Pictured – Lucy (Year 10) with her father

We are so proud of our students and staff who have continued to go above and beyond this summer from volunteering to competing in parkruns.

Lucy Scott (Year 10) and her father completed the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge in less than 12 hours! They set off on Monday 9^th August at 5:30am and completed a total of 67000 steps.   

In total, Lucy has raised just over £2500 since the start of her fundraising (at age 11 in 2018), exceeding her original target of £2k. Lucy hopes that this amount will help with vital research carried by Myeloma UK as well as supporting myeloma patients and their families. It's not too late to donate, click here.

During the summer, Grace Berry (Year 6) was moved by the news of the plight of the Afghan people, with a particular focus on Afghan girls. She asked herself what she would like to happen if this had been her situation and this prompted her into action. Along with her family members, Grace has raised funds and put emergency packs together which she has delivered to a drop-off point in Wixams and through the Red Cross.

Grace’s form tutor, Mrs Copp (Deputy Head of the Junior School) said: “This is so fitting at a time when the Junior School is heading towards its final accreditation as a Primary Years Programme (PYP) school in October, with a focus on being globally minded, a caring community, open-minded and people of action. Grace epitomises so many of these qualities and has initiated the creation of care-packages and donations for Afghans fleeing their country and arriving in Bedfordshire.”

Manpriya Sira (Year 7), has been volunteering for FACES, helping to provide over 730 lunchboxes to children in Bedford. Manpriya was overwhelmed by the entire process and left feeling like she had made a difference. Thank you Manpriya, we are so proud of you.

Kimya Ghods (Lower Sixth) volunteered for the Bedford Mencap Play scheme, where she worked with children who have learning disabilities. Kimya said: "I buddied up with a girl and helped her take part in fun activities and trips. I also did NCS where we met up with local charities and worked closely with one over a period of a week, our group focused on bringing awareness to the charity, CHUMS, and what it stood for. In the short time, my group managed to raise over £250, which was impressive as we unfortunately had to isolate in that week meaning all the work we could do was from our homes."

Mrs Ackroyd (Teacher of Religious Studies) volunteered for St Mary’s, Wootton to help run a holiday club for the children in the village from reception to Year 8. Activities involved outdoor games, craft sessions. Miss Brice (Head of Classics) also helped for part of each session.

Mrs Smith (Examinations Manager) has helped to raise and distribute about £42,000 for the Baldock Musician’s Fund, an initiative supporting musicians who have been affected by the pandemic.  

Many of our staff have been competing in parkruns including Mrs Lewandowski (SEND Support Assistant), who completed her 250^th parkrun on Saturday, she also volunteers at regular junior parkruns. Another parkrunner, Mrs Inkson (Head of Year 6), completed her first official 10k on Sunday. Fantastic achievements by both!

Some of our staff have been training hard ahead of the London Marathon which takes place on Sunday 3rd October 2021. Mrs Martin (Head of Year 3) will be raising awareness and funds for Sarcoma UK; Mrs Lugsden will be participating in a virtual marathon on the same day in aid of WaterAid UK.

Finally, Miss Perri (English Teacher), signed up for a Skydive for BEAT, taking place on 16th/17th October, she said: “As someone who is afraid of heights, I am pushing myself out of my comfort zone in order to raise funds for something I am very passionate about.”

We would love to hear your amazing stories of how you are helping the local community, please get in touch at [email protected] so we can share with our community and support your causes.