T H E GA ZET T E 2018 – 2019 Community 63 Confirmation itself can be a nervy time for candidates: this year Godolphin’s Confirmation was the first ever Confirmation for our new Bishop of Ramsbury, Andrew Rumsey. It was perhaps because of this that this service, with a particularly lovely group of candidates; stood out for many as a warm and deeply meaningful moment. Another waymarker, another milestone and another time when being Chaplain of Godolphin must be one of the best jobs in the Church of England. ♦ font and danced shadows across the choir stalls, to think about what our generation will be remembered for. It was one of a number of highly moving moments in 2018–2019. Commem in Westminster Abbey was all the more poignant having seen, just days before, the President of Germany stand alongside the Queen at the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior. We too, came to lay a wreath to Elizabeth Godolphin, to remember, but the sense of being within a crucible of history in the King Henry VII Chapel was perhaps more vivid because of the concurrence with a broader horizon and the anniversary of the end of the First World War. Last year, our Confirmation pilgrimage was lost to snow. This year we lost the Alabaré Sleepout to snow in February instead. We were due to take around 10% of the School that night, a truly remarkable show of commitment from staff and students, from the Head down to Third Year students. A month later we tried again and were again the biggest single group of sleepers in the chilly Cathedral cloisters. At about 5.55 a.m., drizzle gave way to the dawn chorus, as songbirds were joined by snoozy pigeons roosting above us and then finally the haunting meow of a peregrine falcon high on the spire. It made for a remarkable morning alarm. Our Confirmation pilgrimage was bathed in glorious spring sunshine, yet, as we made our way down from Old Sarum, in silence and in full daylight, all of us were surprised to hear a tawny owl in the trees above us. It just shows what you can hear when you are still enough in heart and soul to do so.
Charities by Stella Jones, Charities Co-ordinator
At the time of writing, 21 different charities have been helped by Godolphin this year. The whole community involvement has been exceptional and larger projects such as the Macmillan Cancer Support takeover day, harvest and Christmas boxes for Trussell Trust, Comic Relief and the visit to Nepal have all benefitted hugely from this concerted effort. On 8 November ‘Godolphin Remembers’ invited guests to an exhibition of archives showing how the students and staff of Godolphin supported the war effort between 1914–18, as well as showing the role of current students and alumnae in today’s armed forces. With the sale of the tickets and a collection on the evening, we raised £929.26 for SSAFA – the Armed Forces charity, formerly known as Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association, a UK charity that provides lifelong support to serving men and women and veterans from the British Armed Forces and their families or dependents. This year, we introduced a different focus for one of the charities where the girls and staff opted to have a very simple soup lunch. This was to help raise awareness of how little some children will have to eat in a whole day in some places in the world. Chartwells kindly donated the difference in price to the Comic Relief fund-raising which, along with a cake sale and non-uniform day,
raised £900. We chose to support the work of centres and counsellors trained to help refugee children and young people traumatised by events in their life and often separated from their families. We did not have a particularly cold winter this year, but the weekend where the temperature did drop to –8 degrees was the one planned for the Alabaré Sleepout! In the end it was postponed but it certainly brought home the reality of the conditions that some people have to endure. Over £5000 was raised by the students and staff this year which really is an excellent achievement. On a Sunday in June, staff and students were again in tandem and attired in their pink tutus and pink wings they ran or walked the Race for Life. They joined hundreds of other runners in Salisbury and raised nearly £400. Walters and Cooper Houses raised nearly £1000 for Kenya Lacrosse, by eating lots of Smarties, and then filling the empty tubes with coins! Staff and older pupils have partaken in marathons and half marathons with Mrs Price (Pastoral Deputy) and Ms Colton (Assistant Accountant) joining the Midnight Walk in aid of Salisbury Hospice. Mrs England (MFL) took part in the Clarendon Walk raising money for Naomi’s House, a children’s hospice. The Walters’ girls also raised money for the Stars Appeal through a very successful car boot sale. The competitive houses continue to make their chosen charities a key focus of their activities; the Alzheimer’s’ Society, Cleft Lip and Palate Association (CLAPA), Tigris School in New Delhi and Young Minds have all received a substantial donation as a result of the students’ hard work and enthusiastic fundraising. The Business Enterprise under that watchful eye of Mr Miller, has worked tirelessly this year to raise funds for Help for Heroes, and the girls made an excellent effort. This article only reflects a brief summary of all the many ways that the students and whole school community are constantly working to helping others less fortunate than themselves. Looking to help others has become a default for many of the students – long may it continue! ♦