On the last day before schools shut in March, Bishop Luffa School asked students to bring in a donation for the Food Bank. We were overwhelmed with the response. On Friday 20th November the school decided to do it again, this time with a target: we wanted to raise a ‘Tonne of Love’ from our school community.
Students had been discussing Marcus Rashford’s campaign and looking at statistics from the Trussell Trust. Food banks gave out 2,600 parcels to children every day in the first six months of the pandemic in the UK. Many families will be facing a Christmas unlike any other, with Christmas dinner a cause of stress, not a cause of joy. A parcel will be handed out every nine seconds this winter so it is more important than ever to do as much as we can.
The school has eight Houses, and Otter House working alongside Mrs Bradberry, our Worship Coordinator, decided to organise the collection and raise awareness of childhood hunger. On the day, students brought in food and gave it to the Otter House reps who all had their own stations to keep social distance and remain in year group bubbles; it was then collected and stored in the van for three days so that the food could be handed out safely to those in need.
“We are so proud to have collected 910.5kg amount of food. This shows how much love there is in our community, that in a time where everyone is struggling, people still want to help others.’ Mrs Faulkner said.
As a school we hope to keep raising awareness of this issue and collecting for Chichester Foodbank.
By Holly Hindman, Otter House Captain