On the 28th of November, people around the globe participated in ‘Just Giving Day,’ a day to help others within our communities, as well as further afar. With Christ’s Hospital being no exception, our school raised £164,051 over the course of two days. Although a private school, Christ’s Hospital is a charitable organization, with links to the city of London and the Royal Family. As a result, fundraising is critical to ensuring the everyday running of the school, in addition to helping fund pupils throughout their school careers.

In total, 580 donors have supported the cause, ranging from Old blues, (previous pupils) students, friends, and sponsors of the school. This year’s fundraising has brought much excitement and anticipation, as thousands of pounds are unlocked by matched and challenged funding, allowing the raised money to make a greater impact. Over the two days, there have been many different challenge funding events, with one of the most notable being headteacher, Mr. Simon Reid, jump into the school lake on a refreshing 3 degrees Celsius afternoon!

Just giving day proved to be a hive of sporting activities for both teachers and students. For instance, students from all houses competed in a static cycle race, in a bid to unlock more matched funding by racing the furthest distance. However, the fun didn’t stop there, with staff going against each other in an alarmingly competitive netball match, coached and umpired by a range of keen teenagers!

Aside from the bonkersly brilliant activities occurring around the sight, Mr. Woodall, one of our graduate sports assistants, and old blue, spent his afternoon running a marathon around a mile loop, of the school grounds. During this time, students kept him company by running with him for a distance of their choosing.

The CH just giving day raised money for three dedicated funds, namely, the blue fund bursary scheme, the hardship fund, and the expeditionary education scheme. The blue fund provides a full, free, seven-year education at CH, allowing children to thrive in an environment they wouldn’t necessarily be able to access if not for financial support. Similarly, the hardship fund supports the families of students struggling to make ends meet during the cost-of-living crisis. In order to prevent students from missing out, the hardship fund provides money for sports uniform, travel costs, and house pocket money. Finally, recent years have seen CH place an increasing emphasis on building young people’s confidence outside of the academic arena, particularly within outdoor education. As a result, money is being raised to continue to provide a school program of canoeing, sailing, mountain biking, rock climbing, and much more. With a vast outdoor space for students (and teachers) to run riot in, the possibilities to have fun in nature are endless!

CH is marketed as ‘a school like no other.’ Admittedly I think it sounds a little cliché, but the effort of students and teachers to create experiences accessible to everyone really is very special.