Philanthropy

The QE experience > Clubs & Extra-Curricular > Philanthropy

Charitable work and fund-raising have long played an important role in our School life.

Such philanthropy is, of course, valuable for the immediate financial contribution it makes to the needs of local, national and international charities.

There are, however, also longer-term benefits, both for our boys and for society at large: we see nurturing a commitment to philanthropy as an important factor in fulfilling the School’s mission “to produce young men who are confident, able and responsible”.

Moreover, by their nature, charitable activities do much to leaven our School life together: fund-raising can be a lot of fun!

Each of our Houses individually supports a local charity every year, led by a boy appointed as its charities officer. There is great diversity in these philanthropic endeavours: examples have included collections for the Chipping Barnet Foodbank and fund-raising through week-long five-a-side football tournaments, swimathons and baby photo displays.

The School as a whole also nominates a charity each year; representatives of charities regularly feature among our visiting speaker, and many boys on their own initiative creatively support good causes that are close to their heart.

Since 2002, QE has supported the Sri Sathya Sai English Medium School in Vellanad, Kerala, a village in south west India. Fund-raising efforts are headed by a team of sixth-formers, whose main target is to secure sufficient sponsorship to support 30 pupils (the equivalent of a QE form) throughout their full-time education in Kerala. Such support has helped the Sai School to secure some remarkable developments: it has moved from rented accommodation to a well-established campus spread over two acres housing children in classes from kindergarten through to Year 12, the final school year in Kerala. Moreover, the partnership between QE and the Sai School extends beyond just fund-raising: over the years, a number of recent QE leavers have travelled to India to undertake work experience there.

Charity of the year: Orbis

After a whole-school vote, from a shortlist of three organisations, Orbis was selected as QE's charity of the year for 2018.

As one of the Vice-Captains responsible for the School's charity efforts last year, Adam Chong was heavily involved in the selection process. “We had to look in great detail at a range of charities. We wanted to focus on those that might otherwise not get so much attention and support. Orbis does important work providing access to eye-care procedures across the globe, particularly in the developing world.”

Orbis aims to transform lives through providing access to quality eye-care, running over 60 long-term projects and having trained medial staff in 92 countries. Part of their provision is a 747 jet, equipped as an eye hospital, which flies to regions in need.