Philanthropic Support

It appears that our Centenary year has certainly helped to boost philanthropic support, compared with last year, from the whole LWC Community - Sternians, current and former LWC parents, staff, governors and pupils!

Thank you to everyone who has helped whether your donation was large or small, regular or one-off, every gift matters and the accumulation helps to ensure we can continue to support LWC pupils in numerous ways. We aren’t quite up to previous income levels, but the picture is a little rosier than last time we wrote to you and we do still have a few more months till the end of August!

Fundraising Income 2022/23

2022/23 total to date £570,664 (Incl. gift aid estimate)

LWC Foundation £524,030

LWC Capital Appeals £26,009 Foundationer Extras £20,625

Giving Day Income

Volunteering

This year has also seen overwhelming support from parents and Sternians for all our Futures events, generously sharing their career insights and advice at Roundtables, virtual talks and our larger Futures Days.

Thank you for supporting LWC in this way, it is invaluable for our pupils as they consider their future paths.

Our most recent event was the whole school Futures Fair on Friday 24th March, all pupils at LWC took part and it gives pupils the opportunity to explore a range of careers, university courses and degree apprenticeships.

Thank you to everyone who came along and took time from work to talk to the pupils. It is greatly appreciated.

To find out more about lending your support with our careers talks and fairs please contact futures@lordwandsworth.org.

A letter from Foundationer Parent, Joanna Playford, who openly shares the challenges she faced when her children were so young. As Millie’s time at LWC draws to a close, Joanna reflects on the impact LWC has had on the entire family and her hopes for the future.

Having been a Foundation parent here for what is coming up to seven years, it is about time that I expressed my gratitude to The Foundation, but also talk about why The Foundation is so important to not only the children it supports, but their families too.

Our journey to Lord Wandsworth College began in September 2016 when we loaded up the car with bed sheets, suitcases, and trinkets from home, along with smiles of both excitement and fear.

The years leading up to this day had been hard. Millie’s father had been killed in a road traffic collision a month after her first birthday, I was 25 and in my final year at university. A couple of years later my mother was diagnosed with Cancer, she died 18 months later, along with her brother and sisters all in the same year. Millie was 5. I had no maternal, paternal or familial support other than a cousin living in Scotland. A couple of years roll by and I begin a new relationship. With hindsight, I can see I was unconsciously desperate to have a ‘normal’ family. Millie almost 8, when her brother Thomas was born. From around mid-pregnancy onwards, I was emotionally, financially and physically abused.

Thomas’s father has addiction illness. Not something I had any idea of when we met, and I am not sure he did either. Between the birth of Thomas and the first time we heard the name Lord Wandsworth College we were living with the abuse, police having to be called to our home, court hearings, non - molestation orders, people we did not know knocking on my door threatening me because he owed them money. I had crippling anxiety. Finally, I managed to remove him from our home and set up a business.

Millie’s early childhood had been full of trauma, whether she realised it or not at the time. When it came to thinking about secondary schools for her, I was overwhelmed. Her headteacher suggested I look at LWC. Millie and I eagerly went online to search. She saw the picture on the home page and fell in love in an instant. We only had a week or so to meet the application deadline and thank our lucky stars we did.

In September 2016, once Millie had settled into her dorm at Junior House, I walked to my car, started up the engine and sobbed. I felt like I was grieving for her father all over again, I was not sure if I had made the right decision. I was worried Millie wouldn’t fit in. I was scared that my heart just wouldn’t allow her to be free.

After seven years of being a part of this school, and beneficiaries of The Foundations support Millie, Thomas, and I are in a much happier place. Millie passed all her GCSEs with a couple of 9’s to boot. Her talent for Art was recognised in her first year here and has been nurtured and encouraged so enthusiastically that she now has offers to study Fine Art at university. She has also become a balanced, caring, self-motivated woman who has the tools to achieve anything she chooses to set her mind to.

I feared in the beginning that deciding to accept a place for Millie showed a weakness in my parenting and that it would damage our relationship. But I had nothing to fear. The support The Foundation offers is larger than that of covering the cost of a child’s school fees. It supports families to grow stronger. I have continued running my business and I have had more time for Thomas.

I will be forever grateful to The Foundation, and all the experiences Millie has had here; sport, travel, education, lifelong friendships, and the opportunities she now has as a result of her time here. Thank you.