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26 June 2023
Students in Year 10 at St Mary’s School, Gerrards Cross, have been battling it out to win £1,000 for a local charity of their choice. Split into groups, students have been researching their chosen charity, visiting them and building relationships and fundraising for them during the Tutor Time on a weekly basis. Each group presented to a judging panel to earn their place in the final with finalists coming together in a showcase event attended by an external judging panel, a representative from each charity, and their parents and peers.
The charities in the final were:
Wycombe Women’s Aid
CentrePoint
Slough Foodbank
Alexander Devine Children’s Hospice
Electric Eels – support adults and children with Down Syndrom to learn to swim.
The students presented, on the night, with passion and enthusiasm and their desire to win the £1,000 for their charity was clear. The evening was a lively celebration and included dance and musical performances, a raffle and a champagne and canape reception as well as the emotive presentations. The school extends its gratitude to all who attended the occasion, with special mention to School Governor Anne Freeman, Counsellor Andrew Wood, Head of Co-Curricular and Charities Miss Lasocki, and Headmistress Mrs Adams. After much deliberation, the winning team has secured £1,000 for Electric Eels – a huge amount for such a small charity that will go towards training some more swim teachers. There tears of joy shed when the winner was announced and, even though not every charity secured £1,000, the joy for Electric Eels was clear amongst the other teams. Director of Swimming, Pauline Walker, from Electric Eels said ‘I am over the moon to be awarded the money tonight and cannot thank the young students enough for choosing us as their cause. Their maturity and passion has been phenomenal and they have no idea just how helpful this money is to a small charity like ours’
Fundraising is still happening, post the event, with a sponsored walk organised for the 8th July and a Movie Night in September. Whilst the total amount raised is not yet established, St Mary’s has smashed the £1,000 target.
