Fun and frolics to raise charity cash (From Stroud News and Journal)

Fun and frolics to raise charity cash

PUPILS at Stroud High School are celebrating another fantastic Rag Week which raised more than £7,000 in memory of a former classmate who died last year.

The impressive cash boost for the County Air Ambulance charity was raised in a week of fun-packed events all organised by Downfields sixth form pupils.

The youngsters, including boys from Marling School, were spurred on by the memory of High School pupil Bryony Rees who died last year in a car accident aged just 16.

Former pal Emily Farmer, 17, was one of the upper sixth pupils who headed up the fundraising effort.

"We were all so moved by the death of Bryony," she said. "There is a real team feeling and it has been different for our year because it means something to us.

"Bryony meant a lot to us so it is nice to be able to do something in her memory and it is great to be able to get the whole school involved. It was really good fun."

Many events were spoofs of top TV programmes, including I'm a Teacher Get me Out of Here, in which teachers had to perform various unsavoury tasks, and the dating show Singled Out.

Top among the evening events was the annual Rag Bash at Club Splash last Thursday. This year the event had a uniform theme and the club was filled with pupils dressed as naval ratings, lollipop ladies and traffic wardens.

High School head Jo Grills was impressed with the effort the organisers from Downfields' upper sixth had put into the week.

"They have been committed to raising money for this charity right from the beginning," she said. "There is a huge sense of creativity, a lot of excitement and fun - a sense that the whole school is enjoying something together."

The determined band of sixth formers are already preparing for more events to take their fundraising total beyond their ambitious £10,000 target.

Seven of the students, including Emily Farmer, are set to compete in the Stroud Half Marathon on Sunday and a further rag bash and pantomime are planned before Christmas.