£45k paid out by community fund in a single year

THE Al-Maktoum College Community Fund in Dundee paid out more than £45,000 in donations last year — the highest amount in a single year since the fund started in 2009.

The college has now donated £166,617 to community groups in the city.

Those t hat benefited from the latest round of grants include Girlguiding Dundee, Dundee Science Museum and Dundee City Council.

The fund’s £5,000 donation to the council, for the second year running, met flight costs for 24 pupils from four Dundee secondary schools involved in last year’s Anne Frank Trust UK Schools programme.

It enabled pupils from Craigie High School, B a l d r a g o n A c a d e m y, Braeview Academy and St Paul’s Academy to visit Anne Frank’s house i n Amsterdam.

Dr Hossein Godazgar, principal and vice-chancellor of the college, said that the community fund plays an important role in helping charities.

He said: “We value our position and our involvement with the local community i n Dundee and surrounding areas, and the fund is a significant part of this.

“Without this funding, we realise that many applicants might not otherwise have been able to fulfil their objectives, so being able to assist in this way means a great deal to a lot people.

“The school pupils’ visit to Amsterdam, for example, reflects the college’s desire to try t o build bridges between communities and peoples at all levels across the world through dialogue and intelligent debate.

“We were more t han pleased to make the funding available and we enjoyed a hugely interesting pupils’ presentation about the visit.”