History

The Gordon Memorial College Trust Fund (GMCTF) was created in 1899 as a result of a public appeal in the UK to raise funds for education in Sudan. This appeal followed the Anglo-Egyptian invasion of Sudan and conquest of the Mahdist state and the imposition of colonial rule under what was called the Condominium. 

The initial purpose of the fund was to fund the construction of what became the Gordon Memorial College, an elite educational institution in Khartoum. In the final years of the Condominium, Gordon College became a university college; this in turn became the current University of Khartoum after Sudan became independent in 1956. 

GMCTF now operates as a charity in the UK. It has benefitted from a number of charitable donations over the years since the original fund raising, most notably a bequest from Philippa Maghrabi which is dedicated to the support of women’s education.