Sheena has a strong bond to the  John Pounds Trust, as the Trust had been set up by her dear friend Rev. John  Sturges (1918 - 1998)

 using in 1957 the  compensation money awarded by the War Commissioners after WW 2.

Just before his retirement in  1995 he conducted Sheena’s wedding in the John Pounds Memorial Church  Portsmouth and sadly past away in 1998.

Sheena created this show in  2005 to honour his life's work and keep his memory alive.

 ---------------------------------------------------------

JOHN POUNDS 1766 - 1839

John Pounds, born in 1766 in Old Portsmouth, was one of  the pioneers of the free education system in the UK.

At the age of 12  he became an apprentice shipwright in the Royal Dockyard at Portsmouth,

however at the age of 15 he became disabled following an  accident in which he fell into a dry dock, breaking his thigh.

Later he became a cobbler, working from a shop in St.  Mary's Street, now Highbury Street, Old Portsmouth.

He began teaching  children for free, at first his nephew Johnny and later friends of Johnny,  while repairing shoes in his workshop, teaching reading, math’s, cookery,  carpentry and shoe making.

The classes became ever more popular, some  times up to 50 children attended at a time, all this in his 6 foot by 18  foot workshop.

  In time 3 schools inspired by Pounds were  opened at Portsea and Fratton and the John Pounds Training Home for Girls,  these schools were known as the "ragged schools".

The movement spread  and eventually there were approximately 200 "ragged schools" set up for the  education of destitute children across the country.

Following his death in 1839 a group of Portsmouth ladies  vowed to continue Pounds work caring for and educating poor or neglected  children.

The Trust continues to provide financial support for  children's education in the Portsmouth area.

John Pounds is buried  behind the Unitarian Church in the High Street, Old Portsmouth, this  building was destroyed during the second world war but was rebuilt in 1956

and is now called the John Pounds Memorial Church, in the  grounds of this church a replica of his workshop has been built.

His name is honoured at the £7 million John Pounds  Community Centre in Portsea.