Alex Long, aged 14, and 14 year old Spencer Sheppard’s class were asked to raise £8 each for the charity The Water Project which works to provide clean drinking water around the world.
“There are 25 pupils in the class and our initial aim was to raise £8 each, £200 overall and send it to the charity” explains Geography teacher Charles Jenkinson. Currently the whole class effort is pushing towards £700 – a long way over the £200 initially aimed for, and Spencer and Alex believe that they should raise around £400.
However the two boys, who both live in Oakham, decided they could do more. “In half term Alex and I were hoping to do some fundraising, and he came up with this brilliant idea of standing in Cavells shop window. The thought that by doing this small thing we will be helping a whole village in Zambia to have clean drinking water is great. Whilst standing in the window, it was quite funny when people went by, looked at us, then took a second look and realised that we were real people” says Spencer. “The day went extremely well, and on top of around £350 that we raised through sponsorship, we were greatly surprised to find that £100.84 was given in the bucket by the door of Cavells, greatly exceeding our expectations.”
The boys also thanked Cavells for giving up their window for the whole afternoon. The fashion store dressed the boys as mannequins. “We are delighted to help in such a worthy cause” said Corry Cavell-Taylor founder of Cavells, Mill Street, Oakham.
Thanks to the efforts of several pupils who exceeded the £8 donation target, the Geography Department at Oakham School now hopes to be able to s ponsor a whole Water Project for the charity. “For example, our fundraising could now pay for the repair of a well in a village in Zambia rather than just contribute to one. Villages often cannot afford to repair wells that were originally put in by charity groups and so they have to start using old, dirty water sources and so the repairs will bring clean water back into the village. At Oakham School we aim to not place too many restrictions on pupils, if we give them freedom and encouragement to be creative they never cease to amaze us with their ingenuity” adds Geography teacher Mr Jenkinson.
Original Article: http://www.oakham.rutland.sch.uk/news/sp09/misc/shop.htm
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