4 minute read
Charities
Whilst we may not have been able to raise funds in the usual way last year, plenty of charities still needed important funds to survive. Kingswood School has always led by example in charitable giving so the restrictions didn’t stop us from doing all we could to help those less fortunate than ourselves.
Towards the end of the Autumn term, students across the Kingswood community, led by Year 13 students Tomiwo, Harry and Ben, completed various challenges to raise money for Movember, the proceeds of which go towards organisations which support men struggling with physical and mental health issues, which often are not talked about and that, for many, have been exacerbated by Covid this year. Mimi, Niamh and Edie in Year 12 took on the running challenge to run 40km each (although in the end they ended up covering a massive 150km between them!) and many students grew their moustaches throughout the month. To support the students, and inspired by this epic effort, Mr Musgrove and Mr Smith decided to try to match their efforts. However, as this was a last minute decision, with only a few days left until the end of November, they were consequently forced to either grow a full moustache in less than a week or run 120km between them to try and match the girls’ initial goal. Having decided that running would be the more achievable of the two options, the idea was born to complete a ‘oner’: a 60km run around Bath: three laps of 20km each. So, starting at 6am from The George, and with no proper training at all, what followed was a gruelling 60.06km run that took them 5 hours 52 minutes. “Huge thanks to everyone who donated towards our Movember fundraiser. As a team, we raised over £2000! I want to personally thank Mimi, Niamh and Edie, and of course Mr Musgrove and Mr Smith for their upmost commitment. We could not have raised such a large amount of money without you.
Please remember to keep being kind to others and to check up on friends during these times. Thank you.”
Tomiwo
Hopefully the message that it only takes a few people with a vision to raise awareness about something that matters to them and to make a real difference will resonate more loudly and for longer to many throughout our community.
BIG BATH SLEEP OUT
Many brave pupils and families raised money by sleeping out overnight in March. With temperatures dropping below freezing a bit of grit was certainly required, but the experience showed how lucky we all are to have a warm bed to go to at night. The funds raised were much appreciated by Julian House, particularly at a time when many of their fundraising events were so disrupted.
DEVICES FOR ST MARK’S SCHOOL
Kingswood has a long-standing partnership with St Mark’s School, Bath which is part of the Midsomer Norton Schools Partnership. About a third of the children on the pupil roll receive Pupil Premium from the Government. During lockdown, St Mark's was committed to providing a high-quality programme of remote learning to all their students, many of whom cannot afford the devices and equipment they need to access this learning. With the help of the Kingswood community, they were able to raise funds to purchase new devices for their children.
OPEN ARMS MALAWI
DOG BEDS FOR DEGREES
Covid-19 has had an enormous impact on our fundraising for charity projects in Malawi. We lost about 18 months of fundraising and during this period we would normally raise about £30,000, which would go towards support for several orphans with scholarships so they can continue with their education at Secondary School. We managed to continue to support all the projects throughout lockdown and it was important to us that none of these orphans had to drop out of school at this stage simply because they are unable to pay the fees.
Felister is one of our current students. We supported Felister throughout her secondary education and we are now paying her fees as she completes a Nursing degree. Felister is keen to do some of her placements in district hospitals rather than in private hospitals as she feels she will learn more and be able to help her community better in the future. However, to do this, she needed £150 to cover her accommodation and living costs for the 3-month period.
To keep the funds coming, Mrs Opie made several upcycled dog/cat beds for sale with every penny going towards charity projects in Malawi. Not only did she sell them all, enabling Felister to pay for her accommodation while she does her placements, but the very generous Kingswood community raised a further £1,156 in donations for Open Arms Malawi. REVERSE ADVENT CALENDAR
Year 9 Summerhill girls led an assembly on alternative fundraising ideas which led to one student suggesting a ‘reverse advent calendar’, the concept being that each day during the month of December, you donate money to charity or an item to the Foodbank.
CHRISTMAS CARD PACKAGES
At Christmas, some tutor groups made Christmas cards to include in the Christmas packs provided by several B&NES charities to give to those who often live alone, are older, unwell or feel very isolated. They typically do not have access to internet resources, so a goody bag of activities often lifts their spirits.
SCHOOL HOUSE PINK DAY
On the last day of the Spring term, all pupils were invited to come to school in mufti with an additional pink item of clothing to show support for the two School House charities, Breast Cancer Care UK and the Alzheimer’s Society. Pupils learning from home were invited to do the same for online lessons. We had some interesting outfi ts!
