Carthusians are engaged in the local community in a variety of ways, including a long-standing partnership with the Godalming & Villages Community Store. Pupils contribute to this through volunteering at the store, giving 'store cupboard' food and financial donations. Lexi (Year 12) shares her volunteering experience.
From Lexi:
I was keen to find a volunteering opportunity with School that would involve working with people from the local area, and therefore stepping outside of the School's circle. I previously volunteered with the Felix Project in London, which distributes excess stock from grocery stores to food banks and soup kitchens, so I already had an appreciation for the value of a food bank to the community.
I work with a few other pupils and a couple adult volunteers to date produce and then help to organise the shelves. There are also events in the School year for raising money for the community store, and for gathering produce that we take part in.
It has been a really enjoyable experience getting to know the other volunteers, and it has been definitely rewarding. All of us agree that we look forward to the visits.
We very much value the relationship between store and School - especially on Thursday afternoons when Sixth Form pupils wade through tins of baked beans, soup and tuna with their marker pens... We can't open without the generosity of our community...
Annie Barker, Volunteer/Trustee