I decided to sit down with (or, rather, phone) the individual members to get an insight into their thinking, their visions, and their expectations of the year ahead. It was a truly eye-opening experience, and I’m thrilled to present the outcomes of the discussion with Carys, the Charities rep.
As charities rep, why do you think that charity and philanthropy is important?
-Firstly, within the WHS community, I’d say that generally a lot of us come from privileged, more stereotypically affluent backgrounds. With that, I think comes a duty and a responsibility to give back to the world, especially in the current climate with so much socioeconomic disparity. And I think that charities are the best way to do that – finding a genuine source that most resonates with you. I’m really happy to be taking that on for the year. Another important aspect is that through charitable giving we can raise awareness, and I’d say that’s the more unspoken part of it, even though it’s just as important.
What would you like to focus on in the year to come?
-In my role, I want to make sure that I’m educating people on certain issues that perhaps don’t have as much media coverage or aren’t as discussed. As any Charities rep will tell you, the main goal of course is to raise as much money, and to do as much as possible otherwise. I think the main source will be events – I want to bring back previously successful events that stopped due to Covid, like the termly charity fairs – which also allowed the younger years to participate. Also, organising original events, like an auction (continued from Antonia), and cementing the more traditional events that we’ve done for years, like the ‘Because I’m a Girl Walk’. Lastly, I think it’s important for us to donate, as a school, to many different causes, to spread ourselves more evenly to help as many people as possible, but to make sure also that we’re doing research on the organisations that it’s going to, to ensure there’s no corruption.
What’s your favourite charity, and why?
-Personally, one of the global issues that resonates with me the most is gender inequality, and, within that, the role of women in society and how the patriarchy affects young girls, as that’s something my loved ones and I have struggled with. There are charities that stand for that, and one of them is called Girls Out Loud – they raise awareness of the mental health of young people, and help them through anything they’re going through, which is often because of the way our society is structured, telling them how they should be. I think that this is something that deserves a lot of our recognition.
