College pupils have continued to show a big heart in their support of local and national charities. Just before the start of the summer holiday in June 2021 the whole College turned out for a twilight run on College field which raised funds for the charity Active Impact. In September, a second whole school colour run on College Field raised £6,875 in aid of the newly chosen College charity The Pied Piper Appeal.

The annual charity rugby match at against Sir Thomas Rich’s School took place at Kingsholm in November and the term’s charity programme was ended with both staff and pupils donning their Christmas jumpers. The two key events in the Spring Term were the Valentines Gift Project and the annual charity Netball match. Our opponents this year were Malvern College and the event also involved a House shoot-out competition which ended as a draw between Ashmead and Newick House. By year’s end the total raised for The Pied Piper Appeal was in excess of £11,000 whilst a further £4,000 had been raised for Active Impact.

The Bellamy Cup was won this year’s by Boyne House; a fitting recognition for Mr Richard Penny’s unstinting commitment to charitable outreach during his 11 years at College.

As detailed in the House Charity Round-Up article that follows, pupils in other Houses also completed notable charitable fundraising challenges. Elian Jorand spent six days solo-hiking a mountain range in Oman for The Barefoot Project. He was completely unassisted, had to carry everything with him and gave several inspiring talks about his adventures to College pupils at society gatherings. Thomas Hill and Gus Carini-Roberts were part of a group of young Gloucestershire county cricketers who managed to raise over £16,000 for Ewing’s Sarcoma Research. Thomas and Gus batted in the cricket nets for 24 hours with only 90 minutes sleep, each striking the ball 1,000 times – with the total number of runs by the squad of 15 totalling 12,457. Lyla Emery, together with her family, camped out for a homeless charity, raising £20,000, whilst Sophie Fowler, Molly Krauer and Oleander Hall and others cycled for the Leonard Cheshire Care Home.

Throughout the weeks of the Summer Term each House was tasked with collecting a type of non-perishable food such as tins of minced beef. At the end of May all of these donations were gathered together and dispatched to the foodbank of Cheltenham Open Door. Around the same time, Mr David McKee organised an ambitious concert in aid of humanitarian organisations working in Ukraine. In front of a packed audience in Chapel College pupils performed alongside nationally renowned musicians, and the evening culminated in a powerful performance of Duruflé’s Requiem. This event raised in excess of £5,500.

Dr Adam Dunning

Bellamy Cup Winners

This year, working with their adopted charity the James Hopkins Trust, Boyne House have raised £5,600. Boyne’s main fundraising effort was a Challenge 10 which saw the boys committing to completing a task they found challenging for 10 consecutive days. Notable examples included running 10km or lifting a certain amount of total weight in the gym, or Housemaster Mr Richard Penny running 200km in the snow. In addition, Henry Cane and William Hall completed a marathon 45km sponsored row. Tom Min organised an online chess challenge which saw him competing against a chess Grandmaster. Additionally, Boyne has continued to support the Afghan Refugee Cricket Project and sponsored a player through his GCSEs which he sat in Boyne during Covid disruption. He secured a level 7 in Maths which gave him his desired place to study a foundation course university. Under Mr Penny’s direction, Boyne House have raised £15,000 over the past five years for their adopted charity, and they have routinely neared the top of the fundraising board for College wide charitable initiatives.

Dr Adam Dunning

Concert for Ukraine

In May College hosted a concert in aid of humanitarian charities in Ukraine. The finest choirs from the area were invited including College’s Schola Cantorum and Collegi8. These groups also included professional and semi- professional groups from Cheltenham and Gloucester, together with some solo items performed by senior College musicians. The second half was a collaborative performance of the Duruflé Requiem including the massed singers from all groups. A total of £5,500 was raised through cash and online donations which is a wonderful achievement for a single event.

Mr David McKee, Director of Music

House Charity Round Up

Ashmead

As a House, Ashmead supported Winston’s Wish by selling bubble tea. We organised a range of charity events including selling ice creams during cricket matches. In the charity netball match against Malvern College Min F and Fenella C gave stellar performances. Lyla E camped out in the streets of Birmingham in the Big Sleep Out in aid of homeless outreach, St Basils. Georgia S and her family are hosting a Ukrainian family following the conflict. Continuing the support for Ukraine, Olivia V and her family have made a generous financial donation and given clothes, medicine and food to soldiers and civilians whilst hosting a friend from Ukraine. Olivia V-R took part in the MoonWalk and raised £1,500 in aid of breast cancer.
House Editor: Ellie S

Boyne House

Henry C and William H raised £1,200 for the James Hopkins Trust by completing a charity rowing marathon. In the Autumn Term more than £3,300 was raised for the Trust with Challenge 10, which included challenges such as Mr Penny running 200km in sun and snow, and Tom M taking on challengers from around the world at online chess. In Summer Term many boys represented College in the Ukraine charity concert; of particular note was William S on the saxophone. It was fantastic to be able to support one of the Afghan Refugee Cricket Project boys through their Maths GCSE, which saw him land a place on a foundation course at university. Despite visits to the James Hopkins Trust being curtailed due to Covid, everyone was proud to win the Bellamy Cup.
House Editor: William H

