The OSCAR Foundation
Marlborough College has a positive, long-standing relationship with the OSCAR Foundation which has included hosting children from OSCAR at the College, most recently in October 2023, alongside pupil fundraising and pupil volunteering. The latest to volunteer, Ted Cussans (C3 2018-23) and Jasper Norman (C3 2018-23), share their experience in this article.
The OSCAR Foundation visited Marlborough and gave a presentation to the Upper Sixth in Lent 2023. The Foundation is a charity based in Mumbai, India and its objective is to educate and provide life skills sessions to underprivileged children, mostly from the slums, incentivising them to attend through football training. They have coined the phrase ‘No School. No Football,’ and since they started in 2010, they have had over 15,000 children pass through the academy. The OSCAR Foundation is a very well organised and effective charity that looks for volunteers to help provide football and English lessons, helping children from a desperately poor background. Whilst that is a rewarding objective in itself, it is also a great way to get involved in charity, whilst experiencing a totally different way of life and travelling to remote locations that one might not otherwise see: a great way to use at least a part of your gap year. And so, it was that in January 2024, we set off to Mumbai to meet the other volunteers and to do our part in helping them reach out and help the children.
The Foundation asks volunteers to raise funds to help fund the charity, with a target of £1,500 raised each. We decided to undertake a sponsored run of 10k (the distance some of the children have to travel daily to attend school) adding football to the challenge by passing a ball between us for the entire distance as we ran. Donors were asked to guess how many passes it would take, with a prize on offer for the closest guess. I’m glad to say we surpassed our initial target and raised a whopping £4,100. Now that we are in India it is really rewarding to see how far that money can go and to see it being put to such good work – and especially how happy the OSCAR kids are and how much they are benefitting from the programme.
Our time in India has been extremely busy. We interact with as many of the football sessions as possible, traveling around Mumbai by rickshaw and trains – always a great experience. We also help with English lessons and have given children from the age of 10 a basic understanding of simple phrases and games such as rock, paper, scissors. There is plenty of time
to explore other aspects of Mumbai. We have been to the Regal Cinema, the first building in India made from reinforced concrete, where we saw a Bollywood movie, Hanuman. And we have visited the magnificent Elephanta Caves a collection of cave temples predominantly dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva dating back to the 2nd century. We’ve also climbed the Kalavatin Durg, a challenging trek involving climbing near vertical steps carved into the rock to a tiny pinnacle – exhilarating with amazing views, but a pretty sketchy path with no ropes or guides. We eat very well with meals costing about £6 a day on average, and all the locals are very friendly and extremely pleased to see us, wanting to take photos with us or just to talk to us. And of course, playing football and cricket with the locals on the Oval Maiden is a thoroughly entertaining and enjoyable experience.
At the time of writing this, we are in a tiny rural village called Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan, a complete contrast to the bustle of Mumbai, staying with a local family and playing more football with the children out here. All in all, it has
been action packed, and we are very pleased to help the OSCAR foundation in what is a rewarding way both for them and us. An experience we can thoroughly recommend.
If you are interested in volunteering for OSCAR please contact Lucinda@oscar-foundation.org or read blog posts from former volunteers on their website. https://www.oscar-international.org
Please donate to fund the next OSCAR tour: https://www.justgiving.com/page/ marlborough-college-oscar-2023
Old Marlburian of the Year Award
Ted and Jasper have been nominated for this award which recognises the impact that OMs go on to have on society long after their time at school.
To nominate an OM please go to: https://www.marlburianclub.org/ omotya/