In the last term in the life of St Paul’s Collegiate School there has been a phenomenal and impressive amount of cheerful giving going on! I wanted to write these few words to acknowledge that and to thank all those who have participated in some remarkable feats of fundraising recently.

In 2020, as we came out of the COVID-19 lockdown, we laid a number of challenges before ourselves as a school community. Firstly the boarding school community sought to raise $16,000 to honour our commitment to support the work of Flame Cambodia and the funding of the teaching staff and resources of the “mobile classroom” in the slums of Cambodia.

Secondly a few weeks later we supported of the work of World Vision in Malawi through engagement with the 40 Hour famine of 2020. Last year we not only achieved our very challenging fundraising targets but, in respect of the latter, we more than doubled our previous record set in 2006 by raising just over $5000 for World Vision.

To be honest, following reflection and discussions with others, I was led me to think that because of the climate of Covid, the lockdown we had been through and the reopening of the school each contributed to a unique fundraising moment in the life of the school which perhaps we could not realistically expect to repeat in 2021.

How delighted I was to be proven so wrong! This year the generous response of the school community to the Charity Relay and the World Vision 40 Hour famine was incredibly generous and remarkable to experience. The boarders dug deep in their efforts of running and fundraising and as a result we raised over $22,000! Just a few weeks later many day students and a good few boarders raised over $19,000 through the 40 hour famine initiative.

This smashed all previous fundraising records in the history of the school with over $42,000 being raised by our students which is staggering! I’m so appreciative of their efforts which have raised funds to support those living in some of the most challenging conditions on the planet. All of this will make a huge difference in the lives of many other young people in Cambodia and Malawi. I would like to sincerely thank all the parents, whanau, family members, friends and staff who got behind our students' fundraising initiatives as well.

God loves a cheerful giver! This is a remarkable achievement in the life and history of our school. All of our participants are to be congratulated and thanked for what they’ve done. They are history makers and their life changing efforts make us all proud to be associated with a school who is not only named after the great St Paul but also seeks to follow in his footsteps and example with action.

Mā te Atua e manaaki

God bless you all

Rev Peter

St Paul himself once wrote: “ Each one must give as he/she has decided in their heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9.7)

New Zealand age group record for Laura Littlejohn