Our Aim

The Evergreen Trust was founded in 1991 by Laurence Ascott. He had worked as an agricultural engineer and lived in Africa for over 25 years. Laurence had a real heart for Africa and it was his mission on his return to start a small charity that would focus on re-cycling.

Today the Trustees who worked alongside him before his death in 1997 continue the work he started. The charity focuses on work in Africa that demonstrates the creative use of materials to ensure sustainability and poverty reduction. It is Laurence's vision that the Trustees work year round to make a reality today.

The charity benefits from the collection of good quality furniture and clothes in the London area which are then sold to the public. The projects that are funded are all small scale and the trustees have a personal knowledge of each. It is part of the ethos of the charity that it is built on personal relationships and local knowledge.

At present there are two new projects being developed. House building using The Hydraform system and furniture re-cycling to Africa. In addition we are wondering if we can contribute through book re-cycling to assist in the educational gap left by the deaths of countless school teachers in Zambia, in particular.

You can read more about these here...