The annual BKIT charity cycle ride 2015, a sponsored cycle ride to raise funds for the Trust will this year take place on
Sunday 5th July
The ninth annual cycle ride once again follows the 26 mile route that starts and finishes at the Pump Room Gardens in Leamington Spa. The route passes Warwick Castle, Charlecote, Wellesbourne and Chesterton Wood and is paved, fairly flat and suitable for cyclists of all levels.
Registration costs £10 (plus a 90p booking fee), for which all riders will get snacks & drinks at half way point, food at the end and also a shiny gold medal!
To find out how to register online and further details of the route, visit our Cycling for BKIT page.
If you are not a cyclist, you can also register as a Support Volunteer to help out on the day of the event. Support Volunteers help with marshalling at the start, half-way point and end of the ride.
You can also stay in touch through our ‘Cyclists for BKIT’ page on FaceBook
The Gilly Mundy Memorial Community School (GMMCS) has taken another step towards greater environmental sustainability thanks to the installation of solar cells on the school’s roof that was paid for by a generous donation from the UK.
GMMCS has been previously reliant on an oil-powered generator because of the irregularity of the local electricity supply. The Solar Cell system is expected to deliver 90-100 units of electricity per day in summer, and 80 units approx in the winter. During the daytime and evening hours, the batteries provide enough to run the ceiling fans, computers and all other electrical appliances. What has been most noticeable is the lack of noise and smell that was an unfortunate by product of the daily use of the oil generator. The school environs are better for both students and staff.
The savings in annual fuel costs will be channeled back into improving education at the school.
The solar photovoltaic cell system was paid for with a donation from the Alty family in memory of Dr Christopher Alty (the husband of BKIT trustee Janet Alty).
Janet Alty explains the background to the donation by the Alty family:
‘When Christopher Alty (1935 – 1979) married Janet in July 1962 he was just embarking on his doctorate in nuclear engineering at Cambridge University. At the end of those three years, and having gained his PhD, he was appointed Lecturer in Thermodynamics and Fluids in the Engineering Department at the newly established University of Warwick. However he turned his back on research into nuclear fusion as he believed that it would be at least 40 years before delivering any electricity: it seems that even in 2014 it still is 40 years from anticipated delivery.
In 1974 he read about the opening of the Centre for Alternative Technology in Wales (http://www.cat.org.uk) and said “We’re going there!” We first visited in 1975 then spent the summer of 1976 at “The Quarry” with our two children James, then 12, and Ali then 10. Christopher returned for a sabbatical term the following year.
In 1977 an Inquiry was held into the then named Windscale Nuclear Power station: the Irish government alleged it was leaking radiation into the Irish Sea. The Technical Director of CAT, Robert Todd, saw this as an opportunity to present the alternatives to nuclear and he and Christopher worked for several weeks editing what became known as ‘An Alternative Energy Strategy for the United Kingdom’, bringing together wind, wave, solar and geothermal experts as well as those looking at the social impact of energy on the population, and the need for conservation of energy. The text was typed by Janet, on a borrowed electric typewriter, before the days of word processing! It remained in print for several editions and was only rewritten as Zero Carbon Britain 30 years later.
In 1978/9 he was instrumental in establishing the first and only undergraduate course in non-nuclear engineering at Warwick University. It was entitled “Engineering Design for Appropriate Technology”, (always known as EDAT) many of whose graduates still populate the world of non-nuclear engineering. His Professor came to his bedside as he lay dying in February 1979 to give him the news that the course had been accepted by the Warwick University Senate.
When Janet started visiting Haryana in 2005 she was amazed by the amount of unharnessed energy coming from the sun. It’s taken a while, but in August 2014 an array of solar cells was erected on the roof of the Gilly Mundy School. The funds for these have been provided by the Alty family in memory of a loving husband and father who had dedicated his life to encouraging the growth of non-nuclear based energy sources’.
Janet Alty October 2014, at GMMCS in Haryana
Already there are low watt lights burning during the evening making the school look really bright and cheerful from the road. The next plan is to put LED lights down the drive and around the school wherever appropriate. It would have been nice to share our solar facility with nearby houses or the community in Lehrian, but to do that would have required an installation twice as big as the one we have. We can only hope that the GMMCS Solar Cell system inspires others to undertake their own solar installation.
For further information on the Solar Cell Project and ways to support the ongoing work of BKIT, please contact via email
A key objective for GMMCS is to encourage and provide opportunities for girls to take part in sport. Dani Black, a national hockey player/coach from Leamington Spa, England was invited to GMMCS in October 2014.
Dani describes her experience at GMMCS in October 2014 ..
‘In October I had the pleasure of being invited to visit the Gilly Mundy Memorial Community School, India for 2 weeks. I arrived with little knowledge of what I would see, what I may experience and who I would meet when I got there. My intention was to teach hockey to girls within the school, something which I do every day in the UK. However, upon arriving I experienced something far beyond that. I was overwhelmed with the kindness, generosity of spirit and happiness within the school. The children at GMMCS were without doubt the happiest and most enthusiastic children I have ever spent time with. A large part of my day coaching hockey in the UK is based around encouraging and enthusing people to enjoy the process of learning to play hockey. The children at GMMCS needed absolutely no encouragement and in fact, surprisingly, they were the ones who encouraged and inspired me!
From day one, every child who I had contact with was keen to learn whatever I was teaching – despite the language barrier! The pupils were taught the basic skills and concepts of the game and they then learned to develop these into game situations. By the end of the 2 weeks all of the pupils who attended the hockey practices were able to play the game competently. They began to learn the rules and even tactics of the game. My aim was to leave the pupils with a basic knowledge of the requirements of the game and a desire to continue playing when I was no longer there to teach. I have been delighted to hear that the girls are continuing to be taught hockey, thanks to Mr Hari Kesh. My visit to GMMCS was a life changing one for me and I will certainly return to visit the school in the future with hope of seeing hockey develop and the positive spirit of the pupils still alive.’
