On the 22nd of September a group of eight sixth form students in year 12, having only been back to school for a mere couple of weeks decided to take action and hold a bake sale in order to generate funds for the highly anticipated return of the charity trip to Kenya in summer 2023. It has unfortunately been unable to run for multiple years. Due to the uncertainty that the Covid-19 pandemic placed upon the safety of air travel. Therefore its renewal has created a hive of exhilarated buzz amongst the sixth form students who are planning to join in. 

 

During the trip pupils from The Weald will once again help to build classrooms for underprivileged students in Kenya, allowing them a safe, indoor environment to learn in. A necessity that many lucky students (myself included) have access to so freely that inevitably, it’s taken for granted. However this trip to Kenya is not only about helping others in the short term but providing students with a hardworking mindset to continually focus on bettering the lives of their communities and those across the globe.

 

The bakesale itself was highly successful raising nearly £300 in total over just a few hours, much to the delight of the group who are eager to begin chipping in to the minimum of £400 that they each will need to raise. Despite it’s overall success the event did not come without it’s challenges, as I was informed whilst speaking to one of the students involved in the bake sale, Martha Wheeler. She stated ‘one of the problems we had to face was teaching the cooking part’ and she recognised it may ‘sound easy but we found it a tiny bit challenging’. However her enthusiasm tied to the occasion persisted telling me ‘we got there in the end and it ended up being very successful’. 

 

As the students still have a rather significant amount to go before they reach their target goal I was intrigued to hear from Martha Wheeler if she and the team had any future plans of fundraising. She informed me ‘We have a few ideas, one being selling second hand clothes or a pub quiz night’.  

 

In the end it was a triumphant evening for the students which helped build their eagerness for the trip alongside benefiting the charity by collecting donation money. An evening of positivity, genoriosity and cake. What isn’t to love?

 

By Vivi Douglas , The Weald