Charities Committee

Charities Week

Charities week finished off a very successful year for this year’s Charities Committee. The week started with the car wash, where the committee washed over 20 staff and pupil cars. The highlight of the week was the performance of the Soul Band in the assembly hall on Thursday lunchtime. Over 350 people came to see Komi Barrow, Shanley Lestini and the rest of the band perform classic soul numbers. The final event happened on Monday afternoon with the Junior school football tournament. Thirty two teams entered and a great time was had by all on a beautiful sunny afternoon down at Newfield. All the events together raised £1000 which will go to the charity CHAS.

Big Band Substance

At the end of the second term, “The Big Band Substance”, an 18-piece jazz band that included Dollar’s very own Chemistry teacher, Mr Neil Blezard played host to an audience in Dollar Academy’s Assembly Hall. The band caters for all generations and is made up a large assortment of musical instruments, from trombones to saxophones. The night was arranged as a part of the school’s Tsunami appeal and the sum of £547-62 raised will be transferred to Sri Lanka to aid post Tsunami rehabilitation operations.

Tsunami Appeal in aid of St. Andrew’s Kirk, Sri Lanka

RED NOSE DAY IN HOME ECONOMICS DEPARTMENT

Pupils in Junior 2, Form1 and Form VI joined forces in Home Economics to make Red Nose cakes and biscuits in aid of Comic Relief. Teamwork and co operation was very important in this project. The pupils followed the strict hygiene rules necessary when making and selling food and understood the serious implications of poor hygiene standards in catering establishments. The hard work of the pupils was rewarded when £350 was raised for the Charity.

TSUNAMI APPEAL

Most of the details about the schools tsunami appeal are printed in the Rector's February newsletter. However for all those who have not read their copy yet, here is an update from the Charities Committee. As expected the Tsunami Wristbands sold out fast and a massive £800 was raised from these sales. They followed a popular market trend with the worldwide distribution of Lance Armstrong "Live-Strong" bracelets for the support of Cancer research.

Collections for the Tsunami appeal were also taken at the Burns Supper where money was given generously and a sum of £130 was collected.

GROTTY TIE DAY

Grotty Tie Day has a long standing tradition in Dollar Academy and this year's Tie dayraised £581 which will again be donated to the Tsunami relief appeal in South Asia, conducted from a Dollar Academy perspective by the former Dollar Parish Church Minister Rev. John Purves.

VALENTINES DISCO

Love was in the air on Tuesday 22nd of February as Form I and II descended upon the Dining Hall for their Valentines Disco. The girls had obviously put a lot of effort into looking nice and even the boys managed to "scrub up" not too bad either. This set the scene for an evening of dancing and good fun where much enjoyment was had by all. Over £400 was raised for Alzheimer Scotland so a big thank you to all those who attended.

BARNARDOS BOXES

One of the most pleasing things for the Charities Committee this year has been the whole school's generosity when asked to donate money to charity. This was illustrated when £660 was raised for Barnardos, a children's charity which "gives children back their future." Money was collected in small boxes and the donations were mainly made up of small change and coppers. Commiserations to the committee's treasurer, Kang who had to spend one of his free periods counting up £660 in coppers.

BREAST CANCER RIBBONS

£220 was raised by the Committee for the sales of the pink Breast Cancer ribbons. This money will hopefully go towards researching cures for treatments of Breast Cancer.

BUSY CHRISTMAS WEEK FOR CHARITIES COMMITTEE

It has been a busy week for the Charities Committee. On Sunday 5th of December they helped at the annual Gleneagles Christmas party, which raised money for CHAS - the Childrens' Hospice Association Scotland. The Chamber Choir and DAJO were also in attendance - entertaining the parents while their children enjoyed the party.

On Thursday 9th December the committee sorted and delivered 262 bags containing tins and packets to the senior citizens of Dollar. The tins and packets had been collected from the prep, junior and senior schools, with 1DD - Mr. Delaney's form class contributing an impressive five full boxes - other form classes could take a leaf out of their book!! Invitations were also included to the final event of the week - the Senior Citizens' Coffee Morning. Over 100 Dollar Senior Citizens enjoyed the entertainment provided by the Chamber Choir, while eating the cakes baked by the Committee.

STARS IN THEIR EYES

If there was anyone who missed "Stars in Their Eyes" this year - and there weren't many as the Assembly hall was packed to capacity - they must have been bitterly disappointed. After last year's successful "Pop Idol" the Charities Committee decided to stick with the singing event tradition and once again all proceeds went to Children in Need. Friday 19th of November will be remembered as the day Finlay MacKay (Form VI) became Michael Jackson, Joe James (Form VI) transformed into Bobby Darin and probably more famously because of William Bowers (Form II) turning into Eninem. Among the other acts taking part in front of the panel of judges and the rest of the school were Sam Cartwright (VI) and head boy Mark Nelson (VI) as the double act of Elton John and Ronan Keating, Lucy Bowler (I) and Angela Boal (I) doing Britney Spears, ESU-Scholar all the way from North Carolina, Shanley Lestini performing "Shaboom - Life could be a dream" and finally the men in suits, Russell Johnston (VI), Scott Borrowman (VI), Sam Cartwright (VI), Gregor McIntosh (VI) and Mark Nelson (VI) doing an interesting version of Westlife's "Mandy." Russell had clearly been practising hard for his singing debut. The row of judges, Mr MacFadyean, Miss Sharp and Mr Fulton watched all 6 acts and had to pick a winner. Mr MacFadyean made the final decision, "This year we have chosen the winner with the most raw talent," and presented the winner's prize to the crowd favourite, William Bowers. When asked tomake a victory speech, he said, "I want to make a long speech because I don't want to go to Chemistry next period." This year's host was Mrs Borrowman who did a superb job, and many thanks to all those who filled the Assembly hall at lunchtime. £721.05 was raised for Children in Need which along with the money from the "Pudsey Bear" cake selling is an excellent total.

OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD

At the end of November the Charities Committee collected a total of 231 gift wrapped boxes for Operation Christmas Child to be distributed in the run up to Christmas to underprivileged children in different countries around the world. Pupils from different year groups filled shoeboxes with a variety of presents including toys, accessories and clothing such as gloves and scarves for children of a similar or younger age to themselves. The shoebox total is up from last year and everyone who made a shoebox is thanked for his or her efforts.

PUDSEY BEAR CAKE SELLING

In the run-up to this year's Children in Need, Mrs Kean and her Home Economics classes have been working overtime in the kitchen to prepare "Pudsey Bear" cookies and decorated fairy cakes. Members of the Charities Committee have been selling these baked goods at lunch and break time and the response from the rest of the school has been excellent. Thanks must go to Mrs Kean and the rest of the Home Economics department for all their efforts.

JUNIOR SCHOOL HALLOWE'EN PARTY

Halloween came three days early this year for the Charities Committee as on Thursday 28th of October the annual Junior School Halloween disco took place in the Dining Hall. Ghosts, witches and pumpkin lanterns descended upon the scarily decorated and eerily lit hall as everyone prepared fora night of games and good fun. All of the children were split into teams and allocated a team captain from the CharitiesCommittee. The usual Halloween games returned from last year; the legendary "Donut" game - was back by popular demand -the ferociously and sometimes violently contested "Chocolate" game was also part of the action and not forgetting the old veteran of Halloween parties, the "Dunking Apples" game.

Prizes were awarded for the best costumes and also for the best pumpkin lanterns. Congratulations to the following who won awards:

Best dressed:

Louise Cunningham (Granny)
JJ McNicol and Hattie Sire (Two castles - joined together!)
Calum Hepburn (One-legged man)
Suzie Hammond (Punk)
Thomas Hornall (Ali G)

Pumpkin Lanterns:

Mhari Fergusson
Erin Stanhope
Lewis Macdonald
Aimee McArthur
Alasdair Lennon

Not to be outdone by the younger generation, members of the Charities Committee and the "Top Six" were also in fancy dress. Stuart Whyte as a Cowboy kept up his tradition of dressing up at every Charities event, Claire Piggot was an interesting looking Cat and Kang Kim was a member of the "Ghostbusters". The Rector will probably be wondering if Mark Nelson should have been elected Head Girl rather than Head Boy as both Mark and Gregor McIntosh arrived with pink skirts and knee-high socks on. Gregor joked that his costume is what he normally wears in his spare time.

The whole event was a great success and Ms Goudie - Head of Junior School - reservedspecial praise at the end of the night for the Charities Committee: "This was an extremely well-run event and the children thoroughly enjoyed themselves." £400 was raised for the charity, "Help the Aged", which helps to make the world a better place for the older generation to live. The money goes towards helping the older people feel more involved in their community and prevents them from feeling isolated. It seems fitting that while young children were enjoying themselves, money was being raised to also help older people enjoy themselves.

60s FORM 1 DISCO
The annual Form 1 disco took place on Thursday 23rd September in the Dining Hall. This year, the theme chosen by the Charities Committee was 60s and money was raised for the charity, REACT. REACT is a charity, which helps the families of children with life-limiting illness. It aims to give these children comfort, dignity and where possible, greater independence. The charity helps them to remain in the security of their own homes and tries to relieve some of the terrible worry and strain of their families' experience.

The Form 1 Disco is primarily aimed as a "Fresher's Disco"where new first years to the Senior School are able to get to know one another and have a good time. A raffle was organised on the night and each member of the Charities Committee was "won" by a member of Form 1 for the final dance of the evening.

The evening was a great success and will hopefully set the tone for future events organised this year by the Charities Committee.

McMILLAN COFFEE MORNING
There was no time for a hangover after the previous night's Form 1 Disco as the Charities Committee immediately set to work in organising the McMillan Coffee Morning which ran all over the UK on Friday 24th of September. Cakes and drinks were on sale for £1 and as most of the school took advantage of this generous offer, just over £400 was raised for McMillan Cancer Relief. Many people commented on how good the cakes were and this is a testament to the sterling work done by the Charities Committee in the kitchen the night before.

The First Term is a busy one for this year's Charities Committee and many events are still being planned:

Thursday 28th of October: Junior Halloween Party 7.30-9pm
November: "Love in a Box" Christmas box collection
December: Tins and Packets collection
Friday 10th of December: Senior Citizens' Coffee Morning, Dining Hall 10-11.15am

Another busy session is well underway for this year's Charities Committee, co-ordinated for 2004/05 by Lois Auld (Form VI). The rest of the team is as follows:

Co-ordinator: Lois Auld (6JF)
Secretary: Duncan Cathie (6AJ)
Treasurer: Kangrae Kim (6EM)
Researcher: Robyn Daniel (6PF)
Reporter: Stuart Tennant (6EM)
Photographer: Stuart Whyte (6VS)
Graphics: Phillip Ritchie (6AJ)
Displays: Rachel Campbell (6VS)
Junior School Liasion: Penny Byford (6VS)
Prep School Liasion: Jodie Fulton (6JF)
Caterers: Gregor McIntosh (6MM)
Emma Holman (6AJ)
Boarders Liaison: Claire Piggot (6JF)
Form 1: Sam Cartwright (6PF)
Form 2: Claire Anderson (6PF)
Form 3: Iain Campbell (6PF)
Form 4: Claire Davis (6MM)
Form 5: Erin McIvor (6MM)
Form 6: Hannah Fitzgibbon (6VS)