Friends of St Bede's Senior School

Those of you whose children attended St Bede's Prep School will be familiar with the Friends of St Bede's. It is a voluntary organisation run by the parents and teachers. Its aim is to arrange social events for the parents so that they can meet each other and become part of the community and, at the same time, raise some funds for good causes and a few extra facilities for the School.

We in the Senior School have not had the benefit of such an organisation up until now and we feel it is time to rectify the situation. Last term (summer 10), Alan Wells, Director of Cricket and former test player for England, invited a few parents who had been involved with similar groups to form the Friends of St Bede's Senior School (FSBSS). After several meetings, we have formulated a plan and elected a committee. Alan Wells has agreed to become Chairman, Chris Ketley will be Treasurer and Lesley Brent will be Secretary.

What will the raised monies be used for? St Bede's, in line with its policy of being non-selective and non elitist, has historically been very generous in awarding bursaries to children whom it feels would benefit from an education at the school but whose parents would struggle with the financial burden. The Friends of St Bede's feel that it is very important to support this policy and so much of the proceeds will go towards the bursary fund. We also feel that the students should grow up in a culture of charitable giving and so donations will be made to various worthy causes such as the Teenage Cancer Trust.

What events will be organised? Well indeed last term, we had our first event when the Bunbury Cricketers came to play St Bede's, hosted by the FSBSS. Although the weather was somewhat inclement, with a multitude of brass monkeys in attendance, the lunch and after-lunch speakers, along with the band and bouncy castle and indeed the cricket match, all provided tremendous entertainment. Our second event was to have been the Summer Ball. Previous balls have been very well attended but unfortunately last years event had to be cancelled due to a lack of ticket sales. We believe the downturn in the economy might have had some influence but undoubtedly, the fact that England were playing that day in the semi-finals of the world cup was the major factor. We will not make that mistake again . We have several events in the pipeline, the details of which we are finalising. I can say for certain that there will be an evening in January which you should not miss! All will be revealed soon and I would urge all parents to come along and have fun. We aim to arrange two or three events a year and if anybody has any ideas or would like to become involved in helping in any way, please contact Alan Wells by e-mailing alan.wells@stbedesschool.org
Peter Brent
Parent
For FSBSS