My Good Deed – Mr Wrathall (CHS Teacher, Sports Science)
Mr Andy Wrathall, Head of Sports Science
Both through his role as a Head of House at CHS and following a traumatic personal experience, Mr Wrathall has devoted much of his time to raising money for charity.
I was Head of Marsh, during which time I helped to organise all the House charity events and make connections with the charities which we supported.
Students are invited to vote for the charity they’d like their House to support each year. This can be influenced by a charity which is currently supporting a member of a student’s family, or they may already volunteer their own time outside of School. During the voting, we ask students to explain their reasons for choosing a charity and this is taken in to consideration when making the final decision.
The Houses raise money throughout the year via various different events; students might hold their own cake sales or money is raised through House competitions. Proceeds from the Charity Hike are also split between the four House charities.
Each charity also has the opportunity to deliver an assembly to their particular House. This is really important; it gives them the chance to illustrate what the funds raised are spent on, making a real connection between students’ fundraising activities and the lives which benefit from it.
My own personal fundraising followed the death of my son, Timmy in 2011. Timmy was born asleep on 27th March that year; in order to create something positive out of his otherwise senseless death, my wife and I decided to raise funds for the Maternity Unit at Wythenshawe Hospital who has cared so wonderfully for us and Timmy during that heart-breaking time.
Initially, we did a sponsored hike in the Lake District, hoping to raise £5,000. We were overwhelmed by the support and generosity of our families and friends and raised over £16,000 from that one event. The money was used to purchase a state of the art blood transfusion machine for the Critical Care Unit which we have been informed has since saved lives.
Due to the phenomenal response and outcome we had, and in order to keep Timmy’s memory and legacy alive, we decided to continue with other fundraising events; since 2012, I have taken part in a Paris to London cycling challenge and run my first ever marathon. It’s been fantastic to see family and friends showing their support too, through various other events, taking the total over £25,000.
With the extra funds raised, the hospital have now also been able to purchase a telemetry monitor, allowing mothers with risk factors to use the pool on the Delivery Suite whilst monitoring the foetal heart rate, and a critical care monitor, enabling monitoring of mothers whilst being transferred to the Intensive Care Unit.
We were completely taken by surprise with the amount of support we’ve been shown by family, friends and the whole of the CHS community. From Mr Mason’s amazing map-reading skills on that first ever challenge to the unexpected donations we receive to the fund on a regular basis, sometimes from CHS students, we are truly grateful to all.