Charitable & Community Work
Giving back to the communities in which we live through fundraising and charity work, a fundamental aspect of High School life.
Our school is committed to partaking in a wide range of charitable and community engagement activities in support of charitable organisations. We are incredibly proud of the significant generosity of both our pupils and staff in their efforts to help those in need.
The participative nature of our school ensures that not only do our pupils enjoy being part of in-school charitable events, they also frequently involve themselves in fundraising efforts of their own accord, displaying an impressive generosity of spirit in order to raise awareness for causes close to their heart.
Over recent school sessions, our Junior and Senior Schools have helped to raised huge sums of money for deserving charities, ranging from Social Bite, a charity that seeks to end homelessness in Scotland, to Janarupam, an organisation who focus on education and development of children and young people in Bangalore, India.
How We Help
Our pupils contribute greatly to charitable causes and frequently involve themselves in community service activities, donating a great deal to those in need.
Charities Committees at both our Junior and Senior Schools help to fundraise by organising events such as sponsored sleep outs in aid of national homeless charities and the creation of Christmas gift packages for local care home residents. Senior pupils exhibit their altruism during an annual blood donation drive while our Christmas appeal in aid of East Park Home continually re-establishes a charitable link that dates back more than a century.
Harvest boxes are filled to the brim with vital provisions and cosy coffee mornings help to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Care throughout the year - It is simply within our community's nature to do what they can to help others.
We are passionate about giving back to and being a vital part of our community. Elderly members of the local community often join them us for tea and coffee whilst enjoying preview performances of our musical and dramatic productions, while our younger pupils provide festive cheer as they raucously take part in Christmas sing-a-longs and Nativity performances for local community groups, including many a proud parent and grandparent!
High School staff also frequently give of their own time to take part in fundraising events, with recent efforts including a charity cycle from London to Paris in support of various womens' cancer charities and a 555 mile, month-long running and cycling challenge in aid of British Red Cross.
Whether it be Transitus pupils taking part in the annual 'Go Yellow' 5k Walk in aid of the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice or Senior School pupils travelling the world to support those in need as part of community service projects, the participative and charitable ethos of the School means our community relish the chance to help others.
Parent Association
The Parent Association host a number of events throughout each session that not only bring the School community together, but also help to raise money for charity.
We go above and beyond - the efforts of two Sixth Year pupils in promoting positive mental wellbeing throughout the School community and supporting Diabetes UK were recently recognized with the prestigious Diana award.
Making a Difference to the World
In recent years, members of our Senior School have taken part in community service projects, as far afield as India, Morocco, Zanzibar and Uganda.
The latter project in 2017 saw pupils rebuild a classroom block of Kinyerere Primary School in northern Uganda. Pupils and staff helped to paint walls, build desks and teach children, forming close bonds with the pupils and staff of the school, all whilst being able to donate more than £7,000, courtesy of our generous community, towards life-changing local projects.
Timelapse showing the decoration of a classroom block built by HSOG pupils during a community service project in Uganda.
Fundraising Weeks
House fundraising weeks are unquestionably a highlight of each Senior School session, encouraging all pupils and staff to come together, get involved in fun activities and, most importantly, raise money for great causes!
Each of the four Senior School Houses take their turn to decide on a charity or cause to support, before organising a week of fundraising events that exemplify the participative nature of the School, while also raising awareness for important local, national and international charities.
With unerringly generous support from the wider School community, our House fundraising efforts help to raise life changing amounts for important causes close to our hearts.
In the past few years alone, these fundraising weeks have raised more than £50,000 for extremely worthy causes.
House System
Our House system acts as a family away from home, ensuring the provision of crucial pastoral support and guidance to all Senior School pupils.