What a wonderful start to the year we have had. Following feedback, we changed the way we nominated and voted for College Charities.
Each year, students will vote for one new charity every year alongside St Hilda’s East, and work with them over a longer 2-year period. This will mean we can be more impactful and purposeful in our fundraising.
For 2024, we are delighted to be working with Gloucestershire Young Carers and St Hilda’s East.
There have been many Charity events and fundraising this term so here is a run-down of everything CLC has done. Many thanks to everyone who helped in organising all the events.
A musically talented group of SFC1s asked to play some live music for one of our partner primary schools. The children were delighted, many thanks to Audrey and Costanza who wrote about their experience below:
A sports hall. Large eyes staring up at us. Children in red jumpers, row after row after row. We’d never thought we’d be the ones standing on the stage, in front of a sea of expectant faces, but this was our assembly, and we couldn’t wait to make the experience unforgettable.
When we were offered the chance to organise a music workshop at Gardners’ Lane Primary School, we were overjoyed. Sharing our love for music was something we have always wanted to do; performing at our school or in competitions was one thing, but sharing our music with young children, whom we could inspire, was different and way more exciting than any other type of performance we have ever taken part in before.
We opened the concert with a short explanation of our instruments, followed by a Disney medley and some Christmas songs that the children could sing along to. The experience exceeded our already high expectations; we were met with more enthusiasm than we could have ever asked for, with the children singing along, clapping and moving to the beat. Being received in this way was so reassuring as initially we had been worried about keeping such a massive audience engaged. It was heartwarming to see how cheerful they were, from the excited gasps we could hear throughout our performances to when one of the children raised their hand to say that our singer sounded like the “real singer of the song” - Mariah Carey.
While academic subjects are important, it’s moments like these, in the real world, that truly shape us. It’s the people we meet and the relationships we build along the way. We are infinitely grateful for this experience and excited for more further opportunities to connect with the community through music.
Audrey and Costanza
This term, the team at Eversleigh hosted two coffee and cake mornings for College Charities.
Not only did they raise money for the College Charities, but they had some wonderful feedback from the parents. Many swapped phone numbers and siblings were shown around the house. Eversleigh raised £571.10 for College Charities. Many thanks to everyone for their efforts in baking and organising these events.
Once again, St Helen’s staff have been hard at work making beautiful CLC teddy bears out of old sports uniform. There were two made this year which were raffled off alongside some chocolate treats and cookies.
St Helen’s managed to raise around £300 for our College Charities. Thank you so much to the staff and girls who made all the items.
Elizabeth House turned into the spookiest House at CLC for Halloween. The committee at Elizabeth planned and decorated their House to provide a ‘Fright Night’ like no other.
Along every corridor lurked a scary witch, zombie or ghost. Elizabeth managed to raise an astounding c.£2320 for Cheltenham Welcomes Refugees. This was an incredible effort by staff and girls, thank you so much.
This year, 17 students went to two of our partner care homes, Astell House and Faithfull House, to perform some Christmas music. Many thanks to all those girls who performed. You can read all about their experiences here.
At the Christmas Carol Concert at Astell House we performed a range of carols, from timeless classics like Silent Night and O Come All Ye Faithful to modern favourites such as Last Christmas. It was heart-warming to see the residents singing along, gesturing the lyrics, and clapping for us, even though some had hearing difficulties. What moved us most was hearing how many of them still vividly remembered the lyrics to these carols, learned decades ago. This reminder of music’s enduring power - to evoke memories and connect generations - left a profound impact on us.
Following the performance, we had the opportunity to thank each resident personally. These conversations revealed the depth of their longing for connection, especially with their families. One resident, in particular, eagerly shared stories of his family, expressing pride and deep nostalgia. His openness highlighted how meaningful it is for people to keep their loved ones alive through memories and share them with others.
We were honoured to perform for the residents, knowing our concert might have rekindled fond memories and brought them moments of joy. While Christmas is often a season of celebration, it can also be challenging for those who are separated from their families or have lost loved ones. We hope our efforts helped spread warmth, alleviate feelings of social exclusion, and celebrate the true spirit of Christmas with the residents of Astell House.
Glenlee have been busy during December rehearsing for their panto and making some lovely Christmas crafts. Girls got into the festive spirit and invited parents to see their panto and purchase some handmade Christmas items. They managed to raise approximately £290. A fantastic effort, well done.
