Friday 26 February 2016
An annual highlight for Senior School’s youngest pupils is the year 7 Christmas bazaar, and this week the proceeds were handed over to their chosen charity.
At year 7 assembly, Harini and Benji presented a cheque for £467 to Miriam Evans from the charity Niemann-Pick UK (NP-UK). The charity aims to help those whose lives are affected by the genetic disorders Niemann-Pick diseases (NPD), by supporting families, funding research and raising awareness of these rare conditions.
Miriam explained to the pupils how NPD affects children and their families. Children affected by NPD develop normally until they start school, when they rapidly start to fall behind their peers, and seldom survive beyond their teenage years. The care and information provided by NP-UK is invaluable in helping families to cope with emotional and practical issues as part of a supportive network.
Miriam said: “It’s a cause close to my own heart because my son was diagnosed with it as a baby. I’m here today because of the help we received at the time from a tiny charity, which I now work for. Your money will help to support a family support officer, clinical nurse and facilitate research into this rare disease.”
Held in the last week of term before the Christmas holidays, the year 7 bazaar is entirely organised and run by students. During a fun-filled lunch hour, year 7 pupils offer homemade goodies for sale as well as weird and wonderful stalls such as a human slot machine and assorted guessing games. These ranged from the relatively harmless ‘guess the name of the snowman’ to a blindfold tasting game definitely entered at your own risk.