9 minute read
Charities and Community Outreach
Talented musicians and singers star in Charity Cabaret
Perse singers and musicians put on a wonderful show at the annual school Charity Cabaret.
Compered brilliantly by Anna Bevens and Ben Lewis (both Upper Sixth), the concert featured a variety of talented soloists and groups on stage in the Peter Hall Performing Arts Centre.
From William Walker (Year 9) performing the guitar solo from Iron Maiden’s heavy metal classic The Trooper to the strains of the Chinese zither, played by Maggie Zhang (Lower Sixth) in a recital of traditional Chinese tune The Sound of the Maid’s Autumn Festival, a wide range of musical styles entertained the socially-distanced audience. The Year 11 Melodic Medlians gave an excellent a capella set, while the Perse Big Band provided a powerful backing to performances of tracks such as Tina Turner’s soul hit Proud Mary, Nat King Cole’s jazz standard Orange Colored Sky and Frank Sinatra favourite New York, New York.
A fantastic evening of music was rounded off in traditional fashion with a fun dance finale from the Senior Prefects.
Organised by the Sixth Form Charities Committee, the event raised more than £400 for the British Red Cross Afghanistan Crisis Appeal.
Perse community gets glowing to raise funds for Christel House
The Perse was lit up by pupils and staff attempting to Glow the Distance to raise funds for Christel House Schools.
Around 300 members of the Perse community took part in the evening event, forming small teams of runners and walkers to negotiate a one-kilometre circuit at the Upper School and collecting glow sticks as they completed each lap.
Sixth Form students and Perse Exploration Society Ascent Group members were on marshalling duty to ensure everyone stayed on course, while BandSoc provided rousing live rock music to keep participants on their toes.
Perse Head of Computing & Digital Strategy Paul Baker, who helped organise the event, said: “We wanted to come up with something that would be outdoors, because of Covid, and also bring the Perse community together, so it was great to have staff and student teams.
“There were fantastic costumes from some of the teams and it was wonderful to see people ‘glowing’ around the site, so it was all a lot of fun and hopefully we’ll be able to raise lots of funds for Christel House.”
Christel House Cape Town visit a ‘humbling’ experience
Perse finance officer Jackie Matten was “humbled” after visiting the Christel House school in Cape Town.
Jackie handed over three digital inking tablets and other educational materials on behalf of the school, as well as copies of the fundraising cookbook put together by the Perse Christel House Club.
The Perse has been working with Christel House since 2011, raising funds to provide resources to support the teaching of children and training of staff for their schools in some of the poorest areas of the world.
True colours shown by Perse students for charity
A group of Perse students went on a multicoloured mission in Milton Keynes to raise funds for charity.
They took part in the Color Obstacle Rush at Willen Lake, battling their way around a fivekilometre course featuring inflatable obstacles while being sprayed with brightly-coloured powders along the way.
The colourful crew, featuring eight Year 10 pupils, four Lower Sixth students and two Year 7 pupils, helped raise more than £200 for The Orphan Trust, a charity which works directly with grassroots projects to support orphaned and vulnerable children in Bangladesh.
Making the cut for Little Princess Trust
Cate Blakesley (Year 9) cut her hair to raise money for the Little Princess Trust.
The Perse pupil had 14 inches of her hair chopped off for the charity, which makes wigs for children who have lost their hair due to cancer or other illnesses. to keep growing it specifically to donate my hair. I had it trimmed a few times just to keep it healthy, but eventually it was right down my back.”
She said: “During lockdown, my hair was getting really long, but because no one could get their hair cut, I decided Cate has raised almost £3,000 in sponsorship for the Little Princess Trust, well above her original target of £600.
Record total of parcels donated to Christmas shoebox appeal
A record-breaking 713 shoeboxes were gifted by the Perse community to support the Link to Hope Christmas appeal.
The parcels contained a variety of useful items such as gloves, soap, flannels, toothbrushes, toothpaste, scarves, sweets, small games, hairbrushes and socks which were delivered to the most disadvantaged families and elderly people in eastern Europe.
Perse Head of Computing & Digital Strategy Paul Baker, who co-ordinated the school’s shoebox appeal, was overwhelmed with the success of the campaign.
He thanked the Middle School Charities Committee for the part they had played in promoting the appeal through assemblies and posters.
Mr Baker said: “It was really wonderful to see form groups coming together again, from our very youngest at the Pelican and Prep, right up to those soon to leave for university, all making a difference with an act of kindness to those in need at Christmas.”
Perse pupils sleep out for homelessness charity
More than 80 Year 9 pupils took part in a sponsored sleepout to help raise funds for Emmaus Cambridge.
