The Flagpole

Huge congratulations to Year 11 pupil, Robyn Field, who together with fellow Princethorpe pupils Mary Lomas, Greg Burford, Conor Fernandez and Elsie Kelley, raised over £3,000. The money will be shared between the College’s Classrooms For Malawi initiative and the Warwickshire and Coventry Youth Orchestra, for whom Robyn plays.

Robyn, with help from her family, organised a special evening of music at Barby Village Hall that took place on Saturday 23 November. The very successful event was a sell-out and a great night was had by all. Princethorpe’s pupils provided a host of entertainment as well as waiting on tables and selling raffle tickets on the night.  Local band, The Tunnellers, for whom Robyn sings and plays the electric violin, finished the night off with a double set.

The event has given a great boost to the College’s fundraising for the Malawi trip in July 2020, where pupils will take part in a series of activities and challenges that include working with Classrooms For Malawi in a refurbishment project at Lauderdale School.

There is plenty of other fundraising afoot for Malawi, Lower Sixth Former Lauren Mason’s stalls at the College Christmas Fair and Crackley Hall Winter Wonderland brought in £236.50 and Charlotte Fitzpatrick’s festive CDs are selling steadily. 

To find out more and donate to the project please visit the project's JustGiving fundraising page here.

Princethorpe’s Chaplaincy Team has again supported the St Anne's, Wappenbury, parish shoe box appeal, to provide gifts for children overseas who would not otherwise receive a Christmas present.

Ninety one boxes were assembled at the College and delivered to the local co-ordinator, Pam Hopwood, ready to bring happiness and joy at this special time of year. A total of 2,705 boxes were dispatched from Mr and Mrs Hopwood's property. They were packed full of little gifts but also included educational and hygiene essentials such as toothbrushes, hairbrushes, paper and pens, in fact every day items to us but of great value to those who receive the present.

A grand total 61,729 boxes, collected by voluteers from various areas of the country, will be distributed by Teams4U in two regions around the Danube Delta of Romania and Belarus this week. These will be given to a vulnerable child, or family, through schools, nurseries, hospitals and orphanages. T4U share the shoe boxes through relationships with local communities as part of a long-term commitment to their children. They also provide financing for pre-school programmes to support education and development.

Special thanks to the pupils of the College who took time to collect items for the boxes and pack them and Mary Benham, Chaplaincy Co-ordinator, for supporting the project.

Many thanks must also go to Princethorpe College Estates Department who supplied a van and a member of staff, who along with one of the parishioners, enabled the transport of the boxes to the central collection point. 

Images show some of the children who have received boxes and the conditions in which they live.
(attributed to Ziz)

Sunday 8 March and Sunday 5 April 2020

This year we are going the extra mile for Mary’s Meals with two sponsored events. The 24 mile walk will take place on Sunday 8 March 2020 and the 40 mile walk takes place on Sunday 5 April. The 40 mile walk is with the official Coventry Way Association event featuring 250 competitors. Both challenges are in support of Makalanga School, in Malawi so that each of the 500 children can receive a daily meal in school.

These walks are a major challenge for all taking part but they could not be for a more worthy cause. Mary’s Meals was founded back in 2002 with a small project to feed 200 children in a school in Malawi and now feeds 1,101,206 children each day in 12 countries, across four continents.  

Why not support our intrepid walkers by sponsoring one or more children at a cost of only £13.90 for an entire year of school meals for one child.  You can make a donation via the on-line page, simply click here to make your pledge.  We are also looking for willing volunteers to help at the various checkpoints along the walk on Sunday 10 March, and will be in touch again soon to request your help.

We’ve already raised over £2,500 this academic year but we are looking to raise £8,841 in total so as to feed every child in Makalanga school.

Between now and 1 March 2020 Mary's Meals are running a 'Double The Love' campaign and will match donations up to a total of £1.9million. Simply click here to 'Double the Love'.

This simple initiative has helped children all over the world receive a daily meal in school and since 2007 Princethorpe College has been a part of that, raising in excess of £90,000.

Thank you for your support.

Rod Isaacs
Assistant Head of Sixth Form