30 June 2013
Searching for ways to raise funds for the animal charity Easterleigh, the staff running Holmes College decided to go 'pop'.
The idea originated when History teacher James Hutchings made up a short song about Easterleigh to the tune of 'Living on a Prayer' The group liked it so much that they made a video which they eventually put on YouTube!
Filmed over three evenings news of the video soon spread. (Even Phil Wood, Headteacher, was persuaded to star in it!). Students were desperate to see it so a series of 'teasers' were shown over lunchtimes on the run-up to the fundraising day. If anyone wanted to see the whole version they had to pay! The video went on 'Just Giving' with a target of £100, which quickly rose to over £400 with pledges.The video spread to Facebook and Twitter and on Fundraising Day students and staff crammed into the to the sound of the deafening countdown to watch the finished product as the target fundraising had been reached.
Other activities that day were a nail-bar, penalty shoot-out, cake sale, ice cream sale, popcorn and drinks and many sponsored events. These, plus a loose change collection and raffle, plus the video, swelled the final total to £1,500 for Easterleigh.
Andrea Boyle, Pastoral Manager of Holmes College, said "It was great fun from start to finish. The students absolutely loved seeing us make fools of ourselves and gave us their full support.. We had over 1,000 hits on You Tube and several tweets from famous people and other charities. We feel it is really important to support Easterleigh as it is a very worthwhile, local charity that our students can really connect with and which solely relies on donations to keep operating showing great commitment and determination no matter what obstacles they come across."
The just giving page is still open for donations www.justgiving.com/Andrea-Boyle
Pic which is a screenshot from the video) shows Becky Johnson (Head of Holmes College) , James Hutchings, Howard Wilson, Andrea Boyle (Pastoral Manager) Gemma Wrigley and Pilar Holt.
