The aim of this UK registered charity is to provide grants to fund assistive technology for people with disabilities and special needs.
The Janki Saye Foundation was founded in 2015 by Sheila and Mala Saye in memory of their mother Janki Saye.
“Janki was a beautiful and generous soul. She was always donating money to charity and cared very deeply about people who were less fortunate than us. In later years, as she became less physically able, dealing with arthritis and Parkinson’s Disease as well as visual and hearing impairments, she still thought about others, and continued to make regular donations to a significant number of charitable institutions. She was always quick to respond to humanitarian crisis and disaster emergency appeals, and also encouraged us to make donations to the aid charities”.
Through this Foundation, Janki’s legacy will continue.
“The decision to focus on technology solutions is a tribute to our father Sesh Saye who passed away in March 1993. He was a pioneer in the field of computing, working for companies such as ICL (now Fujitsu), IBM and Sperry Univac (now Unisys.) His generosity and his love of technology and gadgets left a lasting legacy and we both established our own careers in the field of IT”.
Meet the Team
Sheila Saye: Co-founder, Director and Trustee
Sheila has a wealth of experience in the financial services sector and was formerly an IT director at Merrill Lynch, where she worked for 20 years managing people and projects in London and New York. She then qualified as a personal performance coach and set up her own coaching and consulting practice, working with corporations such as Citigroup and Barclays. Sheila spent 3 years as a part time volunteer at the Citizen’s Advice Bureau carrying out advice and social policy work. Following this, she worked as a volunteer helping people with visual impairments. Sheila also served as a Trustee for the Darjeeling Children’s Trust for 5 years and has raised thousands of pounds for various charities through marathon and half marathon running. She now spends less time running and much more time playing tennis and Padel.
Mala Saye: Co-founder and Trustee
Following her studies in Architecture, Mala moved into IT and has had extensive experience in this area, having previously worked for IBM and SS&C Technologies. She has worked as a volunteer at orphanages in Peru and Argentina in various capacities, such as team leader and fund raiser. In Peru she worked with a local community, to help to integrate the orphanage into the local community. Mala has worked as a volunteer with a regional branch of the Multiple Sclerosis Society in London and as a Befriender with Age UK. Mala describes herself as a perpetual student and completed a degree in modern languages in 2018 and is now towards the end of her degree in mathematics. Following this, she plans to work with charities to tutor maths to underprivileged youngsters and young offenders. She has various interests, one of which is as a keen amateur cellist and she plays with the Wimbledon Community Orchestra where she also serves on the committee.
Paul Davies: Finance Director and Trustee
Paul has a wealth of experience in senior financial and operational roles spanning the retail, financial services and not-for-profit sectors. A Chartered Accountant, Paul retired in 2019 and now works as as a financial consultant. In the not-for-profit sector, Paul has also worked as Finance Director at the British Retail Consortium, Investors in People and the Chartered Institution of Taxation. Previously Paul worked at Merrill Lynch and Nomura, amongst others. An enthusiastically indifferent tennis player and slightly obsessed art collector, Paul is also a trustee at the NHS Confederation (where he chairs their Finance & Operations Committee) and volunteers at his local Foodbank.
Fiona Valpy: Patron
Fiona Valpy is a bestselling author, whose books have sold over three million copies world-wide and been translated into more than 30 different languages. She draws on themes of grief and hope in her writing, finding inspiration in World War 2 history in particular. Her novels have held the number 1 position on the Amazon Kindle charts in the USA, UK and Australia and The Dressmaker’s Gift was listed as a Washington Post and Wall Street Journal bestseller.
Fiona is pleased to be a supporter of the Janki Saye Foundation, helping highlight the important role it plays in using technology to support people with disabilities and special needs
Dave Webb: Associate
Dave is a freelance data operation manager but, after being given a second chance at life through heart transplant, tries to spend as much of his time giving talks about organ donation and the difference transplant can make. He previously worked for Surbiton High School as a Data Manager where he established the Janki Saye Foundation as one of the House Charities for a number of years. A keen baker, he regularly ran bake sales for the staff raising much needed funds. He has previously worked for the Cancer Research Campaign as a volunteer and manager, but now spends any spare time as a member of Share Your Wishes, a group who raise awareness on the power of organ donation, and as a committee member of the Harefield Transplant Club, as well as supporting the Janki Saye Foundation in any way he can!
Robbie Anderson: Associate
Robbie’s current role is to recruit finance and accountancy staff into the charity sector. He has a brother Joey who is autistic, and in 2011 Robbie began to combine his love for running with his passion for fundraising. He ran the Brighton Half Marathon to raise money for the National Autistic Society. Since then, Robbie has completed several half and full marathons and raised thousands of pounds for various charities in the process. He joins the Janki Saye Foundation as an Associate having run two half marathons in 2017, raising £1,500 for JSF.
Fiona Anderson: Associate
Fiona currently works as Head of People in London. Like her brother and fellow JSF associate, Robbie, Fiona’s passion for fundraising began back in 2012, when she ran the Edinburgh half marathon for an Autism related charity. She went on to run the London Marathon in 2015 and, in 2017, Fiona ran the Hackney Half Marathon for the Janki Saye Foundation. She hopes to run many more marathons and half marathons for JSF in future; almost as much as she hopes to one day beat her brother’s time! In Fiona’s spare time, you’ll find her spending time with her partner and two small children, Inaiya and Felix.
Phil Anthony: Associate
Phil is Managing Director of Co-Operative Systems (CoopSys) which he founded over 20 years ago. From the beginning, CoopSys was focused on being a specialist IT provider to the not-for-profit sector. Satisfied customers gave referrals and the company has grown steadily year on year.
Phil is still enthusiastic about pushing IT forward and, when not hard at work, you might find him swimming in the Amazon or on a train to Hanoi.
Coopsys have been generous donors to help our cause and Phil has been a great supporter of JSF over the last 2 years. Last year he raised funds by taking part in an outdoor swimathon in icy cold weather!!