On Wednesday 28th July, Rushcliffe School is having a very special non-uniform day to support our ongoing partnership with The School of Hope in Jocotenango, Guatemala.

Rushcliffe has supported Education For The Children, the West Bridgford based charity which founded and funds the school and its further education programmes, since 2014. Our annual summer Esperanza Festival has helped hundreds of children continue to learn, thrive and succeed.

Guatemala has been affected severely by the pandemic, and only in the last month have students returned to school one day per week. This means funds are even more stretched as both home-working and in-person classes are needed.

Jocotenango is an urban area where extreme poverty, gang crime, domestic violence and alcoholism are everyday realities. Food, healthcare, counselling and career guidance at the school remove obstacles to education and enable the students to realise their potential.

Ordinarily The Esperanza Festival would feature a wonderful concert and an array of wonderful performances by Rushcliffe students and stalls and back in 2016 we were delighted to welcome the Guatemalan ambassador and the head of Further Education from The School of Hope. This year, Covid restrictions do not allow the festival we would love to hold, but we still want to celebrate and fundraise through a special non-uniform day.

We want to assure that our Rushcliffe students know a little of what it is like for their peers in Guatemala, struggling to access education due to numerous lockdowns, curfews, lack of technology and internet access. In future years, Rushcliffe students may even have the chance to visit Guatemala as classroom assistants as was experienced by three former Rushcliffe Students Joe Rinvolucri, Lizzy Hyland and Billie Turner.

We'd be delighted to receive donations for The School of Hope and every penny donated will go towards students education, food or healthcare in Guatemala. This year we will be sponsoring a Year 7/8/9 (??) class with the aim to raise £1,200 which will give them the materials and equipment they need ensuring students are defined by their own abilities and not by their economic circumstances.

To find out more about Education For The Children foundation who founded and run The School of Hope at:

https://www.eftc.org.uk/

facebook.com/EFTCFoundation

instagram.com/eftcfoundation

youtube.com/EFTCFoundation