Cardinal Pole pupils raise £760 for Grenfell victims

Supportive: Cardinal Pole’s Year Nine fundraisers. Photograph: Cardinal Pole School

A group of caring students at Homerton’s Cardinal Pole School raised £760 in just one day for victims of the Grenfell Tower fire.

Year Nine pupils from the Saint Vincent de Paul (SVP) group, set up to help youngsters get involved in volunteering, organised a non-uniform day for the whole school on 23 June.

The money they raised will go to the Catholic Children’s Society (CCS), a charity close to Grenfell Tower which has been providing much-needed food, clothing and counselling for survivors.

Chyna, an SVP member, said: “This tragic event struck the members of the SVP group and we felt obliged to raise money for the people affected. As a group we feel proud and fortunate to be able to help support a great charity and the people who are in this dire time of need.”

CCS has established a crisis fund for families and children affected by the Grenfell blaze, and a statement on the charity’s website reads: “Since the day of the fire we have been working with local schools to support staff and provide money to families with children who have lost everything and in many cases loved ones.

“The need for this kind of support is expected to be ongoing for some considerable time.”

Cardinal Pole headteacher Jane Heffernan said: “As a community it was hard to stand by and to see the distress and loss of others without wanting to reach out and show our support and compassion.

“The staff and students were anxious to provide a tangible response to our community and I am immensely proud of their efforts to collect £760 and the proactivity shown by the SVP group in organising the event.”

Charities are close to the school’s heart – it has collected a total of £6100 for good causes in the past year, with one fundraising event still to go before the end of term.

You can give to the CCS crisis fund by visiting the charity’s donations page here.