Charity fundraising by Dotty
Mrs Saunders, an English teacher at Kilgraston for 26 years is retiring and we will also be saying a fond farewell to her dog, Dotty. But before they left, Dotty and Mrs Saunders organised a sale for Ukraine animals. Here is a round-up of the charity fundraising event:
Dotty came to prominence during Covid as Kilgraston’s therapy dog offering comfort, warmth and physical contact for girls still suffering the after-effects of lockdown and social isolation. In an era when there is growing recognition of the power of animals to heal, Dotty more than played her part. When the time came for her to take her leave of Kilgraston, she wanted to some more good. She organised a sale in Mrs Saunders’ classroom to raise funds for the war-stricken animals of Ukraine. Girls and staff swooped into action and together they raised a handsome £425 which will go to straight to UkraineAnimals.ENG, a charity working in the front line to rescue, treat, feed, comfort and rehome thousands of abandoned and wounded animals, including horses, dogs, cats, farm and zoo animals. She says a huge thank you and good bye to all her friends and supporters at Kilgraston.
Mrs Saunders
Ukraine - Kilgraston supports Ukraine appeal
As the situation in Ukraine enters its fourth week, Kilgraston pupils and staff continue to send minibuses full of much-needed items to Errol Airfield, depot of the organisation, Tayside and Strathearn Help for Ukraine.
Our pupils and staff have also been tirelessly volunteering at the Morris Leslie depot at Errol’s Airfield. This weekend Boarding Mistress, Miss Carden, and a number of senior boarders spent several hours packing warm clothing, bedding and medical supplies so that yet another much-needed shipment could leave for those in need in Poland and Ukraine.
This continuing effort started on the first of March with our initial donation appeal to the Kilgraston community. Hundreds and hundreds of beautifully-labelled donations, together with dozens of bunk beds from one extremely generous parent, swiftly arrive. Removal firm ‘Clockwork’ donated a lorry, transport costs and staff to fill a huge vehicle, bound for an orphanage in Poland, now home to Ukrainian children.
Within School, pupils have shown their support for Ukraine, transforming Kilgraston’s central glass square into a sea of blue and yellow flowers.
The donation journey of all Kilgraston’s support for this appeal can be followed on the Tayside & Strathearn Ukraine Appeal Facebook page as the donations and volunteering work continues.
The depot in Errol (PH2 7TB) is open 10-6 every day, seven days per week. Volunteers are very welcome, please check on the Tayside &Strathearn Ukraine Appeal Facebook for information. Donations are still desperately needed and can also be dropped-off at LCM Vans Ltd, Arran Road, Perth, PH1 3DZ (next to the Kia and Volvo dealerships): please call 01738 629777 with any queries or at the depot in Errol. Please though, ONLY those items from the list on the TASHFU FaceBook page (copied on slider pictures below). Thank you so much.
Kilgraston celebrates Goals Day 2021
Each year Kilgraston focuses on one of the five Sacred Heart Goals, with Goals Day an opportunity for the whole school to spend time working on projects and in groups to learn about the year’s theme in more detail, hear from influential people in that field and work on action plans.
This year’s Sacred Heart Goal is ‘Community’ and this term we have focused on the idea of community in terms of our relationships with each other, charity and environmental awareness.
Upper Sixth have just led a Charities Week for the school, which has involved every year group researching and presenting information about a charity they would like to support throughout the year.
This information has been turned into artwork and information posters (displayed in various locations throughout the school) as well as a special video about the different charities. Upper Sixth also brought back iPray24, but this time as iPray12+12. The Side Chapel was beautifully arranged and decorated into a range of prayer stations, whereby individuals or classes could come and visit from 7.00am-7.00pm over two days.
Charities Week culminated in this term’s ‘Goals Day’ on Thursday 7th October, where we celebrated our own Kilgraston community with a range of fun activities, including a charity ‘Soak the Staff and Upper 6’ fundraiser for CHAS!
We were honoured to welcome Anya Hart Dyke, our special guest speaker for the day, who inspired our junior and senior pupils with engaging and interactive talks about the environment. Anja
We were also inspired by Upper Four Katie’s presentation about her parents’ farm, which then led into a goal-setting session to support the UN’s International Day of the Girl. The chaplain was very grateful to the Head Girl Team and Upper 6 for their wonderful contributions to the planning and delivery of all these events – a brilliant demonstration of community!
Macmillan Coffee Morning 2021
Kilgraston has participated in the Macmillan Coffee Morning 2021, to raise money for cancer support. This year was a massive success raising over £400. Thank you to everyone who came along and supported the event, by baking or donating. A massive thanks to Upper Sixth’s Sana the community and charity prefect for organising this event, alongside School Secretary Mrs Harrison and Head of English Ms Hall who also contributed greatly. Thanks also to Kilgraston’s in-house catering team, Inspire, for their delicious hot chocolate and to all the bakers who provided the delicious treats. Sana is looking forward to more charity events that Kilgraston can be a part of, including our upcoming charity week.
Kilgraston has supported many different charities in recent years and you can find out more about them here
Isla, Upper Sixth, Marketing Prefect
Kilgraston food bank drive
Kilgraston’s Charity and Community Prefect, Upper Sixth’s Katie, has been spearheading a drive to help local families facing food shortages with a campaign to donate to local food banks.
Kilgraston pupils and staff donated what they could to the food bank collection points at their local supermarket. Donations would go to their local food banks.
Thank you to everyone who kindly donated.
Kilgraston’s charity work continues
Kilgraston’s charity work is continuing and our most recent event was this year’s ‘Dress Up Day’.
This event, which raised over £270 for charity, was a great success, with the whole school dressing up as someone who inspired them, all the way from Marie Curie to The Incredibles.
The money raised will go to the charity Social Bite, a charity fighting homelessness and, due to the governments ‘UK Aid Match’, Kilgraston also raised money for ‘Mary’s Meals’ a charity that aids starving children in developing countries.
Kilgraston’s charity and community prefect, Katie Nicholson said “I thinks it’s amazing that Kilgraston is continuing efforts to provide support to those in need and bring our community together.”
The ‘Dress Up Day’ is the latest fundraising by Kilgraston and recently the school raised £277 for Macmillan Cancer Support.