St Nicholas school has three core values: Compassion, Friendship and Trust. Well, they have just demonstrated just how much they live by that, and Shepperton Matters went to the school to find out more
When pupil Thea Rogers (year 2) unexpected-ly lost her little brother Louis, only a year ago, she and her family were understandably devastated. After the grief, Thea came up with the practical idea of trying to make a differ-ence and do something for her little brother and the whole school got behind her.
School assembly on May 16th was rather different, with the presentation of a huge cheque to the charity, SUDC UK, received by co-founder Nikki Speed. The charity was founded and is run by families who them-selves lost children. SUDC stands for Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood. 40 chil-dren die in the UK every year without reason. SUDC is one of the most under recognised medical tragedies of our time. So, what better than to try to raise money for them, so that they can continue research into why these deaths occur, and support families going through this unimaginable pain.
Thea worked with the school and her parents Christian and Julia to come up with a plan. A very popular sponsorship idea took hold. How about a ‘Bounce-a-thon”?! Each class would have the chance to bounce as many times as possible on a bouncy castle which would be set up in the school grounds. Oh my! What fun and laughter from tragedy. Each pupil raised sponsorship for their turn. In addition to the ‘Bounce-a-thon’ there was a raffle. Thea’s dad Christian visited many local shops to ask for prizes. They were generous. Thanks to the following: King Clippers, Jamz, Palm-ers Dog Grooming, The Red Lion, Sisu & Glow, EM2 Tanning, The Nail Garden, Sassy Apron, Twynersh Fishing, Warren Lodge, YourGolfTravel, Harlequins and Prezzo. The star prize was a family ticket to Harry Potter World. Many more prizes were donated by parents including a teddy, chocolates, sweets, a hamper, a gin collection set and more.
The result was a fund of £3590. Nikki Speed was overwhelmed and thanked brave Thea who made the presentation of the cheque her-self in front of fellow pupils.
Money continues to come in. Christian him-self took on a half marathon, and another dad is doing a 100 mile cycle ride to raise funds.
If you would like to find out more about SUDC, the charity is on social media @sudcuk (Twitter @sudcuk1) or their website is www.sudc.org.uk.
If you would like to make a donation please contact St Nicholas School on 01932 227744.