Oundle School welcomes inspirational speakers.

  • 11 years ago
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Over the course of the School’s Community Action Field Weekend in mid-September, Oundle pupils were privileged to hear from a series of inspirational speakers.

Barbara Coulson, a Trustee of Rutland CAB and Director of The Peter Le Marchant Trust spoke on the subject of volunteering. Barbara talked about the work of both organisations and also interviewed Oundle School’s German teacher, Jens Rohrborn who was an Olympic Gamesmaker.

Jens commented, “It was sheer luck that after filling in a lengthy application form and being interviewed, that I was chosen to join the Events Services Team at the Olympic Stadium itself which meant that my job was not only very easy (either to usher people to their seats or scanning tickets on arrival) but this also enabled me to watch most of the athletics events live in the Stadium. On top of that I was also in the lucky position to work the sought after opening and closing ceremonies shifts.

This has been undoubtedly a once in a life time experience and the buzz generated from the audience and from my fellow Games Makers was amazing. It was so overwhelming to hear 80,000 go wild for the first time when Jessica Ennis stepped onto the track on the first morning of the athletics programme – not knowing then that this would be repeated each time a member of team GB appeared.”

Sixth formers, Molly Clayton and Alex Fordy talked about their volunteering experience in Ecuador over the summer.

Molly commented, “We helped out in a section of secondary rainforest that was only six years old and used to be land for grazing cattle. Split into four groups, we all swapped around so that we could have a go at each section. One of the sections was the path: there was an already existing path that was narrow and in most places completely over grown. We widened it, got rid of the rocks making it uneven and removed all the weeds, plants and even trees that got in the way.

We also dug a hole for compost and found seeds on the forest floors and planted them into little bags filled with a mixture of manure, soil and sand. Whilst there we did some work in the already established forest: armed with rough maps, machetes and spades we planted young trees to replace those that had died.

The final speaker, former pupil, Alex Smith, who left the School in 1993, came back to Oundle to talk to the pupils about Harrison’s Fund. Alex’s son, Harrison (a charming and cheeky six-year-old boy) was born with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Harrison was not diagnosed until January 2011, when he went to the doctors for a routine check-up.

One blood test that would change everything in Harrisons parents lives. From an early age Harrison had been falling over frequently, often hitting his head, unable to save himself from injury. “We knew something was up” Alex told the pupils. Nevertheless, Harrison’s diagnosis came as a shock to Alex and his family… “I remember it like it was yesterday. It leaves you numb…”

“The doctor said we were going to have to watch our son waste away.” Alex explained “but I was determined to prove him wrong.”

Duchenne is a fatal genetic condition. It is a muscular disease whereby the muscles cannot heal and repair themselves, which leads to them slowly degenerating. Although steroids are given to Duchenne sufferers which can help keep them ambulant for longer, there is currently no cure for the disease. Nevertheless, Alex decided not to give up, and set about changing this state of affairs. He set up Harrison’s Fund, a charity that aims to promote awareness of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and find an effective treatment and cure.

Anyone wanting to help Alex to ‘Make Time’ for his son, please visit his twitter page (@HarrisonsFund), visit the website at www.harrisonsfund.com or come up with your own fund-raising ideas for Harrison’s Fund and get in touch at info@harrisonsfund.com

Pictures show:

• German teacher, Jens Rohrborn as a GamesMaker in the Olympic stadium
• Barbie Coulson (Trustee of The Peter Le Marchant Trust) with Oundle pupils
• Former pupil Alex Smith (Founder of Harrison's Trust) with Oundle pupils
• Pupils in Ecuador with the "finished path"

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