As the Autumn term came to a close, we reflected on the effort and enthusiasm of this year’s Charity team. We thank you all for the part that you have played in raising £4,968 for a number of good causes, such as MacMillan Cancer Support, St Luke’s Hospice in Harrow and Motor Neurone Disease UK.

Off the back of this pledge to the School, our Head Boy delivered on his promise of smoothies! These sales have raised over £200 to date. A huge thanks to the number of Sixth Formers involved in this process – whether chopping fruit, blending mixes or selling them to pupils. We are keen to develop this initiative and will look to source ingredients from local businesses.

The Macmillan Coffee Morning proved to be our biggest earner, raising over £1,400 through the sales of cake, biscuits, other baked goods and hot chocolate. The October half-term saw the Spanish department collaborate with the Charity team to raise over £1,300 for the Year 7 Sponsored Word Challenge. Congratulations to those who took part and achieved 100%!

At the end of November, we hosted our first Foodbank donation providing over 1,000 items of food and supplies which were gratefully received by Hillview Nursery to give to a number of families in South Harrow. It was pleasing to see the number of students involved with the Charity team collecting and packaging items to the Sixth Form volunteers, who delivered the products to the nursery as part of their co-curricular volunteering programme. Time and effort are both equally important resources when giving.

We must also thank those who supported the Christmas Carol Concert at St George’s Church where the retiring collection raised almost £300. A big thanks to the Music department and the Old Lyonians who returned.

As the World Cup commenced, we turned our efforts to the Lower School Football tournament and Christmas Fayre. The Charity team would like to thank each form and their tutors for delivering our first fayre post-Covid. In just 90 minutes, £700 was raised on top of the money raised through Mufti Day.

We are very thankful to our John Lyon community for coming together for such worthy causes. We look forward to doing our bit and raising more crucial funds for those most in need.