All of the money raised at the School Charity Day on 1^st May will go to RIPPLE AFRICA to enable the building of a new classroom for the children of Mwaya, Malawi. Members of each House rose superbly to the challenge of organizing at least one imaginative method of raising money by each House; these included car washing, cake and ice-cream sales, a Danceathon, 8 Km walk around Wall Hall, a relay marathon challenge, sponsored run around Aldenham Country Park Reservoir, football and basketball matches, a massive balloon release, a sponsored silence and bag-packing along with musical entertainment at the local Tesco store.  And all this during one afternoon! 

The afternoon culminated in a chapel service where Rev Bond reminded the whole school community about the focus for our activities, congratulating the tremendous enthusiasm and willingness to help others who are less fortunate than ourselves.  Finally, the assembled school threw their weight behind the two contestants taking part in a golf tournament on the Nintendo Wii; the Headmaster and the Deputy Head went HEAD TO HEAD in a 3-hole competition which resulted in Mr Fowler making a substantial donation to the funds!  A fun way to end what had been a fun-filled afternoon and many congratulations to everyone for all their hard work.  Now we have only to collect in the money!  Look out for the final amount which will be posted here.

RIPPLE AFRICA:  In January we welcomed Geoff and Liz Furber from RIPPLE AFRICA to speak on the work they have been doing in Malawi.  Geoff, who was a student at the school during the seventies, gave a very memorable account of their charity and how they are making a real difference to a rural community.  The charity has many facets, involving itself in environmental, health, educational and economic projects, always reminding itself that they are not to provide a “Hand Out”, but a “Hand Up”.  Ripple Africa is going to be the school’s focus for its charitable giving and we are very excited about the possibilities of developing a meaningful and long lasting relationship between the two communities. 

Please spend time looking at the fabulous work RIPPLE AFRICA is engaged in by browsing their website: http://www.rippleafrica.org/