Royal Wootton Bassett Academy students collect more than a tonne of food for those in need

Students at Royal Wootton Bassett Academy took inspiration from Captain Tom Moore’s community challenge this year, as the school houses competed to collect the most donations for a local foodbank – and handed over more than a tonne of goods.

Normally students collect produce as part of their annual harvest festival, and Year 10 students then deliver the food to vulnerable members of the local community. When Covid-19 made this impossible this autumn, Head of House Daniel Webb changed the donation process into a challenge to all five houses to collect the most food they could.

“Our harvest collection and delivery is one of the highlights of the school house calendar, so we didn’t want to scrap the idea altogether,” said Mr Webb.

“So we decided to donate food to a local food bank instead. The volunteers there have been brilliant. They sent us a list of what we needed, and collected the food and quarantined it so it was Covid-safe before distributing to the people who are most in need.

“In the spirit of the Tom Moore community challenge that we ran last school year we turned the donation process into a challenge. Houses would receive points for collecting the most food across each year groups, and to ensure we kept up the momentum the challenge got reset at the start of each week. This has meant that we have seen different houses winning each week in each year group and a good spread of points across all houses.

“Challenges included designing a basket for produce, designing a medal and designing a board that will go on display as a legacy of the harvest festival for 2020.”

Helen Gerrish, chair of trustees for the Swindon Food Collective said the students at Royal Wootton Bassett Academy, which is part of the Royal Wootton Bassett Academy Trust, had done an excellent job of collecting and donating a wide range of essentials for local vulnerable people. The total weight of goods was 1041 kilos.

“This year more than ever we need to be able to distribute essential foods and toiletries to vulnerable people in our community, and the Royal Wootton Bassett Academy students have done their school and the community proud,” said Helen.

“We are very grateful for their compassion and determination to help those who need some extra support at the moment, and we know the people who receive these provisions will feel the same way.”