Over the past few months we have been lucky enough to be one of five chosen charities at the Marlborough School in Woodstock, Oxfordshire. The other chosen charities were Parkinson”s UK, Footsteps, Katherine House Hospice and Dyslexia Action. They also annually raise money for Senior Citizen”s Christmas lunch.

Each year a group of students form a charity committee and between them they choose a selection of charities to support for that year. The theme for their fundraising this year has been ‘Take a walk in my shoes’.

The whole school has been involved in supporting the charity by getting involved in all sorts of events. The peak of the fundraising activity was during the school’s Charity Week, 18th to 22nd November 2013. During the week there were events every day that students and teachers could get involved with. The highlight was without doubt the whole school fun run on the Wednesday.

I was invited to join in the fun run, and was happy to enjoy the beautiful route through Blenheim Park walking with staff and pupils of the Ormerod Resource Base, which is a purpose-built specialist secondary provision situated within The Marlborough School that provides support for students with Communication and Interaction Difficulties and Physical Disabilities.

It was wonderful to be part of an event that embraced the whole school and was enjoyed by everyone that took part. Many of the children took part in fancy dress including a wide variety of ‘onesies’. This was one of the key opportunities for children to raise money through sponsorship.

On Wednesday 5th January I was be invited back to the school to join their special Assembly, where I was delighted to receive a cheque for £1,175.00 from the pupils on the charities committee. What a truly fantastic donation!
Thank you to The Marlborough C of E community for their support in raising over £7,000 in total for the charities involved. This is a fantastic example of a school taking a really pro-active approach to encouraging community support amongst its students.

If you think this story is as fantastic as we do, why not suggest to your local school that they choose us as their charity of the year? It’s a really good way for children to learn about the importance of supporting charities and its lots of fun too. If you’d like to talk about supporting the charity, please get in touch.

Andrew Tee
Community Fundraiser South