On Friday 18 October, over 2,500 pupils and staff from Highgate and sibling school, The London Academy of Excellence in Tottenham, walked across North London to raise over £110,000 for our partner school in Uganda, Great Lakes High.
Tottenham Hotspur FC Stadium Starting Point
On the morning of the walk, both Heads, Adam Pettitt and Jan Balon, met with staff and sixth formers at LAET’s school premises in Tottenham, where they then entered the expansive Tottenham Hotspur FC Stadium, to herald the exciting start of their 20km walk.
Surprise guest, Gary Mabbutt, MBE and Club Ambassador, greeted our crowd of 850 staff and pupils before they set off, saying:
“The Club is proud to have been a part of this fantastic initiative. It is great to see students from two of our local schools working together to raise money to help their peers at Great Lakes receive the best education possible.”
Mr Pettitt, who led the walk aside Mr Balon, as an important signal of unity between our school communities, said:
“This is a fantastic opportunity for students in both schools to work together to raise consciousness of the needs in Uganda. Hugely grateful to Tottenham Hotspur Football Club in giving their support and the amazing start from their stadium.”
Mr Balon added:
“We are very excited to be bringing two schools together for such an inspirational cause.”
Bringing Communities Together
Over £91,000 Raised for GLHS, Uganda
As many of you may know, our School partnered with Great Lakes High School over 12 years ago and has run a series of fund-raising initiatives to help provide a better quality of life and education for the pupils and staff there.
Great Lakes High School is in a very deprived area of rural Uganda where there is a great need for a good quality secondary school. The school was built from scratch in 2007, when the site was just an empty field, and is now a thriving establishment providing a science-based education for 300 girls and boys from year 7 through to ‘A’ Levels.
Our School was joined by LAET for the first time for the sponsored event, and we reached our target of £80,000 by 10.30am on the morning of the walk! We’ll donate the final sum, that currently sits at over £91,000, to GLHS to improve the teaching and learning experience in the school and secure its long-term sustainability.
This was our seventh bi-annual whole school walk which previously involved Highgate pupils lapping Hampstead Heath to reach 10km. By partnering with LAET, we forged a sense of collaboration and community with both head teachers and sets of prefects leading the walk. We also extended the distance by another 10km for those starting out at the Stadium. This means a crowd of over 2,500 walkers took part in a route spanning up to 20km across North London!
The event was fun and sociable, with quizzes and riddles keeping walkers motivated from marshall point to marshall point. A few of our pupils donned fancy dress and onesies for the occasion!
Pupils enjoying a section of the walk through Highgate Wood
Many thanks to all of you for supporting your children in their enthusiastic fundraising efforts and for your own generous contributions.
