reach and help 500,000 people of all ages, particularly children and young people. Already, the money that you have raised means that 1,500 can receive the precious and life-saving gift of 30 minutes personal and emotional support. This is the first and most essential step towards recovering one’s mental health and well-being. SANE will support these people throughout their recovery journey. People find it hard to talk about mental health – that’s why we developed the Black Dog Campaign. Cheltenham College has been a wonderful host to Elvis – the statue designed by pop star Adam Ant has been in the Quad most of the year. The Black Dog statues are a distinct symbol of hope and practical help. Each statue serves as a crucial reminder that people do not have to face mental illness alone. On behalf of everyone connected with SANE, and especially all the vulnerable people who turn to us for help, please accept our sincere thanks. We are truly grateful for your amazing and inspirational support.’ In addition, College donated £2,000 to the Gloucestershire Community Foundation (GCF) as part of our ongoing relationship. That fund now stands at over £24,000. We will be working more closely with GCF in 2014‑2015. A number of pupils have been involved in commendable charity activities, raising nearly £10,000: • Guy Lloyd (5th, Xt), Alexander Grutter (5th, Xt), Daniel Sham (5th, NH), and Campbell Gaston-Penny (5th, NH), rowed in the Quad for 12 hours in aid of Help for Heroes • Willie Weston (L6, BH) and Cameron Logan (L6, BH) successfully completed the 125 mile Devizes to Westminster International Canoe Race for Street Hope Kenya, The Brain Tumour Charity and Action for ME • In September 2013 William-Ross Anderson (5th, Xt), Alex de Wesselow (5th, Xt), James Battishill (5th, NH) and Henry Morshead (5th, BH) canoed 100 miles to raise money for the Elephant Orphanage Project in Zambia As in previous years, Houses raised over £6,000 for charity through various activities and events: • Annabella Kohler (5th, Ch) held a disco in aid of infoBuzz • Ashmead held a Christmas Quiz in aid of Birmingham Children’s Hospital • Hazelwell did the Cheltenham Circular Challenge in aid of SANE • Christowe held a whole House Triathlon to raise money for SANE; a family charity Hockey match in fancy dress for Cancer Research; and in the summer holidays eight pupils from Christowe and Queen’s planned to walk 100 miles of the Cotswold Way to raise funds for the National Star College • Queen’s did Christmas carol singing and raised £280 for Ewe and You, and held a ‘bake a cake’ raising money for a Kenyan Primary School • Newick House held a Round The World evening to raise money for Maggies Cancer Caring Centres • Westal raised money for the Philippines Emergency Relief Fund with a cake sale and a barn dance
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The Cheltonian 2013-2014
Other charity activities have been the Variety Show in aid of Gogar Primary School in Kenya and the residential school for children with special needs in Bradet, Romania. The Fees Lottery also supports those two initiatives. Charitable activities and fund-raising plays a key role in the lives of many pupils at College, reminding us that in life we get more from giving than receiving. We are also reminded of the fortunate position in which we find ourselves when we see the difficulties and challenges so many people face on a daily basis.
Mr Mike Todd
“The best and most important week of our lives”: the post-GCSE trip to the residential home for children with special needs in Bradet, Romania” The academic year 2013‑2014 was another busy and productive time for the partnership between the residential home for children with special needs in Bradet, Romania, and Cheltenham College. In September a small but willing band of staff and student volunteers loaded a massive eight cubic metres, over 50 boxes, of donated clothing and polytunnel equipment into an articulated lorry for the long drive to Romania. In February, money for 100 chairs for the children’s dining room was transferred, and a new phase of dental work begun. The enormously enjoyable and successful Variety Show in March raised over £7,000. The fund-raising and inspiration that the event facilitates is hugely important
for the partnership and we are immensely grateful to Mrs Sian Mcbride and her Drama Department for their continued support. The end of June saw the highlight of the year with the departure of 24 Fifth Form pupils, accompanied by Miss Hetty Hubbard, Mr Kyle Stovold, Miss Lara Beere, Mr Henry Davies and me to Bradet on the post-GCSE trip. We were also very fortunate to have the founder of the partnership, Mr Chris Rouan, with us again. His long association with, insights into, and relationships with the children of Bradet are greatly valued by all. The annual visit is the most wonderful opportunity to see first hand the fruits of the fund-raising, to plan future projects, and most importantly to spend time with the beautiful children of Bradet. With five full days of football, duck-duck-goose, chasing, cuddling, drawing, singing, bike-mending, earthmoving and of course hokey-cokeying, this year was no exception in terms of the amount of fun, enjoyment, learning and challenge had by all of us. Whilst we were there the much-loved and used castle fort play structure was rebuilt with timber donated by College. The annual and now legendary shoes and socks shopping marathon bought a new pair of shoes for each child. The polytunnels, equipped with funds raised by College, were full to bursting with an array of vegetables, which are all well tended by the older children. It was wonderful to see the two workshops, whose construction College paid for last year, up and running. One workshop is dedicated to craft and was full of examples of quilling: the art of making decorations and jewellery with curled and folded paper. The second workshop is fully functioning as an impressive carpentry facility, from which originate an array of benches, tables, flower boxes and waste-paper baskets that can be seen all around the grounds. To support the ongoing repair and renovation work undertaken by the