Nearly £2,000 has been raised by 15-year-old Felsted School pupil Charlie K in support of a charity set up in the name of a family friend who lost her life in the Nottingham attacks in June 2023.
Grace, a promising medical student at the University of Nottingham, had a connection with Felsted through training with Essex Cricket and playing hockey alongside many Felsted pupils. Her legacy, The Grace O’Malley-Kumar Foundation, provides opportunities for children and promotes inclusion and kindness.
The charity has benefited from numerous fundraising initiatives organised by Year 10 Felsted pupil Charlie over the past year, including a very popular pre-loved book stall at the school’s recent fete.
‘My passion for helping others stems from my connection with Grace and a desire to contribute to the causes she held dear,’ says Felsted pupil Charlie K, Year 10. ‘It is amazing to see my efforts supported by my family, friends and schoolmates, and I am looking forward to planning more fundraising initiatives in the future.’
‘As a family, we will continue to support The Grace O’Malley-Kumar Foundation and everything Grace stood for,’ commented Charlie’s mother, Helen. ‘Charlie’s oldest brother, James, an Old Felstedian, and his dad, Stuart, will be taking on a half Ironman in October for the Foundation. His other brother, Ollie, who’s in Year 13, also has some fundraising ideas in the works. Grace was quite simply a beautiful human being, inside and out, and it means so much to us to honour her memory in this way’.
Throughout the academic year Felsted School, a co-educational independent boarding and day school in north Essex, supports numerous good causes, selected by the pupils themselves, who initiate and run fundraising activities, from sponsored 24 hour trampolining, school fetes and bake sales to various sponsored runs, including colour runs, marathons and even a gruelling 106km Ultra Marathon in the Lake District – taken on by two Felsted Sixth Formers in aid of SSAFA, an Armed Forces charity. Pupils also give up their time to volunteer for organisations supporting people locally and around the world, including helping out at an East London night shelter and foodbank, and working with disadvantaged children in Mumbai and Malawi.
Indeed, in September Felsted Head Chris Townsend and Simone Gubbins, a Felsted parent, undertook the Goggins 4x4x48 running challenge. ‘Charlie’s efforts exemplify the spirit of charity and service that we strive to cultivate at Felsted,’ says Head Chris Townsend. ‘His fundraising efforts, inspired by a personal connection, have inspired others and are part of a wider culture here where pupils are encouraged to make a positive difference. Whether it’s through fundraising, volunteering, or supporting causes close to their hearts, our students are driven by a shared desire to contribute meaningfully to the world around them’.
Categories: Felsted School School News
