This year has gone by so quickly and we can’t believe it is nearly over! One of the definite highlights of our year as charity prefects was the chance to host the recent Sixth Form Charity Dinner and quiz. 

The evening was great fun and everyone enjoyed dressing up, eating delicious food, attempting to answer quiz questions and fundraising for all of our school charities. It was especially wonderful to learn more about the work of one of our chosen school charities – Reading Education Centre, an independent school run as a partnership with the national children’s charity ‘Transforming Lives for Good’. We are delighted with the success of this event.

There have been many dress up days this year with various different themes. Most recently, over £2,000 was raised for Berkshire Women’s Aid. Our final dress up day is today, Friday 1 April, raising money for UNICEF working with those affected by the conflict in Ukraine – so the theme is blue and yellow!

One of the first collections which we organised was for a charity recycling old textbooks and giving them a second life in schools in developing countries. This involved collecting a variety of unused textbooks from various departments and package them up into boxes of 25 kg ready for collection. 

We also coordinated with Amnesty International club to organise a collection for the local women refuge. We organised a similar collection style bank for the Ukraine crisis (collecting rucksacks, clothes and sanitary items) and for our local Food Bank.

All these events have involved raising awareness and bringing together the school community to help fight injustice in the world. We’re thankful for the support of our wonderful Abbey community, both students and parents. We hope to have inspired and encouraged the younger years, whilst helping our community on a local, as well as more global scale.

Mirabelle, Alice, Elizabeth, Caitlin and Lily-Sofia, Upper VI