Cothill’s lockdown challenge capers enable 66,500 meals to be delivered by FareShare
Oxfordshire school Cothill House has raised over £16,500 for UK charity, FareShare through undertaking a series of lockdown challenges as part of their #challengecothill campaign.
In January 2021, as a third national lockdown was announced, Cothill House initiated #challengecothill to create a sense of community and connection whilst raising money for FareShare UK. As a global school community with boys based in twenty countries across the globe, never had it been more important to bring the school community together, to inspire the boys and have fun, albeit virtually. The school also wanted to ensure the school’s love of challenge and adventure was not lost during lockdown.
Launching on instagram on the 15th January, #challengecothill ran over 9 weeks. The fun and engaging campaign harnessed the school’s energy and inspirational educational approach and created a combined sense of purpose to bring about positive change. Pupils, as well as the school’s 2.5k social media followers, were invited to submit dastardly challenges for the Headmaster and staff to undertake each week. The school was quickly inundated with a plethora of daring suggestions.
From cooking & eating a jelly omelette to undertaking a socially distanced Jerusalema dance, the school rose to every challenge. The highlight was the 24hour non stop HIIT (High Intensity Interval Workout), that saw the school’s global community come together via Google, dancing, squatting and lunging, often in fancy dress, throughout the night.
With an initial fundraising target of £5,000, the community raised an astonishing £16,625 with donations received from across the world. Every meal supplied costs FareShare £0.25 so the money raised by Cothill will enable 66,500 meals to be delivered to vulnerable people. The campaign attracted significant media interest and press coverage, with a video message of support received from Joe Wickes during the 24 hour HIIT workout.
FareShare enables surplus food to be stored & delivered to local charities & support bodies, from food banks & community centres through to schools, providing meals to families in need, reducing food waste & helping prevent climate change. The need for FareShare’s services more than doubled in 2020, highlighting quite how many people were going hungry during the pandemic. More information about FareShare is attached.
Headmaster Duncan Bailey said “We wanted to come together to support FareShare and make a difference. We passionately believe we all have an important role to play in supporting each other and we wanted to make the most of this opportunity to help families affected by the pandemic.”
Fare Share is supported by Marcus Rashford and the Cothill community were inspired by his words“When we stumble, there will always be a community to wrap their arms around us and pick us back up. For many of us, that is FareShare or the local food bank. Food banks who are staffed with selfless volunteers, dedicating their lives to protecting those most vulnerable – those who, in many cases, have fallen into unforeseen circumstances due to illness, personal loss and unemployment. That to me is the greatest example of what we can do, and the difference we can make, when we just work together.”
Watch >>> Short campaign summary video
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