creating The Gosztony Endowment Fund is fitting way to remember him, and continue to support the work he helped to start.
Once established, the fund will be invested to generate income for Build It International’s work which is currently focused in Zambia.
Income received from the fund will be available for all of our activities, but will be especially important to support the core skills training programme at our Centre for Excellence.
The capital of the expendable endowment fund may be spent where it is in the interests of the fund’s purposes but there is no requirement to do so, and it is intended that The Gosztony Endowment Fund will be an on-going vehicle through which to raise funds to support the activities of Build it International over the long term.
I know that Stephen would be honoured to have a fund set up in his name to support a charity which he had been involved with for fifteen years.
He would be particularly delighted for it to be an endowment fund, which will bring benefits for the trainees and communities for many years to come.”
Sue Butcher, Stephen’s wife
It costs £1,000 to put one young person through our life changing training programme.
So £25,000 invested in the fund at a yield of 4% per annum, would pay for one trainee every year.
Update August 2023: On the anniversary of Stephen’s passing, we are delighted to share that so far the fund has raised £311,000. Thank-you to everyone who has contributed. We will keep the appeal open until at least the end of the year.
To find out how you can support The Gosztony Endowment Fund, including information on donating from the US, please get in touch with Lisa Carson, Head of Fundraising and Communications on +44 (0)7865 573 443 or email lisa@builditinternational.org
UK Office
Build It International
Windsor House
Windsor Place
Shrewsbury SY1 2BY
United Kingdom
+44 (0)7865 573443
Zambia Office
BII Zambia Ltd
Centre for Excellence
Sub Division A- Farm 9317
Great North Road
Chibombo
Zambia
+260 211 267715
Build It International never uses the services of agents or third parties when negotiating contracts. Please contact info@builditinternational.org if anyone makes any representations to this effect.
