This past weekend (Sunday, September 27, 2026), the St. Stanislaus College (Guyana) Alumni Society (SSCGAS) held its Annual General Meeting. Members came together to review a year that included the celebration of the College’s 160th anniversary, and to elect the Board and Officers who will lead the Society through the year ahead.
We are pleased to announce the Board of Directors and Officers for the term September 1, 2026 – August 31, 2027:
Board of Directors
Officers
We are pleased to welcome back President Alfred Carr and Vice-President Renuka Persaud for another term, along with returning directors Bunty Phillips, Stephen Budhu, James Fung and Akisha Somrah. James Fung takes on the role of Assistant Secretary this year. We also extend a warm welcome to our newest directors, Amanda King, Roger Seymour and Joy Woolford.
You can meet the full team on our Executive Committee page.
In his annual report, Alfred highlighted:
(Presented at the AGM on Sunday, September 27, 2026)
During the past year. September 1, 2025 to August 31, 2026, notwithstanding the lack of volunteers to assist with planned events, we had a successful year, both financially in terms of fund raising and provision of assistance to St. Stanislaus College. I will address the issue of volunteers shortly.
Our first event was the celebration of Mass to honour our patron Saint on November 13. Bunty Phillips organized this and the gathering that followed.
This was followed by our annual New Year’s Eve Gala, which was a resounding success thanks to the efforts of the usual NYE Committee, led by Paul Abdool, and ably supported by Des Jardine, Renuka Persaud, Jimmy Fung, Savi Seenauth and three of the members’ ladies, Helen Jardine, Carol Ann Abdool and Margaret Cunningham. We have already started the planning for December 31, 2026 and ticket sales are underway.
On May 9, we hosted a special dinner and dance to celebrate the 160th Anniversary of the founding of St. Stanislaus College in Guyana by the Jesuits from Great Britain. The Honourary Consul, Mani Singh, attended and brought greetings from the Government of Guyana. The Board of Governors to mark the occasion took the opportunity to send a tribute to the Toronto Alumni for the financial support that we have generously provided to the school since we first organized in the mid-nineties. The Jesuits started St Stanislaus College to provide an English grammar school type of education for the sons of the ex-patriates who had immigrated to Guyana to run the sugar plantations and the stores such as the Booker Group of Companies, and Portuguese shopkeepers running their independent businesses. Celebrations will continue in Guyana in November 2026, with several alumni, their families and friends gathering in Guyana. The school has evolved over the many years, transitioning from an all boys’ school to a co-ed school in 1975, and then into a Government Secondary School in 1977.
The other two events we held were the annual Golf Tournament, held on July 17 at the Lebovic Golf Course and Caribjam 2026. The generosity of the Lebovic Foundation in allowing us to hold our annual tournament at a very good course saw us raise in excess of $50,000 from the tournament; 135 golfers, the maximum allowed came out and had an enjoyable day.
On the Caribanna weekend in Toronto, we hosted on the Friday night our own Caribjam dance. Over 370 people attended this event and many expressed their opinions that they had a good night dancing to Fuh Fun Band and DJ Get Busy. We have already started the planning for July 31, 2027.
The last social event was the Curry Fest organized by a small group of volunteers, under the leadership of Marcelline Ramcharan and Arthur Veerasammy. About 50 members and guests had a very pleasant Saturday afternoon in the backyard of Arthur Veerasammy. The cooking skills of Stephen Budhu and others were on display.
Our veteran Jimmy Fung continued to arrange Casino trips throughout the year, contributing also quite nicely to our coffers.
This brings me to the issue of volunteers. Volunteers started the organization from the very beginning. Some of those volunteers remain active even now. The problem that we have is that as those volunteers have aged, we have had very few people step forward to take their places. Indeed, the attitude quite often is that “I am too busy”. Many of us are retired but lead active, busy lives in our retirement. Most of the younger alumni do not seem to identify with the need to give back in any way to the school. I have also heard more recently, the comment that the Government should put more money into education since it has the oil revenues.
I will not attempt to defend the Government of Guyana. What I am aware of is the Guyana Government has put more money into Education in various forms, including building two new wings for the school. Having said that though, the operational funding from the Government for the school’s operational needs covers just about 50% of the budget. Therefore, our organization remains relevant as a source of much needed financial support.
I do not have any ready-made solutions for the lack of volunteers. What I do know is that the present situation will lead to the demise of this organization. We can address some of the shortfalls by paying others to do the jobs and we have done so in the case of Caribjam. If that is a transition in operational mode that we need to make, I am prepared to pivot the organization over the next year. For now, this remains a topic for discussion by the new Executive Committee.
In closing, I take this opportunity to thank the members of the Executive for their support and trust of me, and all the volunteers who gave graciously of their time and energy, and I look forward to the opportunity to continue to work with you over the next year, if you re-elect me.
Want to help? Whether you can give an evening, an afternoon or a skill, there’s a place for you. Visit our Donate & Volunteer page, or join the Society.
![[Nominations Closed] Call for Nominations: Naming the Two New Wings of St. Stanislaus College](https://torontosaints.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Saints-Badge-Round-Logo.jpeg){kind=icon}