About Us
Table Head, Class Monitor, Sheet Collector, Register Monitor, Public Speaker, Scholar, Mathematician, Footballer, Karateka, Chorister, Percussionist, Cellist, Mentor, Son, Philanthropist.
The Inspiration
Oluwatobi Olatunbosun Adeyemi was born at St. Helier Hospital, Carshalton, Surrey, United Kingdom on the 10th of August 1994. The only child of his parents, he grew up in Sutton, Surrey. He first attended Blue Firs nursery and then on to Collingwood School in Wallington, Surrey. Tobi, as he was known to his friends, excelled at Collingwood making many friends and participating in all aspects of school life. He learnt how to play a variety of musical instruments including the recorder, piano, drums and the cello. He participated in several school concerts at venues such as Fairfield in Croydon and The Royal Albert Hall, London.
He then went on to Whitgift School for boys, South Croydon for his secondary school education. He excelled academically obtaining 6 A stars and 5 A’s for his O levels. From an early age he had an aptitude for numbers, he subsequently became an excellent mathematician achieving A star in GCSE Mathematics a year early. Whitgift School gave him the opportunity to further develop his musical skills. He studied music for GCSE and continued playing both the Cello and Drums. He was a member of the Whitgift school String Symphonia and other groups. He represented the school on many occasions in concerts. He was working towards his Grade 7 in Drums and Grade 5 in Cello at the time of his early departure.
Tobi was a versatile sportsman, enjoying success in various sports such as Rugby, cricket, football and basketball. He won several athletic medals including first in the under 9’s 200m and first in the under 15’s 400m at Collingwood and Whitgift schools respectively. He played Rugby in the Whitgift School 3rds team.
He developed a passion for Basketball at age 12 and promptly set about doing everything to improve his skills and chances of getting into the school Basketball team.
He did get into the team and represented the school wearing the No 5 shirt. The shirt has now been retired in his honour.
Tobi was an avid Manchester United fan and had the opportunity to watch live games of the red devils at Fulham. He had been promised a trip to Old Trafford and was looking forward to it.
He always had a strong opinion on how United were playing and at times you thought he could do the job better than Sir Alex himself.
Tobi was easy going and generous. He was generous with his time, treasure and talents. He mentored younger pupils and encouraged many of his friends to fulfil their potential and take all opportunities which came their way.
A committed Christian, he was a youth leader in Church and also played in the church worship team. He was described as having a wise head on young shoulders and inspired many to do better.
Tobi initially toyed with the idea of following his parents’ footsteps into Medicine as he cared for people so much. He joined the St. John’s Ambulance Association and learnt basic first aid and other survival techniques and skills, which he believed would be useful in the community. He was very popular at the Association and at his funeral many of his colleagues turned out to give him a guard of honour.
In his 16 years he had the opportunity to travel to many countries including France, Spain, Italy, Tunisia and many states within the United States of America. He loved travelling and read a lot about the places he visited.
Tobi was studying Mathematics, Further Mathematics, Chemistry and Biology for his A levels in his last year of life. He intended to go to Oxford to study Mathematics and become an Investment Banker in the city. He had aspired to set up a foundation to offer education bursaries and scholarships to disadvantaged children and young people. According to a good friend of his, Tobi Adeyemi was going to change the world.
The Legacy
On Saturday, the 5th of March 2011 at about 1845hrs, while having a peaceful time with his parents at home, Tobi had a cardiac arrest and all efforts to resuscitate him failed. (He had Sudden Cardiac Death which is an umbrella term used for many different causes of cardiac arrest in young people.) The Tobi Adeyemi Foundation has been set up by his parents to turn Tobi’s dream into a legacy to continue and to fulfill his destiny.
Adegbenga and Abimbola Adeyemi