I received an invitation from Mustard Tree in Manchester to afternoon tea on Wednesday 13^th June and to see their newly refurbished building because we donated £1 000 from Charity day 2017. Bella H, Year 11 came with me as she had suggested we raise money for Mustard Tree and she regularly donates money to the charity and is in fact their youngest donor.

Mustard Tree Manchester is an amazing place; we were greeted by Albert who has been helped by the charity. Over the past four years Mustard Tree has helped him to turn his life around by helping to find a home, providing medical help and courses to help improve the chances of him finding work. We had afternoon tea with him which was served by volunteers.

We then had talk from the people who run the charity; they spoke passionately about the work at Mustard Tree about the newly refurbished area and activities going on and the people they help. Albert showed us around Mustard Tree, visiting an art room, computer suite, and drama studio and we ended up in the retail area. The lady that ran the department had previously had a very high powered job to work for Mustard Tree. She took a drop in salary when she joined Mustard Tree but said she’s never been happier; she is now helping the homeless people of Manchester and making a real difference to their lives.  Bella and I came away from there aware of how lucky we are and glad that AGGS was able to help.

You can find out more about The Mustard Tree @ www.mustardtree.org.uk

Mrs Greenhow (Charity Committee Coordinator)

This term, the charity we have supported is the Teenage Cancer Trust, who aim to help young people suffering from cancer with specialised nurses and support. We have raised an amazing £1000 for this charity, which was collected through many fundraising events that the Charity Committee organised.

We have run popular cake sales, including a pancake sale and an Easter Egg Hunt, all of which were very successful in raising money to support Teenage Cancer Trust.

Thank you to everyone who donated and supported the fundraising for this important cause.

The Charity Committee

The Charity Committee have run cake sales, a pancake sale, a Pink Day as part of Paint Altrincham Pink and finally an Easter Egg hunt.. The students have also collected half termly donations for charity.

At the time of writing AGGS has raised £781 for Teenage Cancer Trust, £880 for Prevent Breast Cancer and £195 for Sports Relief making an amazing £1856.

Thank you to The Charity Committee, Form Charity Reps and students for all their hard work and support.

Mrs Greenhow, AGGS Charity Coordinator

On Wednesday 21st March, 16 members of staff took part in a netball match to raise money for Sports Relief. It was a very enjoyable and close match and the final score was 7-4. Ms Gill and 3 students expertly umpired the match. The crowd cheered the teams on, even performing The Mexican wave at one point and managed to raise nearly £200!

On Thursday 14th March, 11 AGGS students: Jingjing, Ruby and Lara Year 7 Katie, Susanna and Grace Year 8 Bella and Aimee Year 8, Olivia, Emma and Poppy Year 10 on an afternoon trip to AGSB to take part in a fun activity to raise money for the charity Prevent.

When we arrived there was plenty going on, including who would take part in which aspect of the race, and putting on our pink tutus. After much anticipation the relay started which included many exciting events, including a ceremony egg and spoon race, skipping and backwards running.

After a very close race, it was AGSB who aimed the first netball into the hoop but they missed! AGGS took this opportunity to take their first shot and scored first try! Therefore we were declared the overall and were presented with our trophy by the Principal of AGSB.

Huge congratulations must go to all who took part and a special thank you to Katie 8-2 who took part in the boys team who were down by one team member. All the money raised will go to the charity Prevent Breast Cancer who fund research purely aimed at preventing breast cancer for future generations. It was a hugely enjoyable afternoon and was all for very worthy cause. We were sponsored by family and friends for this fun afternoon. Watch this space to find out how much money we raised.

Poppy, Y10.

Year 7 have raised a total of £3,666.21 for anti-leprosy charity, Lepra. This is more than £20 per students and is significantly higher than previous totals. Students were asked to fundraise over a fortnight and undertook activities as varied as cake sales, sponsored silences and swim-athons.

Lepra will present the year group with a commemorative plaque and have thanked the AGGS community for transforming the lives of 180 young adults in rural India.

So far this academic year we have managed to raise over £5000 for charity and before the end of the year we hope to raise even more. This term the charity we will be supporting is Teenage Cancer Trust. Teenage Cancer Trust is a cancer care and support charity in the UK that exists to improve the cancer experience of young people aged 13–24.

Events taking place this term include:

• Valentine’s Day Cake Sale on Thursday, 8^th February
• Pancake Sale on Wednesday, 28^th February
• Pink Day in aid of Breast Cancer
• Easter Egg Hunt

AGGS raised an amazing £3,040 on Charity Day. Thank you all for  your support and hard work.

The Charity Committee will be donating this money  to Human care – Syria, The Mustard Tree -Manchester, Healing Hearts as well as sponsoring  Muhammad Zakria, a Pakistani orphan whom we have supported for over four years.

So far this year the Charity Committee have helped to raise £5,830.