Highclare pupils donate to children in Africa
10 May 2017
Pupils, staff and parents at Highclare School have been raising money over the last school year to help other children in Africa with their studies
The pupils adopted the African Space Trust as their chosen charity last year and have raised nearly £9,000, which was presented to the charity at a special assembly. The charity aims to help the people of a remote village in Tanzania and was started in 2009 when two young friends, Mark and Jamie, working in conservation near the village of Itete persuaded Jamie’s parents and 2 of their friends to visit the village they had grown to love. When the 4 retired friends saw the conditions the people lived in and particularly the lack of medical help causing an alarmingly high infant mortality rate, they decided to help and the African Space Trust was born. Space is a reflection of the incredible sense of vastness they perceived in Tanzania.
The pupils at Highclare School from both the Senior School and the Junior Schools have worked hard with a variety of fund raising events including cake sales, quiz nights and sponsored events. They have put their entrepreneurial skills to work, sang carols in the Gracechurch Centre and organised non-uniform sponsored days. It has been an exciting year and members of the Charity came into school recently to receive the cheque. Some of the money will help towards the current project in Itete, which is to build some accommodation for the medical staff so that they can settle there with their families and also so that the QE Hospital can send medical students over to help.
The pupils of Highclare have decided to continue to support AST next year as the accommodation is nearing completion and will then turn their attention to supporting the village school.
Picture shows: Left to right – Mrs Parker (AST), Jack Roper J4, Mrs Carol Linden AST, Edward Bickley, Mrs Marian Morris, AST, Mrs Angie Moore, Head of Senior School, Jessica Bonner L5R, Samuel Broom, J6, and Hannah Batey J6