About Us

Paul Ramsbottom

Paul is the Chair of the charity, and through his employment as chief executive of the Wolfson Foundation provides a link to the broader charity and philanthropy sectors.  Paul takes a wider interest in issues relating to philanthropy in the UK as a speaker and writer. He has undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in History from the University of Oxford.

He is a trustee of Mercy Ships UK, a judge for the World’s Best School Prizes and a CCB Fellow of the University of Oxford. His hometown university, the University of Bedfordshire, awarded him an honorary doctorate in 2013 and he was recently awarded an OBE for services to charity.

Paul lives in West Sussex and is married to Karen, a chartered accountant. They have four daughters called Lily, Ella, Phoebe and Annie.

Howard Hickman

Howard trained as a software engineer, and is currently serving as a Principal Team Coach at u-blox, a Swiss technology firm. He is part of the Leadership Team of the business unit responsible for Web Services, and in his role, Howard focuses on the people, interactions and ways of working within the business unit and across the broader organization.

Howard has been involved with work in Ghana for over 25 years, and was the initial contact from which the work of the Trust developed.

Howard is married to Liz and they have six children, the eldest of whom are triplets.

Stephen Ramsbottom

Stephen’s career in education started in Africa, teaching at a school near Bulawayo, in Zimbabwe. He spent 18 years as Head of Geography, developing his interest in effective pedagogy and completing a Master’s in Teaching and Learning  Now, as a senior leader at an Independent School in St Albans, Stephen brings an educational perspective to the Trust. He currently holds responsibility for school improvement focusing on teaching and learning, teacher development, and staff appraisal. Stephen’s specialism in Geography gives an understanding of wider development issues and the broader social and environmental aspects of the work.

Stephen lives in Luton and is married to Sharon. They have three children – India, Finlay and Freddie.

Rick Cooper

Rick is a Business Consultant for a major European bank, and is currently working on the delivery of key anti-Financial Crime projects. This follows several years of project management experience in the bank’s Risk division, and roles in the Chief Data Office. He studied History and Politics at Reading University, and remains interested in both.

Rick became a trustee of Savannah Education Trust in March 2016, and first travelled to Ghana in October that year.

He lives in Bedfordshire, and is married to Suzanne, a radiographer. They have two children, Emily and Joel.

Helen Skelton

Helen is a teacher and Head of Science at a comprehensive school in Hertfordshire. During her teaching career Helen has developed a particular interest in research informed pedagogy and curricular development. She is a Lead Practitioner for teaching and learning within her school and also works supporting local trainee teachers.

Before training as a teacher Helen studied Natural Sciences, and completed a PhD in Chemistry, at Cambridge University. More recently, she has completed a Master’s exploring the implications of educational research for best practice in teaching and learning in the classroom.

Helen became a trustee in 2024 and first visited Ghana in July of that year.

Matthew Roe

Matthew recently graduated from Oxford University, where he studied history, with a particular interest in 18th century religious history. He is now studying for a Masters degree at Oxford, researching the role of Particular Baptists in the British campaign to abolish the slave trade. Whilst a student, he served as Internal Vice-President of the Oxford Inter-Collegiate Christian Union.

Matthew became a trustee of Savannah in January 2024, and visited Ghana for the first time in July the same year.

Alfred Sogsuo

Alfred originally came from Bagri village where the first Savannah school was located. He is an associate Pastor in the Lawra regular Baptist church with oversight of the Babile fellowship (church plant).

He works full-time for Savannah, having held the position of accountant and assistant Country Manager for many years and now the interim Country Manager overseeing the operations of Savannah on the ground in Ghana as well as having regular contact with the trustees in the UK.

Alfred was married in 2010 and now has three children, Allen, Alvin and Albin.

Abednego Berkum Terle

Abednego originally came from the Chief palace of Lawra, the son of Pastor Charles Karbo. He currently holds responsibility as Sunday school leader in the Bagri Baptist church and assists Pastor Thomas at Mettoh Baptist fellowship.

Abednego first joined Savannah in 2012 as a trained teacher at Pavuu Baptist school where he developed his interest in effective teaching and learning in primary education and was selected as one of the master trainers in 2019 to support training teachers in the Municipality on effective pedagogies. In 2016 he became headteacher at Pavuu Baptist Primary where he developed his interest in effective school leadership and became the leader of Conference of Heads of Basic Schools in the Municipality from 2017-2022, before being promoted to Education Director of Savannah in 2023. Abednego’s responsibilities include the oversight of safeguarding and the quality of education in Savannah schools.

Abednego was married to Sylvia in 2017 and they have two children, Boaz and Counsellor.

Charles Kogle

Charles was born in Yikpee, Lawra. He has been deacon at The Rest Baptist Church, Lawra from 2015 and currently worships at Orbili fellowship (church plant).

Charles joined Savannah as Stores Manager in 2016 and worked as Procurement Officer from 2019-2023. He currently holds the position of Accountant. His role includes ensuring that Savannah resources are deployed in a cost-effective way and co-ordinating the regular financial reports which are sent to the UK trustees.

Charles is married to Blandina and has one daughter, Selah.

Charles Karbo

As son of the paramount chief of the area, Charles grew up in the Palace in Lawra. He continues to play an important role the life of the region, including acting as Regent of Lawra.

He is a Baptist minister and pastor of Bagri Baptist Church.  He has the oversight of a number of churches in the villages around Lawra, where he still lives.

He worked for a number of years in the education service as a procurement officer before becoming Country Manager for the trust, a post he held until the end of 2023, during which time he contributed greatly to the vision and growth of the trust. Since his retirement in 2023, Charles remains a valuable source of wisdom and advice regarding the continuation of the work. 

Charles is married and has five children: Abednego, Ruth, Eunice, Elizabeth and Priscilla.

James Kori

James was the original link to the UK (having previously studied in London) and it was he who first took the trustees to his native north of Ghana. He is pastor of Lighthouse Baptist Church in Nungua, a suburb of Accra – Ghana’s capital.  He lives opposite his church in southern Ghana, and assists with his wise advice and any work that needs undertaking in Accra. He stays in close contact with the projects on his regular visits to the north of the country.

James is married and has two children.