Charities and Jubilee fund

By the end of the year we estimate that the Jubilee Fund will have raised £30,000 to be used for school development in celebration of the Golden Anniversary of the foundation of the School. The reality of construction costs have necessitated some changes to the original concept of a replacement all-purpose pavilion, however, our new proposals are a sensible compromise and meet the school’s needs very well indeed.

Over the Easter holidays the existing cricket pavilion was repaired and generally smartened up inside and out whilst the TASC cabin was renovated during the Summer holidays.  

Jubilee Touring Fund

A Sporting Dinner was held in the Autumn Term of 2007. The £12,500 raised was used to subsidise the subsequent tours during 2007/8, namely a netball tour to Jersey, a rugby tour to France, a cricket tour to South Africa and a Choristers tour to Dublin. The tours during the 2008/9 school year have been fewer and have been subsidised by the school – they included a netball tour to Jersey and a Choristers tour to Manchester.

In the Summer Term each year there will be an announcement of the tours likely to be taking place during the following academic year.  The school will then seek to put together a tour committee for the forthcoming academic year.  It is hoped that each of the tours will be represented on the committee by at least one parent whose child is likely to participate in that tour. The committee, with guidance from relevant members of staff, would be responsible for the fundraising to subsidise the tours in the following academic year. The membership of the committee will change each year as will the way they choose to raise funds.

Charity

Prior to the inception of the Hall Grove Jubilee Fund, most fundraising events held at the school were for specific charities. Sometimes these charities were proposed by the staff and sometimes by parents and children. In 2003 for example, in memory of former pupil Sebastian Gates, £27,000 was raised for Sebastian’s Action Trust (sebastiansactiontrust.co.uk) to help set up the charity and start in its quest for building a holiday home for families with terminally ill children.

In 2006, £28,000 was raised to build a Hall Grove Children’s centre in Dumphries village on the edge of Sabi-Sand Wildtuin in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa where one of the teachers volunteered for her Summer vacation. It includes an orphanage for HIV orphans and a full doctors surgery and school rooms.

There have also been a variety of other fundraising days held throughout the year organised by the children, staff or parents such as: Jeans for Genes Day, Red Nose Day, Moon Bears Art Exhibition, a recipe book for Send a Cow, pavement art for Muscular Dystrophy, The Children's Trust, National Garden Scheme, Help for Heroes, The Smile Train, Water Aid, a Coffee Morning for Macmillan Cancer Relief.

Groove at the Grove

This has been an hugely successful Open Air Concert held in the grounds of Hall Grove School for the last three years, raising large sums of money for charity. 

With gates opening early on a Saturday evening in June, families have arrived with picnics, pushchairs, gazebos, lanterns and the occasional full dinner service to enjoy the ambience and music from a wonderful variety of tribute bands and acts.  Everyone is well-catered for with stalls selling glowsticks, costume accessories, inflatable guitars, sweets, pizza and soft drinks, an ice cream van for children and the beer tent, Pimm's marquee and coffee stall for parents.

The following have brought us many great memories and dance moves: Rhapsody as Queen, Jonathan Kane as Elton John, Utter Madness, Abba Magic, Elvis Shmelvis, Rud Stewart, Navi as Michael Jackson, Jive Talkin' as The BeeGees, Hall Grove old boy - Jamie Scott and the Town and one of our parents, Karen Adams & Alibi.

Hosted by the highly entertaining James Cannon from Capital Gold Radio, the children are invited to take part in various competitions such as moonwalking, best dressed and dancing.

Proposal

Any future events – Balls, Groove at the Grove etc – would continue to be held for nominated charities, to be approved by the Headmaster and the Children’s School Council, or, if appropriate, go to The Jubilee Fund for any future school development project.