Charities and Communities

Charities

Pupils and staff continue to be proactive in raising funds to support a wide range of good causes.  The Chapel Offertory Collections are distributed to charities nominated by House Chapel Representatives and members of the Chaplaincy Team.  The beneficiaries this year have included:

Sandpiper Trust
Cancer Research UK
Oxfam’s Send-a-Goat
Diocese of St Andrews, Dunkeld & Dunblane
Soko Fund
Army Benevolent Fund
Earl Haig Fund Scotland
Aberlour Child Care Trust
Mountain Rescue Committee of Scotland
Wish Upon A Dream
Turquoise Mountain
Mvumi Secondary School, Tanzania
Royal National Lifeboat Institution
Rachel House (Children’s Hospice Association Scotland)
Scottish Episcopal Church Community Fund
Book Aid International

In addition to the benefit which funds raised brings to a wide range of good causes, the College community is drawn together through the sense of common purpose achieved through fundraising activities.  Moreover, the range of events and activities mounted demonstrates considerable creativity and a great sense of fun. 

The Rev’d Giles Dove

Community Service

In 2007-08, Community Service has been offered on Wednesday afternoons in Michaelmas and Lent Terms, as previously, but has been extended into the first three weeks of Trinity Term.  24 Lower Sixth Form pupils have been enrolled.  The focus has been on trying to make a positive impact in a limited number of community-based projects.  This year, these have included:

• British Limbless Ex-Servicemen’s Association Home, Crieff
• Salvation Army Café, Perth
• Salvation Army Charity Shop, Perth
• Shelter Charity Shop, Perth
• Shelter Charity Shop, Crieff
• Chest, Heart & Stroke Charity Shop, Crieff
• Richmond House Care Home (for the elderly), Crieff
• Blackruthven Farm (project for adults with learning difficulties)
• St Ninian’s Cathedral Community Projects, Perth
• Cherrybank Gardens, Perth
• The Gateway Carers’ Centre, Perth

Community Service provides pupils with an opportunity to leave the College and to engage with the wider community, albeit for a brief period of time each week.  Valuable experience is to be gained from engaging with the public and, especially, with those in need and that kind of experience would be difficult to obtain from Glenalmond without the Community Service programme.  Moreover, for some pupils, it provides a route to community engagement in support of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards scheme.

Towards the end of Michaelmas Term, our Sunday School Nativity Play and Community Christmas Tea Party was offered to local old folk, retired staff, and participants in some of our Wednesday afternoon projects.  Community Service volunteers welcomed and served guests, providing musical entertainment and leading community carol singing.

To coincide with the CCF Field Day, Community Service volunteers paid an educational visit to the Scottish Parliament.  Moreover, following an inspiring sermon by Prison Chaplain, the Rev’d Graham Matthews, members of the Sixth Form were taken on an eye-opening visit to Perth Prison.

The Rev’d Giles Dove

Fundraising news and archive

This year we held three Dress Easy Days (pupils and staff making a donation to charity in return for spending the day in clothes other than normal uniform).  One of these, in support of Methven Under-Fives Playgroup, had a “hint of fairytale”.  The next contributed to the Vanessa Grant Trust’s Kenya Emergency Fund.  In Trinity Term, Dress Easy “with a hint of spice” combined with the World’s Biggest Curry Lunch to raise money for the Army Benevolent Fund.

The inventiveness of pupils in fundraising and entertainment reached its climax with the Give Gig, which raised over £2,500 for Hope and Homes for Children’s work with orphaned, abandoned and vulnerable children in Africa.

There has been much more:

The South Africa Hockey Tour Squad has been raising money to support the Pegasus Children’s Trust, seeking to help street children in South Africa.

Cairnies House pupil Alice Watson organised a Shoebox collection for Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child

Recipe Books were sold on behalf of the Sandpiper Trust

The Fair Trade Group is largely pupil-run, operating a Traidcraft stall at coffee after Chapel on Sunday.

 

Cross Channel Swimming

After a really intense few weeks, congratulations go to Lucy McKibbin and Emma Sanderson for swimming across the English Channel! 

Well, not quite, but they have completed the equivalent distance in the College pool all in aid of the spinal research charity ASPIRE.  Surprisingly, Lucy completed the distance last year for the same charity so she has in fact just swum back to the UK! 

"Oh What a Beautiful Evening!"
The West End comes to Coll for a gala charity event.

We are holding an entirely new form of charity event at Glenalmond on Sunday 17th June and seek support from as many parents as possible for this exciting evening of music and drama with West End directors.

Juliet Cooke, a pupil in the Upper Sixth has successfully persuaded a vastly experienced creative team from the NYMT (National Youth Music Theatre) to direct this musical evening at Glenalmond, utilising the talent within the College to raise money for Mencap and PUSH, two charities supporting children with special needs.

Jeremy James Taylor has kindly agreed to be Artistic Director for the event. Jeremy founded NYMT 30 years ago, and has put on many successful shows at the Edinburgh Festival, across the UK, in Japan, and recently at the Queen’s 80th Birthday Gala in Buckingham Palace.

Jeremy is accompanied by Musical Director John Pearson, who has worked on many of these events with him, most particularly as musical director for the immensely successful BUGSY MALONE in the West End in 1997, and young upcoming Choreographer Katie Beard. The creative team auditioned a large group of enthusiastic pupils from all year groups at the end of the Lent Term, and selected a cast whom they felt could perform at a higher level for this event and who suited the parts they were casting for.

This promises to be a very special event, and we want to ensure that the Theatre is full.  The evening will start at 6.30pm with a reception of champagne and canapés in the Music School and the performance will commence at 7.15pm in the Theatre.

During the interval there will be refreshments, a raffle and an auction of prizes. 

Applications for tickets should be sent to the Warden’s Secretary or by telephone 01738 842061.

A photo of two Glenalmond pupils doing the Balmoral Race for charity last weekend in order to raise money for the school’s Tanzania expedition. Also Cat and Lidia Nicol did the race with Cat Nicol coming in the top 50 females out of over 1500 runners in the 10 km run.

Sebastian Scholl

Give Gig Lent 2007

Started by Jamie Murray (OG) only a couple of years ago, Coll's "Give Gig" keeps rolling along. Various events around Coll this term have raised over £2,000 for the Survivors' Fund (SURF), dedicated to aiding survivors of the Rwandan genocide. A quality concert by pupil musicians (see photos here), a mass Oxfam-style second hand goods sale and, on the last full day of term pupils were encouraged by the highly entrepreneurial, cunning Junior Entry to throw water bombs (a winning idea) at a few brave members of staff who were running the internal circuit to raise money. It was possibly the coldest day of the year, so being soaked by hugely enthusiastic and accurate pupils was uncomfortable, to say the least!

Revd. Kerr goes swimming?	"We do mean business!" Click the picture for a bigger version
Targets and throwers

---