STUDENTS from Callington Community College held a charity day on March 31 raising £663.90 for Cancer Research UK.

The Student Voice Ambassadors at the college originally conceived the idea as a desire to ‘give back’ to the community and raise the profile of the importance of student voice in whole-school initiatives. Under the guidance of the group leader, DT teacher Mr Simon Carson, the students organised activities for the whole school to take part in such as speed chess, beat the goalie and a teacher version of The Masked Singer.

In addition, a number of students across the college who had redeemed their student reward points against a ‘charitable donation’ in the school rewards shop were given the job of voting for which charity they wanted to support. Cancer Research UK was the chosen charity by a considerable majority. Assistant Principal, Kate Lamb, said: “It speaks volumes of our young people at the college that the most popular way to redeem rewards points in our college rewards shop is not on sweet treats or queue passes, but on charitable donations. They are a credit to our community.”

Cancer Research UK is a charity close to the hearts of staff at the college, with a number of staff living with cancer currently, and the tragic loss of one of their teachers to cancer in 2021.

A number of the students who were part of the organisation of charity day were able to meet Frances Foulkes from the Liskeard Local Committee of Cancer Research UK, and Sophie Barber, Cancer Research UK Relationship Manager for Cornwall, and tell them about their endeavours, in turn receiving a certificate from Cancer Research UK for their efforts.

Sophie said: “It was an absolute pleasure to meet the wonderful students at Callington Community College who have worked incredibly hard to raise funds for Cancer Research UK. Hearing about their teacher ‘Masked Singer’ idea was brilliant. I’m very impressed with their innovative ideas and their enthusiasm to support a good cause.

“Cancer Research UK has made enormous progress in the fight against cancer. However, we have only been able to do this thanks to the support of fundraisers like the students at Callington Community College. A big thank you on behalf of Cancer Research UK to everyone involved.”

Following the success of their hard work, students have expressed their desire to run the charity event again next year and raise even more.