A large group of students from King Edward VI College in Nuneaton have been fundraising all week in aid of the Disaster Emergency Committee Nepal earthquake appeal.
With 4% of KEC students being Nepalese the disaster has impacted those students and their friends and very quickly plans were put in place to raise money towards the appeal.
Principal Dr Esther Maughan said “We had a minute’s silence as a mark of respect to all of those who have lost their lives and to those who are grieving for their friends and relatives.
When our Nepalese students hugged together in a circle, in the middle of the refectory, at the appointed time and all went silent we stood still and our hearts reached out to them in their sorrow
. “
Last week and all this week students have been baking and selling cakes. Some of the students involved came to college in their traditional Nepalese clothing.
This week staff vs student matches have been taking place every lunchtime in the gym. Kicking off with an indoor cricket match, followed by volleyball, table tennis and badminton.
Kate Phillips, teacher of geography said “My geography students had just studied earthquakes only the week before the Nepal disaster; so they were aware of the problems created by such large magnitude earthquakes in remote, mountainous areas. The immediacy of it for all the students was made particularly clear having many Nepalese students in the department. The geography students were very keen to do something, and along with many other students, have driven the fundraising campaign.”
So far in excess of £600 has been raised. However with the fundraising still ongoing and a planned clothing sale by the art department the students are sure to beat the total collected for the Haiti appeal which reached almost £700.
One particular student, Subash Limbu, has gone the extra mile and along with fellow students Nathaniel James he has set up a website dedicated to raising funds for the appeal.
Subash moved from Nepal to the UK with his parents and siblings when he was
10 years old.
Now studying A level Art and Design and BTEC Business and I.T. Subash said “My dad has always wanted to take me and my little brother, Sagar, to Nepal. So we decided to go this summer. My brother and I had saved up some money to spend in Nepal. Shockingly, the earthquake across Nepal really hit us. This lead us to use the money we had saved up to invest in t-shirts and an e-commerce website. This is our way of helping the victims. Investing in t-shirts with “helping Nepal” printed on them is also a means to create and spread awareness”
Subash and his brother are hoping to raise money which will go towards supplying clean water, emergency food and first aid to the victims. Purchasing one t-shirt will help feed 7 homeless people in Nepal.