Students from St Benedict’s Catholic School in Bury St Edmunds do an ‘incredible job’ supporting good causes as part of ‘Give 2 Good’

Students have raised an ‘incredible’ £5,067 for good causes as part of an initiative centred on showing compassion for others.

At St Benedict’s Catholic School, in Bury St Edmunds, all students from Years 7-11 were given £2, which they could give directly to support a worthwhile cause, buy something with it to give away or increase the amount before doing good with it.

This was part of the students’ PSHE (personal, social, health and economic education) and citizenship lesson to help them develop the key skill, and one of the school values, of compassion.

The money to make the ‘Give 2 Good’ project happen was donated by the Catenian Association and Thomas and Young Wealth Management.

Sarah Cobbold, teacher of RE and PSHE co-ordinator, said the students ‘did an incredible job’ over the autumn term, using their money to do ‘creative things for incredible causes’, such as making and giving away bookmarks, hosting quizzes and arranging cake sales.

She said: “The aim was to do good, rather than to make money, but as part of this they raised an incredible £5,067 which has all been donated to charities such as the NSPCC, CAFOD (The Catholic Agency for Overseas Development), The British Heart Foundation, Age Concern and Guide Dogs for the Blind.”

The figure of £5,067 was based on totals at the time, as some students hadn’t finished their projects.

The work of the students was to be celebrated today during an assembly, attended by representatives from the Catenian Association and Thomas and Young Wealth Management. They chatted to some of the students about what they had done and celebrated their ‘incredible’ successes, encouraging them to keep on being compassionate.