Miss Dawson (Biology Teacher, CAS & Service Coordinator)

On Monday, we welcomed Wendie Harvey, Chief Executive of FACES, to speak to the Senior School about the work of this local, independent charity in Bedford.

FACES (Family and Children’s Early-help Services) was selected by the students as our charity for this academic year, with non-school uniform days and events across the year raising funds for and awareness of the charity.

Wendie spoke passionately about the need for the charity in our local community and the support they provided to over 800 children and their families in Bedford in 2018, covering a range of issues, including poverty, domestic abuse, mental and physical health, child sexual exploitation and behaviour issues, via a range of services and support groups, led by a team of volunteers. This year, FACES was awarded the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, often called the ‘MBE for groups’, in recognition of the dedicated work that the volunteers and staff carry out.

This year, the Service Team (Service Captain Rea Pourawal and the prefects - Ellie Simester, Hannah Tollman and Alicia Scheller) are working particularly hard on making sure that students are aware of where the money they donate for non-school uniform days and events is going, so the girls can really understand their role in helping local communities.