Student fundraisers kicked off their annual Charity Week with an inspirational talk by a North Yorkshire intensive care nurse who volunteers across the world to help save the lives of those affected by conflict, epidemics and disasters.
Andy Dennis brought to life the work of Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), the charity Ripon Grammar School students have chosen to get behind during their fundraising week.
Every year, students raise around £10,000 for their chosen cause with a series of fun events, including music and dance competitions, a teachers’ pantomime, sumo wrestling and obstacle courses.
From his first mission working with people displaced by conflict in Northern Uganda in 2005 Andy, who works at Harrogate District Hospital, went on to help set up primary health care clinics and run nutrition programmes in South Sudan.
His fourth mission, taking part in the Ebola response in Sierra Leone was, he says, by far the most emotionally testing.
Sixth form tutor Miranda Dodd described Andy’s presentation as truly inspiring: “He skilfully blended personal anecdotes with informative clips, which really brought the charity’s work to life, shifting the students’ perspective on healthcare.
“They not only learned about issues such as Ebola and how climate affects disease but were also encouraged to think about the political and ideological challenges faced by an organisation operating in conflict zones.”
The charity was chosen to benefit from this year’s RGS Charity Week following a vote by sixth form students.
Head girl Amélie Chaduc said: “As a sixth form, and ultimately as a whole school community, we are proud to be supporting such a global cause that supports the innocent victims of conflict and disaster around the world, which many students feel passionately about, so we aim to raise as much money as we can to assist MSF.”
Head boy Oliver Kitson added: “More importantly, the members of our school community are eager to educate themselves on the work that MSF does and the various contexts in which they are operating.
“We support MSF’s values of impartiality, independence and neutrality as they provide help for those in need, based on medical ethics and sheer humanity.”
