A WELLINGTON secondary school has hosted their annual Madagascar Week to raise funds for a community ‘in desperate need of support’.

Court Fields School has been raising money for the Madagascar Development Fund since 2012 and in that time have raised more than £50,000. The latest efforts, from a non-uniform day, cake sales and raffle, totalled £675.

Court Fields' partnership with the fund was initiated by the late Bob Stark, formerly deputy head, who was a leading light in imaginative fundraising activities.

One such activity was a sponsored walk by pupils to the Wellington monument, to raise funds for a safe, clean water installation.

The walk was based on something experienced by Brian Donaldson, the former founder of the Madagacar Development Fund, when he was visiting a primary school in Betafo near Antsirabe, a five-hour drive south of the capital, Antananarivo.

He noticed that all children walking to work were carrying clearly heavy back packs and pieces of wood. When he enquired it was explained that the school was desperately short of classroom furniture, and no funds to buy them. The backpacks contained two house bricks, which combined with the planks provided something to sit on while listening to the teachers, and a makeshift desk to write on when required.

The Court Fields pupils who participated in Bob's sponsored walk also carried bricks and planks, replicating the experience of the pupils of Betafo Primary School.

When Bob retired, Debbie Greenfield took on his role as Court Fields School’s main fundraiser.

Polly Matthews, headteacher at Court Fields said: "It's fantastic that our school has such a long-standing relationship with the community in Madagascar to support communities that, despite their best efforts to help themselves, are in desperate need of support.”

Brian Donaldson, founder and patron of the Madagascar Development Fund, in a recent update on projects funded by Court Fields School's fundraising, said: "Madagascar has seen significant social unrest and political conflict since 2009.

“Hopes for a better future were raised when a new president was elected in December 2018 and re-elected in 2024. However, a recent report by the World Bank stated that 81 per cent of the population of 31 million people are still living in extreme poverty, on incomes of less than $2 per day.

“Furthermore, according to a report by the United Nations Development Programme, (UNDP) Madagascar is the third poorest nation in the world in terms of food insecurity and school attendance, behind only Haiti and Afghanistan.”

Mrs Matthews added: "As part of our Court Fields Experience personal development programme and our subject curriculum, for example in World Views and Geography, our students learn about those less fortunate than themselves and support fundraising for charities locally, nationally and internationally.

“Raising money in our Madagascar Week for community projects enabling children to have clean water, sanitation and classrooms in which to learn safely, provide an opportunity for them to learn about the world and provide vital support.

“Thank you to everyone who contributed to this year's Madagascar Week events."