03/06/2020
ACS International Schools raises £5,000 to fund food packages for local children
ACS Internationals Schools has raised and donated £5,000 to the Magic Breakfast programme, which will provide over 7,400 breakfasts to vulnerable children in Surrey and Greater London over the next few weeks.
Amidst the outbreak of COVID-19, ACS rallied to identify opportunities to help those most in need in the local area and established a community fundraising page via JustGiving. ACS called upon its community of parents across its three schools in Cobham, Egham and Hillingdon, local businesses and partner organisations to make donations to support vulnerable families during the pandemic.
To ensure the maximum amount of food packages could be delivered to the local community, ACS chose to partner with Magic Breakfast, which, with the £5,000 donation, will be able to provide a total of 7,407 nutritious breakfasts to children at risk of hunger. The breakfasts will either be collected by families from their local schools that are open, or will be delivered directly to families who are unable to get to a local pick up point.
In addition to the breakfast campaign, the schools have been supporting their communities in other practical ways. ACS International School Cobham’s science department donated the PPE available at the school to St Peters’ Hospital in Surrey, and ACS International School Hillingdon donated PPE to the Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. ACS International School Egham’s science department has also donated almost 200 pairs of safety glasses and goggles, 2,400 gloves, and 25 masks to Frimley Park Hospital.
We are hugely grateful to everyone who donated to our fundraiser.
- Graeme Lawrie, ACS’s Partnerships Director
ACS Cobham also donated its surplus catering ingredients to local food banks, and the stock from its tuck shop to a women’s shelter.
Graeme Lawrie, ACS’s Partnerships Director, comments: "During these difficult times, it’s incredibly important that we take action to support the most vulnerable people in our community, who are being severely affected by this pandemic. We are hugely grateful to everyone who donated to our fundraiser – the heads of schools across the ACS campuses have carefully considered the best way to use the funds to help the most people, and all agreed to partner with Magic Breakfast. Due the scale of its operation, and the existing systems it has in place, for a really low cost, Magic Breakfast is able to deliver healthy and nutritious breakfasts directly to our local partner schools."
As part of its charitable mission to advance education, ACS runs a regular partnerships scheme throughout the year. ACS works in partnership with local state and independent schools, higher education institutions, corporate partners and communities to share facilities, resources and educational expertise, ensuring young people across the region have access to the highest quality education and learning experiences. To find out more about ACS’s partnership updates, follow @ACSPartnerships on Twitter.