Children In Need Capers Raise Almost £10,000

Students at Trent College have been 'climbing Everest', 'breaking out of Alcatraz', and 'swimming the Channel', all in the name of charity.

Trent College students always come up with imaginative ideas of how to raise money for Children in Need, and this year was no exception. As well as the more traditional cake sales, collections, a raffle and a whole school non uniform day, students took part in a number of demanding and exhausting activities, and are hoping to have raised as much as last year's total of £10,000.

With staff and students starting their activities as early as 4.30am, it was a packed day of fund raising. There was a definite 'challenging' theme to the sponsored activities organised by students from the School's four Boarding Houses. The girls from Martin House completed a 'Break Out of Alcatraz' challenge, whereby each girl had to travel 20 miles around the campus (by walking, cycling, or even on a space hopper!) to cover 600 miles between them (the number of cells in Alcatraz).

The boys from Shuker House took on a mammoth task as well, pushing the School's minibus up and down the Campus the equivalent distance to the summit of Mount Everest. The girls from Bates House covered the same distance by running or walking around the new Obolensky Dining Hall,

Blake House was transformed into a replica Army base, and each Blake boy ran 20 miles, which is the distance from Camp Bastion in Afghanistan to Kabul and back. They also hosted a BBQ and a paintballing challenge. The aim was to raise awareness of the forces and raise money at the same time, all under their motto 'The Team Works.'

Some members of the School's Life Saving Group need to complete a Fundraising task as part of their Duke of Edinburgh Award. To accomplish this, and to use their aquatic skills, they decided to 'Swim the Channel'! Each student was sponsored to swim 94 lengths of the school pool, using every spare minute to cover the distance across the English Channel.

On a lighter and less strenuous note, students also had the chance to win the 'ultimate dinner date', with Head of School, Jack Bygott. The lucky winner enjoyed a candle lit, silver service, meal at lunchtime in the School's Obolensky Dining Hall.

Congratulations to all the staff and students for putting in so much effort for Children in Need!