Charity Appeal 2006/2007: In Aid of Médecins Sans Frontières
What a year for Charity! In October 2006 the school voted on which charity to support for that year’s Charity Appeal and Médecins Sans Frontières came out as the winner by a long way. Since then, a plethora of activities has taken place in aid of MSF. We have had numerous cake sales and 1F have organised several Krispy Kreme doughnut sales. Parents contributed in no small way to the sponsored events – most notably the Sponsored Walk, Swim, the ‘Walk Into School’ organised by Seoul Friedman (S6) and the Headmaster’s Sponsored Swim. We also organised the School Fees Raffle, a Teachers’ X Factor talent show, Mufti days and the now annual Summer Fête, which ended the academic year in great style. Below we highlight some of the main events that took place and review the successes of the 2006/7 Charity Appeal.
X Factor:
After the great successes of the Teacher’s Talent Tournament and teachers’ Pop Idol that we staged in previous years for past Charity Appeals, it was only appropriate to kick-start proceedings with another grotesque display of teachers’ singing and musical talents (or lack thereof). There were, of course, some notable performances, such as the winner, Mr Allwright, whose self-composed piece humorously insulted several colleagues with a brilliant façade of innocent banter. Most other acts were dismissed by the cunning panel of judges, consisting of the cutting Mr McBroom, the witty Mr Dowler, the balanced reproach of Miss Murphy and, of course, the comical Mr Hubbard wearing the obligatory pink dress and ginger wig.
Sponsored Walk:
The MET office’s forecast was ominous and emergency plans had been made for flooding on the Thames Path as torrential downpours were expected for most of the day. However, as the early trains pulled in to Hampton Court Station the glimmer of sun creeping through the clouds gave reason for optimism. Luckily, the walkers escaped the rains unscathed and made it through the 11 miles to Kew Green with just a few patchy showers to dampen the mood. With Junior 6th form marshals in position and teaching staff ready at the check-points, over 650 walkers set off in the morning of Friday 22nd June with their Sponsor forms at hand.
The Friends of CLS kindly provided refreshments at the end of the Walk in Kew and, thanks to the assiduous efforts of Miss Scammell, the tutor in charge of charity; everything went according to plan on the day. Every year, the Sponsored Walk is the single event that brings in the greatest amount of money for the appeal, and this year has been no exception as over £17,000 was raised from this one event alone.
Summer Fête:
Once again, the weather predictions were not favourable, but as luck would have it, we managed again to escape the rains which finally pounded the courtyard at almost exactly 4pm, when the Fête had just finished. After weeks of preparation, we hosted the annual Summer Fête on Thursday 5th July, the penultimate day of the academic year. The afternoon got off to a great start with a delightful barbeque lunch provided to all the students, courtesy of the caterers. With over 35 stalls and events scattered around the Courtyard, Concourse, Top playground, Sports Hall and 3rd Floor Classrooms, we began the biggest Fête ever held a CLS. It was very rewarding for us to see that so many boys in younger years had taken the initiative to set up and run their own stalls, to help raise money for the charity appeal. It also made preparations a little easier for us!
Thanks:
The final amount raised by the 2006/7 Charity Appeal was announced in a Full School Assembly this October, with a cheque of £56,713 being handed over to James Kliffen, Director of UK Fundraising at MSF. This was a record breaking total, which exceeded the £51,000 raised for WaterAid during the 2003/4 Appeal under the chairmanship of Edwin Thomas. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank various people, who contributed either monetarily or though their time to making last year such a successful year for charity.
First and foremost, we must thank the parents of boys, who have been so encouraging towards all the activities; especially the sponsored events. Without your help and financial generosity, our efforts would have been futile. Secondly, we thank the boys themselves who have taken time out to help raise so much money, in various ways, for all their efforts. In particular boys in the 1st Form and OG have enthusiastically organised numerous cake sales and, of course, Arthur Lewis, Joshua Kenway and Chris Beale of 1F, who have given up many a break time to sell Krispy Kremes to the masses of boys that persistently demand these sugary treats. 1F were duly rewarded with the trophy for being the form that raised the highest total during the year, including an unparalleled £3,500 for the Sponsored Walk alone. A special mention must also go to Zizhou Zhang (also from 1F) who raised a phenomenal £1,000 for the Sponsored Walk, thus receiving the trophy for the highest individual fundraiser.
The Headmaster also played his part in contributing to the Charity Appeal. Braving the cold lakes of the Lake District, Mr Levin volunteered to swim many miles during the summer holidays, drawing on his wide pool of contacts to sponsor his efforts. This turned to be the icing on the proverbial cake, as he managed to raise almost £12,000 - a personal record and a feat that will not be easily surpassed. He often talks of the school’s Charity achievements on Prospective Parents Meetings and how the ethos of School very much centres on giving back to the community. By supporting the Charity Appeal in such fine fashion, he evidently means what he says and we thank him very much for giving up his time to help our Appeal and of course, boost the total to record-breaking heights.
Also, we would like to thank the staff, for their proactive help both through their forms and individually for the Charity Appeal. In particular, a special thanks must go to Miss Scammell (tutor in charge of charity), who has worked tirelessly throughout the year, and especially during the Sponsored Walk, to ensure all events have run smoothly. She will be missed by the Charity Appeal, and the student body as a whole. We are ever grateful to Mr Wingate, who has relentlessly photographed the wide range of events CLS offers, both charity and otherwise. He, too, will be missed next year. Finally, we pay tribute to the Charity Committee itself, which has provided a strong infrastructure for fundraising throughout the year. The success of this year’s appeal corresponds directly to their dedication.
The money we have raised this year will go towards MSF’s work in the Darfur region of Sudan, which is a most worthy cause. This was highlighted when Emma, a midwife for MSF came in to school in the last week of term to give a moving presentation of her experiences volunteering in Darfur. Her first-hand account, given to the whole school in assembly, made us realise how important MSF’s work in this area really is, and what a huge difference our school’s fundraising will make towards the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Darfur. So once again, thank you to everyone who has contributed towards this year’s Charity Appeal. We hope you realise what a huge difference our funds will make.
It has been a rollercoaster year of late nights, early mornings, long lunches and busy break times, but it has been well worth the effort. Nevertheless, we look forward to handing the reigns on to next year’s Committee!
Hursh Mehta
Chairman of the Charity Committee