Charity Appeal 2005/2006: The Anthony Nolan Trust
Leukaemia is without doubt one of the most fearful and deadly of all cancers, and was, until not long ago, seen as being close to insurmountable. However, this view has changed due to the hard work and perseverance of organisations and charities such as the Anthony Nolan Trust. The Anthony Nolan Trust takes back lives from leukaemia by managing and recruiting new donors to the UK's most successful bone marrow register. They also conduct pioneering research into improving the effectiveness of bone marrow transplants. The Anthony Nolan Trust has made possible over 4,000 transplants since its inception Following a series of presentations to the school, the boys voted resoundingly in favour of the Anthony Nolan Trust, thus ensuring it was our chosen charity for the school year 2005/06. Thanks to the money we have raised, the Trust can continue its invaluable work, saving lives from leukaemia, as well as conducting medical research to improve prospects for the future.
Our fundraising efforts got off to a good start with a steady stream of events, including the traditional Mufti Days towards the end of every Half Term. Looking back on the vast sums of money that had been raised before us, (over the last 2 years the Charity Committees had raised a combined total of almost £90,000 for good causes), we put all our effort into fundraising, in keeping with the generous spirit so fundamental to CLS. In addition to fundraising for the Anthony Nolan Trust, we could not ignore the plight of others less fortunate than ourselves, and consequently donated the takings of two special Mufti Days to the Pakistani Earthquake Appeal and the Kenyan Drought Fund respectively, raising almost £3,000 for these causes.
Throughout the year a whole range of events took place, such as the ‘Teachers’ Weakest Link’ in which members of staff bravely volunteered to have their knowledge of 70s pop music and their appreciation of artichoke cultivation put to the test. The Junior School was particularly vigorous in its fundraising, as usual, taking part in events such as OG’s cake sales and First Form sponsored silences, (‘More often, please!’, cried their teachers!) In addition to this, some younger boys helped out the Charity Committee with the bi-weekly sale of Krispy Kreme doughnuts, which, due to the seemingly limitless demand, proved to be a good earner. Come December time, the frenzy of the School Fees Raffle was upon us again – the chance to win a term’s school fees worth over £3,500. This event, along with a raffle at the Friends of CLS’ quiz night ensured a fruitful end to fundraising in 2005.
However, with the dawning of a New Year came some brand new initiatives. For example, the Charity tea towel sale was an overwhelming success. With the help of the teachers (some of whom are surprisingly artistic), we managed to sell an enormous number of tea towels, and their popularity was demonstrated recently when the very last tea towel was sold at auction for a staggering £15! Traditional events continued, such as the Sponsored Swim for OG – 3rd Forms, which typified the drive and determination City boys put into their fundraising. However, one of the highlights of the year came in the form of 1B’s Balloon Race. The idea was simple – pay £1 to sponsor a balloon, and whoever’s balloon travelled the furthest won a cash prize. After some painstaking preparation, (which included inflating and tying 1,000 balloons from 6 a.m. on a cold morning, and clearing the event with City Airport Air Traffic Control), launch day came, and it was a truly breathtaking sight as a whole array of multi-coloured balloons floated out from the Courtyard across the City, as witnessed by hundreds of members of the School. Mr Phillipson, of the English Department looked the likely winner, but was pipped to the post by Christopher Loyn’s balloon, which somehow managed to reach Belarus!
After the successful Sponsored Walk on 23rd June, time was almost running out for fundraising events. However, we must thank the Friends of CLS for allowing us to use their picnic day at Grove Park for a charity auction. On a sweltering day, parents opened their wallets, (or in some cases were forced to when their eager children got involved in frantic bidding wars!), and raised a great amount of money, (approximately £600), for some fantastic prizes, which were kindly donated to us, (including 2 crates of strawberries which managed to fetch £16!) At the time of writing, we have not yet held the Summer Charity Fete, but we anticipate a fantastic day on 6th July, with lots of stalls already prepared, including a bouncy castle, an ice cream van, and the traditional ‘sponge the teachers’ event.
Looking to the future, we are excited to announce the release of the first ever CLS Charity DVD. We have been hard at work producing the CLS Charity Documentary, a humorous, offbeat look at City life, featuring performances from a huge number of staff, boys and members of the public. If editing goes to plan, the DVD should be available to purchase at the start of the Autumn Term 2006, hopefully before we present the cheque to the Anthony Nolan Trust. If not, we’re sure next year’s Charity Committee will be grateful for a helping hand!
At this moment in time, we have not yet calculated a sum total, but hopefully we will have a firm figure soon after the start of the Autumn Term 2006, but in the meantime we cross our fingers and look forward to a large total. All that is left for me to do, on behalf of the whole Charity Committee, is to thank people for their help this year. We, along with the Anthony Nolan Trust, are very grateful to all the boys particularly for being as enthusiastic as ever, but thanks must also go to parents, teachers, porters, the Friends of CLS, Miss Scammell (Charity Co-ordinator), and to everyone else who helped this worthy cause by kindly devoting their time and money, and we are confident that our efforts will make a vital difference to the lives of many people.
Ari Haber (J6)