The Kindness of the King's Community at Christmas
King’s School staff, pupils and their families have always embraced opportunities to contribute to the wider Gloucestershire community and the School has a long history of supporting charitable causes with both practical assistance and financial help.
From September to December 2021, King’s School families have been more generous than ever, providing much needed support to those in the community most affected by the pandemic.
Impact
Over 10 weeks in the Michaelamas 2021 term, the Sixth Form pupils cooked over 500 meals for Gloucester Feed the Hungry as part of their Future Skills Cookery lessons.
The retiring collections at the Remembrance and Carol Services together with money raised from a non-school uniform day and Christmas Jumper day, have been split between this year’s School charities, one of which is Young Gloucestershire. The final total was just under £5,000.00
But it hasn’t all been about fund-raising; from shoeboxes filled with gifts for Operation Christmas Child, to hats, scarves, gloves and toiletries under the Giving Tree for the Gloucester City Mission, to ten crates of toys for the Cash for Kids Mission Christmas project, King’s families have been incredibly kind with their donations.
Pupils have written Christmas cards and recorded a carol concert for the residents at St Oswald’s Care Home, sung carols at Park View Care Home, hosted a Christmas party for Re-Engage, a charity supporting the elderly in Gloucestershire and sent cards and letters to the children in the School’s partner school in India.
In the days before Christmas we are working with Venture: White City to provide meals to vulnerable families in Gloucestershire, in a repeat of the Summer Holiday and Activities programme when 16,000 meals were cooked in the School kitchens during August. Then finally on Monday 20th December King’s are hosting a Christmas party for 50 children in Gloucester. There will be games, songs, a visit from Father Christmas and a lovely Christmas lunch. King’s pupils are helping to prepare and serve the meals and King’s families have donated a gift for each child.
Headmaster, David Morton, said “I have been overwhelmed by the generosity of our staff, pupils and their families. One of the key aims at King’s is to teach pupils to become kind and compassionate and over the last few weeks they have recognised the greater needs in the wider Gloucestershire community and responded with enthusiasm and thoughtfulness”.
