The convent saved by pester power
An 85-year-old nun has revealed how she once persuaded the American billionaire, Sir John Paul Getty, to fund the rescue of a group of refugee children from the war-torn city of Sarajevo in the 1990s.

In A Nun’s Story Sister Agatha describes how she met Getty while trying to raise funds to save her convent.

The former debutante, born Shirley Leach, wrote that after she had “blurted out” how much money was needed to rescue the Bar Convent in York, Getty sent a check for £125,000, and subsequent donations bringing the total to £250,000.

When Getty told her he couldn’t keep funding the convent, Sister Agatha accepted on the condition that he bankrolled her plan to charter a plane and rescue the children from the besieged Bosnian city.