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LES Charity walk

BayRadio | April 19, 2018

The walk will begin at 9:15 at the senior school in Jalon and the students are expected to arrive at cumbre del sol between 3:30 and 4:30 (some will take longer than others!).

-The event is taking place in memory of Tallulah, Pilar and Lucas (head girl, teacher and ex-student who all passed away last year).
-The students are aiming to raise 10,000€ for the Makimei orphanage in Kenya. Tallulah had volunteered there and it meant so much to her for others to hear the story of the orphanage. Makimei is facing losing its building through lack of financial support. The money to be raised would help secure the future of the orphanage and its children.
-All the students from the secondary school leaving at 9:15 and will be arriving at the Primary School on Cumbre del Sol at around 3:30.
– We would like to encourage everyone to support the students on this massive walk and meet them at the finish line at 3:30 for a grand arrival.

CHARITY WALK FROM THE HEART – ‘ON THE MOVE’ (The back story)

“The first idea for a whole school sponsored walk came to me in mid-2017 when I was thinking about the charity, United World Schools, which builds schools in parts of the world where children would otherwise have no access to education. As the building of the new LES Secondary School was announced, it struck me that it would be a great idea, as our School community moved to a brand new school facility, for us to find a way to help to build a school for others less fortunate.

This undeveloped idea was then overtaken by tragic events in the second half of the Autumn term. First a much-loved colleague and English teacher, Pilar Gaughan was killed in a car accident. Pilar was Head of Yellow House in School, which had always supported charitable work in Africa, in particular the building of medical centres and orphanages in Malawi. Then our Head Girl, Tallulah Beard, was diagnosed with an unusual and aggressive form of cancer and died within a few weeks. She lost her brave battle while still only 17 years old. These two sudden deaths rocked our School community, but out of the shock and grief there emerged a determination to do something special in memory of both Pilar and Tallulah.

In the summer before she died, Tallulah had volunteered, together with Oscar Hart, a friend from School, at an orphanage in Kenya called Makimei. Oscar was able to tell us how much the experience had meant to Tallulah and how she wanted others to hear the story of the orphanage. Makimei is facing losing its building through lack of financial support. The money to be raised would help secure the future of the orphanage and its children. With on-going support both financial and also in the form of future volunteers from the LES Sixth Form, Makimei will have a brighter future.

So all the elements crystallised into one big idea. A whole School charity event to raise a substantial amount of money for the Makimei orphanage in memory of Tallulah and Pilar, and at the same time celebrate the move to our new secondary school. Looking at dates, we realised that an ideal date fell during the UK Sports Relief Week, whose motto “Whatever moves you… Get active. Raise Money. Change lives.” seemed to fit very well with what we were trying to do.

The walk is challenging, but we feel that our pupils will rise to this extremely well. It runs for 20km along paths and minor roads from the vineyards of Lliber, through the village of Senija, skirting the town of Teulada to Benitachell, before the steep climb up the Cumbre del Sol. We will walk past the fast-growing new Secondary School before arriving at the recently completed new block of the Primary School which will give pupils a taste of the design of their new Secondary facility.

Sponsored walks are not uncommon, but to mobilise a whole school in a symbolic ‘moving on’ to a new building, in memory of a muchloved
teacher and pupil and in support of such a good cause, is something special. The School community is embracing the idea and
excitement about the forthcoming walk is growing. Tallulah’s father, Peter Beard, works in Africa and facilitated Tallulah and
Oscar’s volunteering at the Makimei Orphanage. He has agreed to help ensure that every cent we raise is delivered where it is needed and that strong governance overseen by an international firm of auditors is in place. Peter will also facilitate future contact and volunteering links between the orphanage and LES. He hopes to be present at the walk.

Our aim is to raise in excess of 10,000 euros on the day, mainly through sponsorship of the pupils, staff and parents who take part in the walk. This would be a tremendous achievement, something of which all our pupils and staff could be immensely proud. It will take ambition, preparation, effort, determination and teamwork to make the event a success – these are all core educational values at LES.
And so we look forward to our school getting “On the Move….”!

Philip Baldwin

Written by BayRadio


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