Charity Appeal
Every year the whole School votes to select a nominated charity and the appeal is coordinated by a committee of Sixth Form boys. Substantial sums are raised through a wide range of schemes, activities and events. The pupils demonstrate extraordinary levels of dedication to the cause and go to great efforts to highlight the work of the chosen charity to the school community and beyond. It is notable that the only honours board in the School is for the Chair of the Charity Committee. In September 2019 CLS were delighted to present a cheque for £69, 232 to Tiny Tickers. The School have selected Switchback as the nominated charity for an extended period in 2020/21 due to Coronavirus. We are pleased that this Charity was aligned with one of Alderman Russell’s Mayoral Themes – ‘Increase Opportunities for Cultural Rehabilitation in Prisons’.
Whilst lockdown did significantly affect the ability to accumulate funds in the normal way, our resourceful pupils and staff found innovative ways to raise money for Switchback such as Run 5k, Donate £5, Nominate 5; an online Quiz for Parents; The Climb Mount Snowdon (in your home) Sponsored Challenge; an Online Puzzle Tournament; The Great CLS Bake Off and a Virtual Marathon.
A wide range of solo challenges were also undertaken by pupils. For example, Josh (Third Form) raised £250 by cycling the length of the UK, Khrisnan and Seb (Senior Sixth Form) raised £700 by running 100 miles in 10 days and Patrick (4th Form) who was sponsored £1380 for running 24 miles in 24 hours. The final figure raised for Switchback was over £84,000.
The values of social responsibility and individual contribution to the lives of others are priorities which are fundamental to our pupils and to our staff at CLS. Our annual Charity Appeal is testament to this valued aspect of school life and this year, pupils continued to support ‘Switchback’ which conducts important and inspiring work supporting young offenders to alter course and change their role in and relationship with society after prison.
The annual Charity Appeal is run entirely by the pupils, with a committee of Junior Sixth Formers planning and delivering a range of initiatives and events. The Committee also work hard to ensure the democratically chosen charity’s message is shared with the school community. We were delighted to welcome in, on a number of occasions, representatives from Switchback to talk about the brilliant work they do.
During challenging times for fundraising, pupils demonstrated great agility in their efforts to raise money. During the Lockdown, online quizzes, online auctions, and virtual Cit-Ed lectures proved popular, as did a Q&A with Alison Dawnay, the CEO of Switchback. There was great relief that ‘normal’ events such as the Sponsored Walk and the Sponsored Row were possible.
CLS staff make a telling contribution to the Charity Appeal, both supporting the pupils in their fundraising endeavours, but also undertaking their own challenges to support the cause. For example, Mr Bracken (Head of History and Politics) ran the London Marathon raising in excess of £2000
The School Charity continues to support the work of other organisations on a permanent basis, for example they help the Salvation Army with their food bank collections. The Friends of CLS, our parents’ association continue to make a telling contribution to the charity appeal, running and supporting a range of events.
Aims
At CLS, we seek to nurture a deep-seated sense of social responsibility. Our pupils know that there are others less fortunate than they are and strive to make a positive difference at school and beyond.
A key element of our Strategic Vision 2019-14 is: 'Through partnership and opportunities for voluntary service and charity work, our pupils will understand the responsibilities they have to society. We will seek to embed within them a commitment to service, and an understanding that they can make a difference, right now.'
The aim of the annual Chariy Appeal is to raise as much money (and awareness) for the chosen charity.
Background
The annual Charity Appeal has been in existence for over 40 years.
Resources
A member of staff is given specific responsibility for overseeing the Charity Appeal.
All staff and pupils actively contribute to the Charity Appeal.
A signficant level of school resource is devoted to the Charity Appeal.
Impact
The money raised by CLS makes a significant impact to the work of the chose Charities. This is reflected in the comments of the CEO of Switchback, the most recent recipient of funds raised at CLS:
'Switchback is proud to be a partner of CLS. We are blown away by the enthusiasm of staff and students through every layer of the School to truly engage with our work. CLS understands the value of raising funds for Switchback as an independent charity, but beyond that there is a real consideration of the shared humanity of young Londoners forging their way in the world. Humanity and generosity shine through our relationship with CLS from educational assemblies to sharing of facilities and inventive lockdown fundraising. We really hope to continue our relationship in the long-term so that together, we can help more young Londoners build stable, rewarding lives they can be proud of.'
Recent fundraising totals are as follows:
2017-8 CentrePoint £78,079
2017-8 Amref Health Africa £84,062
2018-9 Tiny Tickers £69,232
2019-21 Switchback - £84,601
Pupil Involvement
All pupils actively contribute to the Charity Appeal
Frequency
Annual