They raised almost £5,000 for the local homelessness charity after bedding down for the night around the Upper site.
The pupils were visited by an Emmaus staff member and four companions – formerly homeless people who have been supported by the charity – who outlined the work of the charity and shared their experiences of living on the streets.
Alongside the sleepout, a minibus was filled with generous donations of pre-loved goods, such as books, CDs, DVDs and clothes, from the Perse community to be sold by Emmaus in their second-hand shop, thanks to a collection organised by the Middle School Charities Committee.
Values Week brings Perse community together
The Perse values were celebrated in style during the school’s first Values Week.
Organised by the Student Council, each day was dedicated to a particular school value with a variety of fun and thoughtprovoking themed activities. The trees in Ellison Court were transformed into ‘Values Trees’ where students and staff had the opportunity to tie messages of hope or community about what makes them #ProudlyPerse.
A focus on ‘Our Environment’ kicked off Values Week as students enjoyed making bird feeders from old yoghurt pots and creating a recycled art mural from scraps of old uniform. The value of ‘One Another’ was celebrated with a huge House Charity Giveathon as the whole Perse community across the Upper, Prep and Pelican were invited to donate food and other vital goods for Cambridge City Food Bank.
The maths department provided a side-splitting spin on the musical Hairspray, while computer science staff donned Squid Game masks and outfits for a medley of hits, including Video Killed the Radio Star.
Students and staff gave a special twist to the biggest names in pop at the annual Perse Charity Lip Sync Battle.
Much entertainment was had by all as hilarious song and dance routines were performed to an appreciative audience, with the event raising £750 for teenage mental health charity Stem4. Jessie Zhang, Amy Long, Anouska Duggan and Horatia Duggan (all Upper Sixth) teamed up to claim the ‘most amusing’ prize with their high-energy dance medley, while the 1st XI football team earned the ‘most horrifying’ award with their attempts at recreating famous goal celebrations.
History teacher Alex Courtney and Maria Awan (Upper Sixth) compered the show as Sixth Form tutors opened proceedings with their humorous Hawaiian-themed performance of Koukou Move.
From A-Ha’s eighties classic Take on Me to Taylor Swift’s 22 and a medley of tunes from the Shrek film series, Sixth Form tutor groups dazzled, while the girls’ 1st XI hockey team went back to the seventies as they performed disco favourite One Way Ticket. However, the ‘most innovative’ accolade went to the Senior Prefects with their entertaining mix of music and dance.
Senior Tutor Lilian Blaxill, who helped organise the event, said: “We were really pleased to raise a fantastic amount of money for a charity we are all mindful of the need to support. It was really nice to do something positive to that effect.
“It also gave the students a nice break from their revision. Sometimes it’s important to do something fun or silly and this was certainly both!”
Sporting events ‘a fitting tribute’ to former teacher
The players of the match for each side were also awarded the inaugural Tommy Dann Cup for their sportsmanship and performance, with Freddie Brierley (Upper Sixth) taking the honours for The Perse.
Former Perse coach Tommy Dann was celebrated in sporting style by his ex-colleagues and school teams.
Tommy, who coached rugby, cricket, football and PE at The Perse from 2009 to 2014 before becoming Head of Rugby at The Leys, died aged 40 in February 2021.
Fittingly, the annual Perse v Leys 1st XV rugby encounter saw both teams pause to remember Tommy prior to the game, which The Perse won 33-19. Following on from the game, five Perse teachers ran the TTP Cambridge Half Marathon in aid of the Charlie Waller Trust in remembrance of Tommy.
Director of Sport Glenn Kirkham, Assistant Director of Sport (Performance) Ravi Mahendra, Assistant Director of Studies Chris Ingram, Assistant Director of University Admissions Mike Goodson and sports coach Charlie Baker smashed their initial target of £2,000 by raising more than £3,350 for the mental health charity.
Perse pupils inspired to try inclusive sports for charity
Year 8 Perse pupils enjoyed sampling a variety of inclusive sports while helping to raise funds for Power2Inspire.
Power2Inspire founder and CEO John Willis told pupils about the charity’s aims to ensure ‘no-one is left on the bench’ in terms of having access to sport, regardless of disability.
He was joined by special guests Jennifer Crompton, the High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire, and her husband, former Perse Head of School John Crompton (1980), as they watched pupils trying adaptive sports, such as boccia, goalball, New Age Kurling, sitting volleyball and sitting netball, as part of the PowerHouse Games event.
Pupils raised more than £1,000 for the charity by taking part in a sponsored inclusive kilometre.
Working in pairs, one member of each group was blindfolded and guided around laps of the Long Road pitch by their partner before swapping over.