On Saturday 9th November, we had the pleasure of hosting the Brave Girls from St Hilda’s East. The Brave Girls group are young girls aged 11-18 who attend weekly sessions to build confidence, self esteem and leadership.
Our LC3 students and the Brave Girls collaborated, making paper sculptures to represent what community means to them. Using old CLC hymn books and other texts, the girls made beautiful installations which were exhibited in the Parabola Arts Centre.
We were delighted to host the Brave Girls to come to see their work and have lunch with us in St Hilda’s house. After viewing the artwork we then had a Lego Serious Play session on how we can work together in the future. Watch this space for more collaborative work!
Scroll down to watch a video about the exhibition and the artistic process with the organisers from CLC and Brave Girls.
The Prefects chose the theme of pyjamas for Mufti day this term. Girls rolled out of bed to school in their snuggliest pyjamas.
We raised £461.36 for College Charities. Many thanks to the Prefects for organising it.
At the end of term, we had another Mufti clothing sale. Waka and Valentina did a brilliant job collecting unwanted clothing, sorting and pricing it all to sell.
They raised £256.20. What a wonderful way to reuse and recycle whilst raising money for charity. Thank you to Waka and Valentina for your work in running it.
Bayshill welcomed members of Lower College to our charity Christmas movie night this term to watch the Christmas classic, Nativity!, in the cosy Santa's grotto that Bayshill becomes each December!
We had hot chocolates and candy canes to snack on and a bake sale filled with festive brownies and gingerbread for the girls. A lovely evening that got us all into the Christmas spirit as December arrived!
Jasmine, SFC
Many thanks to Jasmine and the team at Bayshill who raised £65 for College Charities.
The Empower Her Voice group at CLC have been working hard to raise awareness around women’s health.
To raise money for Wellbeing of Women, they baked some mouth watering cookies and cupcakes. They raised £281 which is a fantastic effort. Thank you to Proud and the team for all your baking and fundraising.
The team at St Hilda’s have been working incredibly hard with second hand uniform sales this term.
They have been steaming, ironing, pressing and pricing uniforms ready to sell. They have already made a staggering £7690 for St Hilda’s East, our permanent legacy charity who offer services to a variety of ages in Tower Hamlets.
Huge thanks to Lola and the team for the massive undertaking that is the second hand uniform sale.
Many thanks to the Music Department and the students who publish the Polyphony magazine. The girls sold them at the Christmas concert and raised £130 for College Charities.
We are working with 14 partners across Cheltenham where students volunteer their time in the local community. We work with care homes, primary schools, secondary schools, foodbanks and the RDA to make meaningful contributions.
This year, our SFC1 pupils have taken the initiative to play music and mentor young people and the elderly. Thank you to our girls for taking some action and making an impact. We have been receiving so much lovely feedback from our partners:
“May I say it has been wonderful seeing the residents and your students forming a really friendly bond over recent weeks; and it has been particularly lovely to have Julie playing viola and Anya leading sing-a-longs with her guitar.” Sandfields Care Home
“The girls at our school were very grateful and really enjoyed the mentoring last week”. Cleeve Secondary School
Houses collected lots of items for our Harvest Collection this year. We donated all the food to Cheltenham OpenDoor and Foodbank. All our items were very gratefully received:
“Can I say a suitably ENORMOUS thank you to you and to everyone involved and the generosity of pupils and staff for the wonderful collection that is now on the shelves in our Donations Hub, ready to be packed into food parcels for our Guests, used in our kitchen for Guest meals or gifts that will form part of their personal gift bags at Christmas. As we rely on donations such as these in order to continue to do our work, it is wonderful to have such incredible and generous support from your school.” Liz, Cheltenham OpenDoor
“Thank you so much for your harvest donation of 239.4kg. We really appreciate it. We rely on the generosity and support of people and organisations such as yourselves to continue the important work we do. Your donations will directly support many vulnerable, struggling individuals and families. On behalf of the Foodbank team and our clients may I say, once again, thank you.” Cheltenham Foodbank
Finally, thank you for your donations at our Christmas Concert and Service of Lessons and Carols, which has raised to date £650 for College Charities. Wishing you all peace and joy this Christmas.
Mrs Isaac, Social Action Mentor
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