Gifts worthy of King’s
King’s School is getting ready for Christmas. And what better way to celebrate the festivities than by helping others. Students and staff of the school have been collecting gifts and raising funds for two charities this year. One helps the youngest in our society and the other helps the oldest.
From kids to kids
Community-minded pupils have been collecting Christmas gifts for Manchester’s Wood Street Mission to make 2020 another bumper year despite Covid.
In less chaotic times, the Wood Street Mission distributed over 11,000 gifts last year to children in Manchester and Salford who might otherwise have nothing to open on Christmas morning.
Year 11 Head Boy, Rory McCabe, who has been a tireless fundraiser all his life, with a series of running challenges from his home in Mottram St. Andrew, wanted to help Wood Street Mission meet, or even surpass, that target. Therefore across King’s social media, through assembles and talks in class, his team of Head Girl Zoe Griffiths, and deputies Eve Carter and Ben O’Donnell have been appealing to pupils and staff to bring in some suitable presents.
Zoe, said: “We have a fantastic collection of over 100 presents with board games, Lego, perfumes, chocolates, clothes, anything and everything for children to open. Importantly,” Zoe added, “it’s all brand new so the children feel special.”
Ben O’Donnell, concluded: “We all know the charity sector has suffered greatly, so it’s all the more reason for schools like King’s where we know all the children will get their presents, to make an extra special effort.”
A tribute to grandparents
King’s School Infant and Junior teachers have been putting their best feet forward to raise over £1,000 for Dementia UK.
Organised by Year 4 teacher Frances Riley, the King’s team of eleven fun runners surpassed all their own expectations to run a collective 400 miles for Dementia UK’s Jogging in November Challenge.
Frances, who coordinated the charity run as a tribute to her own grandparents, Joe and Brenda Lowe, explained: “I’ve not been able to see my grandparents as much as I would have liked to since March and it’s hard. Their care home, Sunrise in Mobberley, have been fantastic with their support and we know they are so well looked after but we have obviously been limited to how much we can visit them. I remember very happy times going to their home at weekends, eating ‘Fries to Go’ as a bed time snack and playing hockey on roller blades with my Gramps in goal! We constantly laughed and had so much fun and felt very loved by two wonderful people.”
“My grandad suffers with Dementia and my nan Alzheimer’s, so this is for them, they are my inspiration and it is a way of me saying thank you to them, to the charity, and to their care home.”
Frances, who is also a Phase Leader at King’s, added: “When I put the call out to the staff at the start of November I didn’t expect such solidarity but it seems there are so many people who feel exactly the same way and want to do something for the older members of their family they cannot see.”
Sue Bamberger, a King’s Teaching Assistant and keen runner, added: “It has been great for us to do this as a team, and has been good for our own mental health too.”
