Quake Moves Pupils to Raise Funds for Classmates’ Communities
Children at the Royal Alexandra and Albert School have more reason than most to raise money for the victims of the Nepal earthquake. A number of boarders at the School come from Gurkha families where a parent is serving with the British Army in the UK or overseas. Junior pupils, aged 7 to 10, were moved to make a difference. The first fundraising activity was planned by the Junior Student Council, a Mufti Day which raised £154.40.
However, the children wanted to do more. Three Year 4 pupils, Jake Bendall, Adam Bostel and Ali Nayebi led the way. They organised and advertised a cake sale by making posters and asking for contributions.
The response was immediate. Parents, staff and pupils fully embraced the cause by baking and buying cakes for the cake sale. Soon, a mountain of brownies, cupcakes, donuts, cookies and crispy treats started to appear in the School’s reception.
Ali, a Flexi Boarder at the School, helped organise the event and made donuts from scratch with his mother for the sale. He said, “We wanted to do a cake sale to help a good cause. When we heard about the earthquake our Year Group knew we needed to help the people from Nepal. It started small but got bigger and bigger and bigger. It was great.”
Adam agreed, “I wanted to help people who have less than we do and who can do less than we can. I’m really happy that we raised as much money as we did for them.”
In total, the cake sale and mufti day raised £584.46! All funds raised will be donated to the Disasters Emergency Committee who are working with their members to provide emergency food, clean water and shelter to the devastated Nepalese communities.
Pupils were keen to continue fundraising for Nepal and another cake sale was planned. Year 5 pupils, Amelia Chambers and Emma Clamp, whose father has worked in Nepal, sold cakes with friends in Lyndale Road, Redhill. Their efforts raised a further £166 which will also be donated to the Disasters Emergency Committee.
Head of the Junior School, Dr Ines Salman, was delighted with the tremendous response from all involved, “Parents and staff have been overwhelmingly generous with their contributions. I want to thank everyone who helped the children run the sale, baked cakes, bought cakes, and donated. The children are excited to know that they can make a difference and that their efforts will help such a worthy cause. We have a number of Gurkha children who are part of our school family; it was very important to me and our pupils to show support for them and the Nepalese community at this difficult time. ”
11 May 2015
