Sarah Elizabeth Groves
Sarah was born in Wythenshawe Hospital, Manchester on the summer solstice 1988 and lived her early years in Alderley Edge and Knutsford in Cheshire and latterly in Guernsey. She attended Mt. Carmel School in Alderley Edge (now the Alderley Edge School for Girls); Blanchelande College in Guernsey; St Mary’s Ascot (for 7 years) and finally Chelsea College of Art in London. She worked in various administrative rôles before becoming a fully qualified fitness instructor at the Old Government House Hotel, Guernsey. Her true passions in life were fitness and art.
On 6th April 2013, Sarah was tragically murdered on a house boat in Kashmir, India. Although only 24 years old, Sarah touched an incredible number of people with her selfless nature and infectious smile during her short lifetime. She was a source of kindness and inspiration for many, many people - something that has become ever-more apparent after her passing.
The Sarah Groves Foundation
Towards the end of 2013 the Sarah Groves Foundation was registered in Guernsey as a not-for-profit, charitable trust with the aim of fulfilling Sarah's own ambition in life - to enhance the lives of young people, especially of those less fortunate than herself.
Our Mission Statement is quite simply ‘Enhancing young lives’.
Using the key-words Children, Art, Fitness and Adventure, all of which featured heavily in Sarah’s own life, our philosophy is to achieve our Mission Statement this in two ways – both in the way we raise funds and in the way we distribute them.
On the fundraising side we organise and support life-changing initiatives in which we encourage people of all ages from all walks of life to take on challenges that they wouldn't normally consider or that wouldn't normally be available to them – often well outside of their comfort zones as you will see elsewhere.
On the distribution side we seek to support activities that benefit children, especially within the realms of Art (in its broadest sense), Fitness and Adventure.
Use of Funds
Since inception, we have financed or part-financed many activities including £50,000 towards the Guille-Allès Children’s Library in St Peter Port in 2018, the main room of which bears Sarah’s name; full support for four parent-and-toddler drop-in centres in conjunction with Home-Start Guernsey at a cost of £23,000 per annum; the distribution of 20 children’s bikes at Christmas and many other activities, details of which may be found here.
Due to the immense success of the children’s library project referred to, the Trustees have decided that schemes of this type provide wider-based and longer-lasting benefits than others that are here today and gone tomorrow. Other projects that fit this definition are under consideration but not to the exclusion of all others that fulfil our primary consideration of ‘Enhancing Young Lives’.
Fundraising
We organise life-changing fundraising events, specifically designed to push people to do something astonishing. Examples include our group cycling epics such as Guernsey to Paris in 2014, Guernsey to Bilbao and back in 2016, and Guernsey to Amsterdam in 2018.
In addition to our official events, many people have raised money for the Foundation under their own initiative; running marathons and half-marathons in London, Chicago, Amsterdam, South Africa and the Marathon des Sables in North Africa; undertaken triathlons; taken part in long distance walks and many other events.
We always welcome ideas and suggestions on potential fundraising initiatives; big or small. We can also provide guidance and support when needed. If you're interested in raising funds on our behalf – either as part of one of our expeditions or by way of a personal initiative – contact us.
Details of our previous and upcoming fundraising events can be found here.