Story

What have we done so far? The school we visit and support in Kolkata is part of the CRS (Cathedral Relief Service) which is served by Kolkata Cathedral and Derby Cathedral via the link between the two. The funding we generated last year was put towards the upkeep of the school building. It was completely replastered inside and out and then tiled and recarpeted. The photos show some before and after images. The tiles are the newest look. Other funding has gone towards the CRS sports' day when all the children from the 17 different supported CRS schools come together. Transport and food for all the pupils and their teachers are paid for (see photos). During the visit to Kolkata in January, and in each year the link visits take place, training is given to all the CRS teachers by the team of Derbyshire teachers. This includes 2 full days of continuing professional development and provision of resources for their schools (photos). Whilst Mrs Barnett was in Kolkata this year she bought a selection of resources for each pupil of the school using the funding we collected as a school along with dual language books for the teacher's use (see photos). A uniform is being designed and ordered for the pupls of Awaami School using the generous donations from last year. Additional funding has supported the children and their families during the COVID 19 pandemic. The CRS arranged food parcels for the families of each school (see photos of our Awaami school teacher sharing parcels). What we need to do now Kolkata then suffered from a devastating hurricane in May 2020 which flooded many areas and buildings. Some buildings were destroyed including some CRS school buildings. CRS provided relief help to those in need including distributing cooking pots and utensils (see photos of our Awaami school distribution centre along with the Bishop of Kolkata and the director of the CRS). Our school is enabling home learning for the children. The teacher is inviting the parents to come to school so that she can share learning tasks with them and they in turn share the learning with their children at home. The parents are then encouraged to send photos to the teacher demonstrating their children's achievements (see photos). Our donations are much needed now more than ever before to enable the families of our school to survive the pandemic. The link between Derby and Kolkata continues although at present future visits have been suspended due to the worldwide pandemic. The CRS relies on the generosity of its link schools and sponsors to continue the relief work it carries out throughout the year - not just the 10 day link visits which usually take place in January. We are asking all at St Andrew's to continue to support this our chosen charity at this time.