The pupils and staff at the Grove and Bronte House have always been dedicated to helping others in the local community and raising funds for local and national charities. Readers may recall that last year we welcomed the ‘Singing Choir of Africa’ to school who performed in the Chapel as part of their fundraising tour to raise money for a new school in their village in South East Kenya. We were so impressed by this group of children that we decided our fundraising activities this year should be directed towards helping them achieve their goal.

Our target is raise £20,000 for the ‘Educate the Kids’ charity, whose aim is to promote education for the children of Africa. The money we raise will sponsor children through school, assist with the building and maintaining of their schools and providing materials such as clothing, books, writing materials and other aid. There have been numerous fundraising events to date ranging from the Harvest and Christmas Festivals, a non-uniform day through to a sponsored walk organised by the Ashdown and Bronte Association which raised an amazing £878.45. We are delighted to report that so far the pupils have raised over £5500 and lots more events are scheduled for next term, including a lower school Valentines Ball in February, so keep an eye on the website for details of forthcoming events.

Closely linked to this and as part of the Methodist Schools World Aims, the school will be running a trip to Kenya and Tanzania next August when 20 year 11 & 12 students and 4 members of staff will be travelling to and working on charity projects in East Africa, which will include the schools we will be supporting. This partly follows on from the charity work that Miss Gale and Mr Johnson have done in Tanzania for the past two summers.

£20,000 is a big target to reach but we are confident we will achieve, and hopefully exceed, this goal and make a significant contribution to the lives of these children. It is hoped that we can develop links which will provide both educational and gap experiences for our students in the future.