Boys and staff rallied round to help Barnet people in need in the Christmas season with a triple charity effort.
The annual QE collection for Chipping Barnet Foodbank – now in its seventh year – gathered food and toiletries, while donations of clothing were taken for Homeless Action in Barnet, with pupils playing their part in ensuring that local people would not be spending frosty nights in cold and hunger.
And in a separate charity initiative, boys from every form in Years 7–9 battled it out in a charity ‘swimathon’ in aid of Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice.
Assistant Head (Pupil Involvement) Crispin Bonham-Carter, who was in charge of the deliveries for the foodbank and the homeless, said: “Charitable giving and service have long been important values at the School, and Christmas collections are a cherished tradition here. The boys were keen to support those less fortunate than themselves and gave generously.”
Mr Bonham-Carter expressed his thanks to Extra-curricular Enrichment Tutor Katrin Hood for overseeing these charity efforts and to all the boys and families who made donations.
For the deliveries, Mr Bonham-Carter was accompanied by Umar Jawara, from the site team, as well as Vice-Captains Suraj Cheema and Dylan Domb from the incoming Year 12 prefects team. The 2022 School Captain, Theo Mama-Kahn and another incoming Vice-Captain, Ryo Sato, were also involved.
With the approach of winter, both the foodbank and the homeless charity typically see a rise in visitors who are barely coping with rising food, heating and clothing costs. In Chipping Barnet, over 1,300 three-day emergency food supplies were given to people in crisis last year.
Donated food had to be non-perishable and have a long ‘use by’ date, such as tinned products, cereals, rice, jars of pasta sauce, biscuits and jams and marmalades. Sanitary items such as shower gel, soap, moisturising cream and period products were also collected, because often these cannot be a priority when people run short of money.
The Homeless Action centre requested new underwear and socks, as well as any old clothes (except used underwear and socks), provided they were reasonably clean and wearable.
For the inter-House ‘swimathon’, each form had to provide a team of four for a medley relay (back, breast, fly and free stroke) against their own year group. Broughton won the overall competition. There were 105 spectators in total, with Underne praised for turning out the most supporters.
Headmaster Neil Enright said: “After such a long enforced break, it was wonderful to have people back at the School enjoying themselves and to see such a sweep of competitors from across our whole Elizabethan family.
Team 1 included a number of current teachers, together with partners, while Team 2 comprised Old Elizabethans and Team 5 included former members of staff. Participants enjoyed drinks and snacks from the bar, while a fundraising raffle was also held during the event in the Main School Hall.
Mr Noonan spearheaded a London-wide effort by schools’ Design & Technology departments to 3D-print face shields and stave off a looming crisis as hospitals’ supplies of PPE ran low when Covid-19 cases soared in spring 2020.
The DTA’s Chief Executive Officer, Tony Ryan, also congratulated him on his “positive impact at a time of crisis”, adding: “Through your efforts and those of other D&T departments across the country, we showed the real value of our subject.”
The 2019-20 winners had actually been in the lead for the whole year, until a series of strong performances in House competitions in the second half of this term enabled Underne to overtake them. Underne ended the year with 755 points, against Stapylton’s 716 and Leicester’s 713.
During the assembly, boys heard presentations on the large number of competitions and events held during the year at which House points may be won. Boys may also add to their House’s total by gaining ‘merits’ and ‘good notes’.
The proceedings were punctuated by musical interludes performed by two pianists: Year 9’s Jason Tao and Shreyas Iyengar, of Year 7, who brought the assembly to an end.
Torrential downpours forced a last-minute change of route, but the walkers were not to be denied their day in the Dollis Valley and relished the chance to stretch their legs in support of the Sathya Sai (English Medium) School in Kerala, southern India.
The Sai School has both boys and girls and caters for primary and secondary-age children. Over the two decades the appeal has been running, QE has funded improvements including the construction of a new building, various repairs and, recently, the provision of a computer room that enables pupils there to sit digitally-based examinations.
Boys from four year groups – 7, 8, 9 and 12 – turned out for a two-day, charity tournament to raise funds for QE’s long-running appeal in support of a school in India, while later this week, Years 8 & 9 will be taking part in a sponsored walk for the same cause.
“The event has so far raised £260, with money still coming in,” said Ms Hood. “I am grateful to Vishruth and Varun who did an excellent job on both days.”