As a School and a community, we are raising money for the Pahar Trust in Nepal. We are challenging all of our pupils to choose any activity they like, using the number two and six, to raise money. For example, they could run 2.6 or 26 km, do 26 push-ups or dance for two hours and six minutes (more on that in our next story). 

Mr Hammersley and Mrs Horley set up their own challenge, where they cycled the distance from Lands End to John o’ Groats, using their indoor cycle turbo trainers. Why not try to emulate them by cycling 26km over the next week? 

Choose your own challenge, encourage your friends, family and community to donate to this fantastic cause, and send us your pictures and videos of your fundraiser. 

The link for our JustGiving page is here – https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/sutton-valence-school

Please share this with your community to raise as much money as we can. Below is an history of the connections between SVS and Nepal, and why we have chosen this very special charity:

As a School, we have a long and successful fundraising relationship with the Pahar Trust and its work in Nepal. This relationship began in 2015 following the Gorkha Earthquake which killed 8,800 people, flattening villages and destroying schools throughout much of the country.  Our initial fundraising efforts were centred on a district called Dhading, which was home to then-parent and Gurkha soldier, Major Bishnu Ghale. The area had been particularly hard hit by the earthquake and the local school, the Shree Tamang Secondary School, had been completely destroyed.

SVS Pupils, who had travelled to Nepal the previous year, took up the cause immediately, planning events to provide instant relief and then, as the magnitude of the destruction became clear, the School set up the Nepal Fund.  Working with the school-building charity, the Pahar Trust, plans for an 18-classroom school were drawn up and the fundraising began.

The pupils’ efforts were supplemented by a community-wide effort involving staff, parents and Old Suttonians, who came together to raise the £60,000 needed to rebuild the school in double-quick time. We were humbled by people’s generosity and it was incredible to see everyone working together to reach the target.  Many of the activities were unprompted and really showed the compassionate heart of the School and its wider community. Having only launched the Fund in May 2015, the total was reached by March 2016, allowing the reconstruction work to begin immediately. In February 2017, the Headmaster, Mr Grindlay visited Nepal to open the new school.

The conclusion of that fundraising drive has served to inspire a continued relationship with Nepal and support the work of the Pahar Trust. In 2018, it was determined that the School’s chosen charity would continue to focus on Nepal, with the intention to build two new community centres for villages in Dhading and Tanahun District. In both of these areas, a lack of social facilities had long been apparent and in order to reinforce the bond between our community and theirs, we volunteered to assist with funding the construction of these much-needed community centres. 

With much of the world now in lockdown as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic, we have the opportunity through The 2.6 Challenge to use our time at home to help support the Pahar Trust. Our past fundraising for Nepal undoubtedly helped to galvanise the School community and, at a time of widespread isolation, we hope these efforts have a similar effect once again.