Today's assembly was led by the School's Partnerships Committee, sharing more about the upcoming home clothes day and the chosen charity, Break.
"Good morning everyone. Hopefully over the last few days you will have seen colourful posters around school with information about this Terms Home Clothes Day. Home Clothes Day is tomorrow, Friday the 11th of March. As a group of pupils in the Partnerships committee we have taken this assembly as an opportunity to give you all some information about the charity we are supporting this term.
Break is a local charity that bases its work around young people in East Anglia. Break supports children and young people on the edge of care, in care and moving on from care. They give vulnerable children, young people, and families the time, support, and care they need to achieve their full potential. Whatever a child’s start in life, they believe that with the right support there is no limit to what they can achieve.
Through innovation, lifelong relationships, and keeping all those that Break work with at the heart of what they do, Break can transform futures and change the lives of young people. By establishing trusting, positive, and caring relationships with the children, young people, and families under their support - they can work with them to offer experiences well beyond what other charities strive to provide.
Whenever the help they need is missing, Break is there for them. Whether that is through therapeutic services, respite breaks, providing a resilient home or support with parenting, Break is a charity committed to supporting them through whatever life has in store.
Young people do not stop needing someone to be there for them just because they have reached a certain age. Break focuses on being a lifelong support system to the children that they help, not just leaving them on their own once they reach adulthood, but being there throughout their entire lives, just a call away. From pairing them with a mentor to organising an apprenticeship, teaching them cooking skills to taking them to taster days to helping with university applications, Break provide exciting and life-changing opportunities while walking alongside them every step of the way.
The partnerships committee have chosen Break as our Lent term charity because we believe that supporting young people, who struggle to achieve day to day activities due to their home or school lives, is incredibly important. That is why the money that we raise tomorrow, and the money raised last Friday evening at the L6th Lent Term Dinner can make a significant impact on the lives of those children.
Here are some examples of what the money we raise can achieve:
£50 pays for a selection of books for a fostered child as they move into a new foster home with Break, giving them books to use together to work through the trauma of the past and build a positive future.
£200 contributes towards one-to-one play therapy sessions for a child or young person who has experienced trauma in their past, so they can engage better with schooling, family, and friends.
£500 will provide on-the-job training with Break’s Aspiration Team for a young care leaver – in either building works (bricklaying/carpentry) or barista skills training on our dedicated CoffeeBreak Van. Many care leavers are not ‘job shaped’ so this equips them with skills that they may not otherwise be able to attain and works giving them skills and confidence to get into mainstream work.
£5,000 will fund the refurbish of a flat for a care leaver post 18 years old; enabling them to remain with Break so we can support them as they take their first steps to independence. It also ensures they do not become one of the 40% of care leavers who become homeless in their first year of leaving care.
As you can see, even a small amount of money can be used to make a substantial change in a young person’s life. That is why the partnerships committee have chosen to hold only one Home Clothes day this term, to ensure that the money we raise can be donated to one charity and have an even larger impact. However, that does mean we are asking that you donate £2 rather than £1, instead, as hopefully this way we can still raise the same amount for charities overall and help them in an even bigger way.
It is quite simple to donate this Home Clothes Day, with many methods to give money (as we recognise not everyone always has a couple of coins in their blazer!). So, to donate there will be card machines visiting tutor groups before assembly and during tutorial, your tutors will have envelopes for your £2 coins if you would prefer to donate with cash, or alternatively you can donate online on the Just Giving page we have set up for Break Charity in your school post email.
If you have any questions about how you can donate, or any questions about the Partnerships Committee itself, do not hesitate to email or message us on teams. Thank you for listening – remember your home clothes for tomorrow."