Exeter School raises £3,000 for charity

Exeter School pupils, parents and staff have succeeded in raising over £3,000 for charity over the first half-term of the academic year on top of collections of food and household essentials.

Three Houses have held cake sales to raise funds for their chosen charities. Daw raised almost £150 for The Francis Crick Institute, Drake raised over £200 for Tearfund and Crossing collected over £300 for Cancer Research.

School Chaplain, Revd Tom Carson, held two Harvest Festivals in Chapel this month, one for the Junior School and one for the Senior School. Pupils from across the school brought in a variety of food and household produce from tea towels to tins which was donated to Exeter-based charity, St Petrock's.

Gill Luckings from St Petrock's explained to children that their donations would be used to provide breakfasts and lunches to those who are homeless in Exeter.

"Each day St Petrock's supports between 55-65 homeless people. The food donated by Exeter School will help us make some of the 26,000 breakfasts and lunches we provide each year," she said.

Townsend House also held a substantial collection for Exeter Foodbank which they hope to continue throughout the year.

The annual Exeter School Charity Day in early September was a great success. Teams of pupils played in the Bubble Football Tournament and took part in various fairground games from welly throwing to guessing the number of balloons in a tractor. Refreshments were provided in the form of tea stands and a BBQ and entertainment by school band The Fifth String.

The day succeeded in raising £1244.48 which will be split equally between the Janine Di-Vincenzo Foundation and Balloons.

Eight members of teaching and support staff completed the daunting 10K Commando Challenge on 8 October. Staff members Rachel Currie, Karrie-Anne Hancock, Jade Clark, Amelia Johnson, Melanie Dunn, Jacquie Barnes and Paul Bell waded through mud, crawled through water-logged tunnels and ran over the rough moorland terrain of Woodbury Common. So far they have collected over £600 for Devon Air Ambulance.

Two members of support staff took part in the Pretty Mud event on Sunday 2 October in Central Park, Plymouth, in aid of Cancer Research UK. PA to the Bursar Julie Furniss and Headmaster's Secretary Karrie-Anne Hancock took part in a 5K race which included muddy obstacles. They crawled through muddy tunnels, climbed over netted A frames, slithered under muddy nets, slid down mud covered slides, rolled down a muddy slope and climbed over muddy inflatable obstacles, all while being blasted with mud and water. The duo, who called themselves "Muddy Ducks", raised a total of £245.

Exeter School would like to thank parents for their generosity at Speech Day - the end of ceremony collection succeeded in raising £334.63 for the school's LEJOG challenge and will be divided between the Janine Di-Vincenzo Foundation and The Children's Society.

Every year, Exeter School supports three charities throughout the year, raising funds through various means from cake sales to mufti days. This year's charities are Devon Freewheelers during the autumn term, Hospiscare (South Devon) for the spring term and Amantani over the summer term. Every House supports a different charity chosen by pupils. This year the Chaplain's charity is The Children's Society.

Revd Tom Carson said he was delighted with the amount raised.

"What a lovely start to this academic year to see pupils, parents and staff raising so much for worthy causes. Thank you so much to everyone who have given their time, energy, money, food, and baking skills this half of term."