Team work is key to any fundraising activity.

We are extremely grateful to our Davison families who have supported many of our local, national and international appeals over the years. For example, the Shoebox Appeal, Macmillan Coffee Morning and Harvest ‘giving appeals’ are so successful due to the generosity of parents, carers, students and staff. Our mufti day proceeds are shared between a chosen charity and FODS. We have supported many charities over the years, including; Save the Children, MIND, Barnardo’s, Children in Need, Comic/Sport Relief, St Barnabas Hospice, Chestnut Tree House, Guildcare and Worthing Hospital.

ENCORE!

ENCORE! – is our fantastic charity fundraising ‘talent show’, organised annually by the Community Prefects. They hold auditions, run the rehearsals, gather together fabulous raffle prizes and perform their very own team act for the show. ENCORE! features a variety of delightful student (and sometimes staff) performances, including singers, dancers and musical groups, to name but a few. Proceeds from the evening are in aid of the Prefect’s chosen charity of the year. This whole school event is always a sell-out and brings parents/carers, families, students, staff and guests from the charity together for a wonderful evening of entertainment.

Colour Families

Colour Families – each Colour Family chooses a charity or good cause they would like to fundraise for. Together with their Lead and Form Tutors, they decided what type of fundraising activities they would like to hold. They promote their fundraising initiatives to the whole school by designing posters, creating a promotional assembly presentation or marketing email. Stating the date, time, location, and details of the events and which charity they will be raising funds for and information about the charity.

Shoebox Appeal

Shoebox Appeal – we have supported the charity Link to Hope and their appeal for many years. Donated items, such as shower gel, shampoo, soap, flannels, sweets, soft toys, hats, scarves and gloves are brought into school and carefully arranged into shoeboxes. These are then wrapped in Christmas paper and delivered by lorry to families in Romania, Moldova, Bulgaria and Ukraine. Many of these families do not have running water, heating or electricity and live in appalling conditions. Knowing that our shoeboxes will bring smiles to thousands of people is why we support this appeal.

Macmillan Coffee Morning

Macmillan Coffee Morning – every September we take part in the ‘World’s Biggest Coffee Morning’.  Students and staff donate cakes, which are sold at break time by the Senior Prefect Team, to students and staff! Macmillan Cancer Support provides specialist health care, information and financial support to people affected by cancer.

Harvest

Harvest – Turning Tides are a local charity we have supported for many years. They believe everyone has the right to a home, regardless of the difficulties and issues they may face in their lives. The work undertaken by ‘Turning Tides’ helps to empower homeless or insecurely housed individuals to achieve sustainable independent living. Our Harvest assemblies are a joyous occasion, with wonderful decorated Harvest boxes, filled with a variety of store cupboard items, generously donated by parents, carers, students and staff.

Poppy Appeal

Poppy Appeal – our students are extremely resourceful in using their creative skills when thinking about ways to fundraise. They have crocheted and handmade countless poppies, selling their creations during break times, alongside edible poppies! The poppy is the enduring symbol of remembrance. The Royal British Legion’s use funds raised to help veterans and service men and women in need across the country.

Marie Curie

Marie Curie – the ‘daffodil flower pin’ appeal is a firm favourite in our school calendar. To help advertise the appeal at a local level, students and staff were inspired to design and make dresses out of daffodil flower pins. These eye-catching dresses were displayed in Marie Curie charity shop windows to help highlight the urgent need to take care of our communities. By wearing a daffodil pin Davison raised funds as well as raising awareness.

Comic/Sport Relief

Comic/Sport Relief – are biennial charity events which bring together the worlds of sport and entertainment to raise money to help vulnerable people in both the UK and the world’s poorest countries. Davison students and staff take part in these events with great enthusiasm! In the past Comic Relief has showcased karaoke sessions, bake sales and raffles. Whilst Sport Relief brings out the competitive side of its participants in ‘Clash of the Titans’! Student v staff teams, rise to the challenge to see who will be victorious in the ‘obstacle endurance race’. This is always a fiercely fought title, with staff trying their hardest to win, however our students are always triumphant!

Local Care Homes

Local Care Homes – interacting with people of a different generation is a wonderful way for students to develop skills such as empathy and communication. The impact of intergenerational activities and events is mutually beneficial to students and residents alike. These are hugely valuable opportunities which can bring so much joy and positivity to those involved. Helping to promote a greater understanding and respect between generations, contributes to building a more cohesive community.

Year 9 History students

Year 9 History students who were studying the Home Front visited a local care home. Students chatted with residents who shared with them their experiences of World War 2. One resident had been a student at Davison in the 1930s, she really enjoyed swapping her school day experiences and hearing how different school life is now.

Music department

The Music department calendar is jam packed with requests for musical performances at local care homes and primary schools. Each year the choir sings in town centre at Christmas more recently they performed at the Worthing Lions charity concert.

Gymnastics

When holding our spectacular gymnastics showcase, students thought it would be a great idea to invite residents from a local care home to come in and watch their performance. Before the showcase, community prefects served cups of tea and coffee alongside a selection of cakes. This was a great opportunity for social connections and an enjoyable afternoon for all.

Fundraising during lockdown

St John Ambulance

Many St John Ambulance volunteers shaved their beards to ensure the protective masks they wore fitted correctly, so that they could look after patients safely and support the NHS during those challenging times. One of our students is a dedicated and enthusiastic St John Ambulance Cadet and decided to shave her head to stand in solidarity with her SJA colleagues. This was a massive undertaking and her fundraising efforts really paid off as she raised over £800 for SJA!

2.6 Challenge

The ‘2.6 Challenge’ was created when the 40th London Marathon was cancelled on Sunday 26th April 2020. This challenge was designed for people to take part in activities based around the numbers 2.6 or 26 to raise money for their chosen charity. One of our Davison families decided to combine their love of baking with VE Day. They baked cakes, which they delivered to friends and family’s doorsteps, raising an incredible £635.00 for local charity, Chestnut Tree House.

Supporting children in Ghana

Since 2014, the ‘Green Colour Family’ have been supporting children in Ghana, enabling the most vulnerable in society to access education, healthcare, family support and opportunities to grow in their faith. With school closures the ‘Green’ students and staff were unable to hold their usual fundraising week and had to think outside of the box. Undeterred, the ‘Lead Tutor’ for ‘Green’ set himself a massive challenge, to run 40miles, from Guildford to Shoreham in the hope that he could raise funds to continue to make a difference to the lives of the 2 young girls his colour family sponsor. Not only did he run the full 40 miles but he doubled his fundraising goal, raising a staggering £1,305.00, an absolutely awesome achievement!

Making scrubs

During of lockdown, amateur and professional sewers across the UK used their sewing skills to make hospital scrubs, for health workers fighting the coronavirus. Thousands of volunteers, including many Davison staff got behind their sewing machines to make scrubs for these amazing frontline workers. One of our Davison ‘sewing bees’ said ‘being part of a ‘community’ practical project gave me a real sense of purpose and camaraderie’

Making face shields

Our extremely creative ‘Design Technology Crew’ pulled together and used their design and engineering skills in times of crisis. Their ‘call to arms’ was so encompassing it made the local newspaper, asking other Worthing schools and local business to join together in making face shields and other personal protective equipment for staff at Worthing Hospital. The Science department also provided a large number of safety glasses.

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