CRANLEIGH SCHOOL - NORTH HOUSE CHARITY DAY 2007

The charity day commenced at 6am in the morning as the entire house woke with a real excitement about the day to come and the challenge which lay ahead of us. A quick breakfast was served in the house room, and the L6th team leaders gathered their teams ready for the first event.

For me personally, I was in charge of the team responsible for covering the distance to the top of mt. Denali of North America, and we started the day with the sledging event. This involved pulling tyres via a harness around your waist, around a 500m circuit. Our team was given a distance of 4km to cover per person, and we quickly set about this challenge with real enthusiasm (which by the 6th lap, was quickly overcome by a feeling of pure exhaustion). However, despite the gruelling weather, are team completed this event with 3 minutes to spare, thanks to a final dash for the finish line.

We then moved straight onto the climbing event, where we were set the challenge of climbing the steps to the front of the school, 78 times per person. The entire team rallied together to achieve this total and even extra distances had to be done due to the absence of a team member, including outstanding efforts by Dom “scuba Steve” Townsend and Bobby “the machine” Hardwick. This meant that the distance was covered in about 20 minutes, and a real sense of team effort and achievement was felt by everyone.

Yet again the team were feeling exhausted, but had to move straight onto the cycling event, whereby the target distances were about 22km per person (or 22 laps around the school grounds). After all the team members had completed this distance, we were finally scheduled for a break and took a well deserved brunch with the rest of the house, all of whom were feeling absolutely exhausted, with Mr. “Dorris” Haynes and Mr. “Molly” Burnett, acting as the house lunch ladies.

After the brunch break, all teams got back into action, and although the rain was still pouring down, my team was tasked with a nice “leisurely” 19km run around the sports pitches. The inspirational figures of team Denali 6th form such as Dom Townsend, Bobby Hardwick and Dom Marcar really led from the front and a junior member was quoted to be “awestruck” by their team spirit and determination.

The final event of the day was the team swim, which really was quite a nice finish to the day, as only 15-20 lengths were required from each team member. This event was completed with plenty of time to spare, and the team had, in a way, reached the peak of the mountain. The entire house then assembled back in the house room for bbq’ed beacon butties (even though it was still raining) and relaxation.


The day was a thorough success, and not only had the house raised a significant amount of money for the Karibuni trust, but the charity day had united us together as a house and true grit, determination and team spirit was shown throughout the day by the entire house. Special thanks also goes to Mrs. G for bringing in the breakfast and helping out with the events, Mr. Burnett for organising the day, and Mr. Haynes and the North House tutor team for overseeing the events.

Dom Marcar - Cranleigh School