Chandos

Chandos have supported the Gloucestershire Rape and Sexual Abuse charity this year. Our main event was a cycle ride in which every girl took part. Our aim was to cycle the length of the UK from The Lizard in Cornwall all the way up to John o’ Groats on the tip of Scotland. The total distance was 1,340km! To achieve this, each girl had to cycle a distance of 15km. We set up three exercise bikes in the main common room and over a period of
a week we had time to complete our 15km. A special mention goes to Gracie E who took part in the Big Sleep Out charity event in Birmingham organised by homeless outreach, St Basils. Gracie had to spend a night out on the streets with solely a cardboard box and plastic cover to keep her warm. Her family raised an amazing £4,000 to support homeless youth in the West Midlands.
House Editors: Beatrice C, Izzy C-R, Miranda T and Daisy W

Christowe

Isaac W organised and ran a hugely successful charity table tennis tournament in support of the chosen Christowe charity Teens in Crisis. Teens in Crisis is a local Gloucestershire based charity which offers support for young people and their families. The charity offers, amongst other things, professional counselling services, anonymous one-to-one support and parental support. The tournament raised over £150 and saw all members of the House, including Tutors and Matrons take part. The College food bank collection for Cheltenham Open Door saw a large number of tinned hotdogs (over 80 tins!) collected by the Christowe boys and their families for this hugely important Cheltenham charity.
House Editors: Moses S and Cameron H

Hazelwell

We continue to support the Cornerstone Centre that serves the local community in Whaddon and Oakley. Whilst we have completed fundraisers for new kitchen equipment and made donations to the food bank, more significantly we are once again actively involved with the centre. We have recently held our first quiz night and plans to support their Homework Club for the coming year are in place.
House Editor: Bryan L

Leconfield

With another competitive year for The Bellamy cup, there were some notable contributions to charity by Porcherites. We continued to support the Barefoot Project, and Elian J completed a four-day unsupported trek through the Hajar Mountains, in Oman, raising €500. The Leconfield family tennis tournament was a great success and raised £720, and we are sure that this annual tournament will grow year on year. The inaugural Leconfield Table Tennis tournament saw Pan V crowned the champion and raised money for Barefoot through a small entry fee. Outside of school Tom H took part in a 24-hour net session with some of his Gloucestershire cricket teammates, which raised over £16,000 for the Ewing’s Sarcoma research trust, and John G has planned a three-week trip to Pakistan to work with the Dost Foundation
House Editor: Harry D

Newick House

Over the past year Newick House decided to support the charity Ataxia UK. Ataxia signifies a loss of the ability to execute coordinated voluntary movements. This trouble can affect the limbs. Ataxia UK fund research into finding treatments and cures, and offer advice, information and support to people affected by this condition. This is a charity that is exceptionally close to the heart of Jackson J. Our main fundraising event for this academic year was Newickaroo where our Upper Sixth went around on bikes delivering pizzas to different Houses. It was a great event and raised £1,000 for this amazing charity.
House Editor: Sam E

The Queen’s House

We continued to support our local charity, The Secret Garden Hub, which is part of the Lillian Faithfull Homes in Cheltenham. We raised £1,219 by walking a combined 1,946km, which represents about 30km per person. This was to mark their 75th anniversary. We also organised an end of year party with charity stalls such as face painting, sponge the teacher, coconut shy and a raffle. Notable mentions for exceptional individual efforts include Sophia V for running the Valentine’s Day Roses collection, as well as Adena S for chopping off some of her hair for the Little Princess Trust. Ella B and her family were part of the Gloucestershire appeal for Ukraine and collected a range of items to send over.
House Editor: Emily S

Southwood

A significant charity event for Southwood this year was the collection for the local food bank, Cheltenham Open Door. Southwood were tasked with collecting tins of minced beef. As a House we set ourselves the goal of filling up a doorway within House with a tower of tinned beef. It was a great House push and we ended up collecting more than 120 cans of beef
to send off to the foodbank. The doorway would have been filled to the top but had to be stacked judiciously as Mr Orchard’s son, Ellis, thought it was giant Jenga.
House Editor: Mickey S

Westal

A memorable moment of our school year was the Support for Ukraine Concert in the Summer Term. Many Westal girls played a role in the concert including Sonya M, Victoria
H and Georgina H. All of the girls also enjoyed the colour run in the Autumn Term which helped raise money for The Pied Piper Appeal. In addition, some of our Upper Sixth took part in the bake sale at the charity netball match in the Spring Term. An unsung House star this year is Tilly C who took part in the London Charity MoonWalk to raise money for breast cancer. Having walked a total of 26.2 miles in seven and a half hours, Tilly and Olivia V-R from Ashmead raised £1,850.
House Editor: Violet P