Back in April, and at the height of lockdown, Captain Sir Tom set a precedent when he walked 100 laps of his drive to raise a staggering £33 million for NHS Charities. In so doing, he also inspired a nation and, in particular, four Bedford School boys who put their time in lockdown to good service.
Oliver
Fourth Former Oliver Yates set himself a massive 300k running challenge to raise money for Spiny Norman’s Hedgehog Support, which rescues and rehabilitates poorly hedgehogs.
Oliver’s pledge to run 300k (186 miles), equates to the average distance a hedgehog roams in a year. Oliver told us, “I originally planned to run 5k a day, but I’ve actually run anything between eight and 20k a day. “I started running on 25 April and so far, I have completed 260k. This has raised over £1000.”
Oliver’s grand finale took place on Saturday 27 June with a superb half marathon ending at Spiny Norman’s Hedgehog Support in Wyboston where he was also able to feed some tiny hoglets and meet some of the residents.
Peter
Upper Sixth Former Peter Barrington used his vocal talents to raise money for NHS Charities and Help Musicians UK when he took part in a live-streamed charity concert ‘Lockdown Live’ with The New Scene Live.
Peter played a 45-minute set of both original songs and covers – you can listen to his performance here.
Peter was also a runner-up in the national music competition ‘Prospect 100’ with his song ‘Haiti’ and, as a result, he won mentoring from Danny Zook, manager of Migos, one of the biggest hip-hop groups around right now.
Freddie
Fourth Former Freddie Tucker organised a charity golf day along with three other young members of the Highgate Golf club; two Lower Sixth pupils from University College School and one Lower Sixth pupil from St Paul’s School.
The pupils played the ‘longest day in golf’ on Saturday 27 June. Starting at 4.30 am and finishing at 10.00 pm, the day raised money for five charities: Under One Sky (which gives much-needed food and supplies to the homeless in London), UNICEF Yemen Appeal, Black Lives Matter, The Winch (a Camden based charity which helps children to succeed regardless of their circumstances) and Alzheimer’s Society. To date, they have raised over £6,000 and counting.
Joba
Fifth Former Joba Thomas has been raising money to buy board games for the elderly in care homes in his home town of Hemel Hempstead as part of a social entrepreneur challenge at school.
Joba came up with the idea as a solution to a problem in the local community.
Joba said: “With lots of care homes being in lockdown and visitors not allowed in, I thought it could be having an effect on their mental health and wanted to do something to help. Board games can help to alleviate the stress induced by this pandemic. Additionally, for care home residents with dementia, board games are a fantastic way to stimulate memories and maintain mental agility, and so I decided to raise money to buy board games to give to care homes in my local area, Hemel Hempstead.”
Joba has generated a great deal of interest. He has spoken with eight care homes so far who are interested in his idea, and he plans to expand to Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire as well.
If you would like to help Joba buy board games for the elderly in care homes, you can visit his fundraising page here.