On Thursday 30^th October, The Grove Independent School in Milton Keynes presented a cheque for £5099.91 to Brian Carlin, CEO of Aspire, a national charity that provides practical help to people who have been paralysed by Spinal Cord Injury.

The school has raised the money over the last two years through a series of weird and wonderful events; from dog walks and chess tournaments to cake sales and even sponsoring a teacher not to tell any of his famously bad jokes for a day!

To help the children understand how the money they raised would help people, Brian Carlin previously visited the school with Maz, a tenant from one of the Aspire Houses, who came with her assistance dog.  Maz explained the difference that the Aspire House she lives in has made to her life while she waits for a permanent, accessible home.

Principal Deborah Berkin said: “I am extremely proud of all the staff, pupils and parents who have worked hard to raise over £5,000 for Aspire.  The Grove is very proud of achieving outstanding academic results but we also place great importance in supporting our pupils to develop wide ranging life skills and social responsibility.  We chose Aspire as our charity because of the importance of the work they do in helping people who have been paralysed by Spinal Cord Injury.  They have a fully accessible property to support people in our local community, and our pupils were fortunate to visit one of these properties to see for themselves the difference it can make”.

Brian Carlin, CEO of Aspire, said: “We would like to thank everyone at The Grove Independent School who has supported Aspire.  It is inspiring to see the pupils, their parents and the teaching staff show such a keen interest in the work that Aspire does and the imaginative way in which they came up with ways to raise the funds.  Every eight hours someone in the UK is paralysed by a spinal cord injury.  The funds raised by the school will be put to good use in helping spinal cord injured people move from injury to independence.”

To find out more about The Grove Independent School:  www.groveindependentschool.co.uk