Campaign by Story
Help Us Create a Life Skills Room That Changes Lives
Every child deserves the chance to develop the skills, confidence, and independence they need to thrive. For students with autism and additional learning needs, these essential life skills often require dedicated teaching in a safe and supportive environment.
We are raising funds to create a purpose-built Life Skills Room for students in our Autism Enhanced Provision and others with additional needs across Key Stages 3 and 4. The room will include fully equipped cooking stations, laundry facilities, and practical learning spaces where students can develop everyday skills such as cooking, cleaning, personal safety, and household management.
6 teachers from the school (James Semple, Maria Chalcraft, Dan Richardson, Ruth Ewing, Sam Tarca, Will Cannock) will be running the Big Half Marathon in central London on Sunday 6th September 2026 to support this worthy cause.
For many of these young people, a traditional classroom environment can be challenging. This new space will provide engaging, hands-on learning opportunities that build confidence, improve wellbeing, and prepare students for greater independence in adult life. It will also support students in achieving recognised qualifications, including BTEC Home Cooking and King's Trust Life Skills awards.
Beyond academic achievement, this project has the potential to make a lasting difference to our students' wellbeing, engagement, attendance and behaviour. Most importantly, it will help some of our most vulnerable young people develop the practical skills, confidence and independence they need to navigate everyday life and build brighter futures.
Every donation, no matter how small, will help create a space that equips young people with the practical skills and confidence they need for the future. Together, we can give these students the opportunity to develop the skills and confidence they need to live more independently and thrive beyond school. Funds raised by Friends of the Charter School East Dulwich support a wide range of projects that enrich school life and promote pupil wellbeing. Our priority is to make the Life Skills Room a reality; however, if we do not raise enough to fully fund the project, donations will be used to support other important school initiatives, including enriching our outdoor spaces, supporting individual departments such as the library, science, maths, music and art, and helping fund school trips and other opportunities for our students.
