Festive FUN-draising for Bannerman House

Early December heralded the second of four House Fundraising Weeks across the session, this time hosted by Bannerman House. We caught up with House Captains Kirsty P and Findlay P to hear how it went…

This Bannerman Fundraising Week, we embraced the festive spirit by supporting a local charity dedicated to bringing joy to children in need. Our chosen charity, Glasgow’s Spirit of Christmas, has been spreading holiday cheer since its founding in 2014. Over the past decade, they have distributed nearly one million presents to approximately 120,000 children across Glasgow, ensuring every child feels the magic of Christmas. Although our charity did not have a personal link to Bannerman, it is one that holds a special place in the hearts of so many.

The week commenced with a lively carpool karaoke and Bannerman’s first-ever Santa Dash, where pupils raced against Findlay, dressed as Santa, to claim the grand prize of a free lunch bought by the Sixth Years.

Tuesday brought the highly anticipated return of the Bannerman Bakery in the courtyard, offering pupils a variety of delicious Christmas-themed treats and a special delivery of strawberry tarts from Eusebi Deli and cinnamon buns from local café Beefcake! Later, the action heated up with the fourth annual Bannerman staff vs. pupil hockey match. Despite the valiant efforts of Mrs Owen (a very staff-biased referee in our opinion) the pupils claimed victory with a 2–1 win in a thrilling display of mismatched talent.

On Wednesday, House representatives embraced the spirit of their mascots in a series of entertaining ‘Mascot Races’, with Clyde House’s Clydosaurus clinching a decisive victory! At lunchtime, the excitement continued with pupils taking on various challenges at the Christmas Carnival, where many walked away with well-earned prizes.

Hypothermia was close to being experienced by brave members of S6 Bannerman who took part in ‘Soak the Sixth Years’ on Thursday. Thankfully we all manged to hop into hot showers after! Later on in the day a crowd gathered to watch the film ‘Nativity!’ in the Assembly Hall, while others got creative in HFT, decorating gingerbread men with plenty of festive flair.

Many boys ended the week with less hair than they started, thanks to our popular ‘Wax the S6 Boys’ event. Who knew the sight of others squirming could be such a crowd-pleaser? Finally, to close the week, we unleashed our High School musicians for a ‘Battle of the Bands,’ treating the audience to some unforgettable - and sometimes questionable - performances!

The Bannerman raffle gave staff, parents, and pupils the exciting chance to win an array of fantastic prizes, including VIP Glasgow Warriors tickets, Peter Kay tickets, Mr Singhs lunch vouchers and brand-new headphones, among others.

Throughout the week, there were plenty of fun activities to take part in, including playing songs in the Stand, guessing the number of sweets in the jar, and sending candy canes with heartfelt messages to that special someone. These thoughtful gestures were met with great joy and a hint of embarrassment in assembly each morning.

Overall, Bannerman's Fundraising Week was a tremendous success, raising over £2,500 for Glasgow's Spirit of Christmas. This generous contribution will help to spread some festive cheer and joy to children in Glasgow across the festive season.

Finally, we cannot express enough gratitude to Bannerman House staff Mrs Owen and Mr Lockyer, and, of course, the entire school community for their unwavering help and support in making our Fundraising Week such a triumph.