Towards the end of November, Year 8 had a special guest visitor in one of their assemblies. Major Loes Palmer, Commanding Officer of Dereham Salvation Army. She came to speak about the Salvation Army’s nationwide Tins and Toys Appeal.
Whilst most of us see Christmas as a time to celebrate, eat good food, give and receive presents as well as spending time with family and friends, for others it can be a very difficult time of year. There are people in our local community and surrounding area who unfortunately will not have a happy Christmas, struggling to get by and support their families. Ensuring there is enough food available can be a big concern, but perhaps even more so at this time of year. Therefore Year 8 were set a challenge. They were asked to think about the types of food they would like to eat at Christmas and in each tutor group to see if they could fill a box with tins and packets of food – soup, vegetables, biscuits, tea, pudding and more.
Each tutor group accepted the challenge and started to fill their decorated boxes over the course of a week. Major Loes was then invited back to receive the food donations from the representatives of each of the Year 8 tutor groups. The Major explained that altogether about 150 food hampers would be put together this Christmas. These will then be distributed, along with toys donated by the public and Salvation Army Corp, to those in need in our local community, providing them with a little more cheery and comfortable Christmas time. Kamila, who is in 8KT, said ‘it feels good to be able to give things to people that don’t have as much’.
A big thank you to all those who contributed to the food collection.
