Over drinks and some spectacular cakes, guests were welcomed by our new Head James Jones. After a presentation summarising the year’s fundraising from Sarah and Rachele in the development team, guests also heard from current students on the impact their gifts had made in School.

In the first instance Sarah shared an overview of this year’s donations and then moved onto the outlook for our year ahead.

This year has seen the School receive just over £500,000 in donations (inclusive of gift aid). 71 % of this came directly from the School Trusts, 14% from Old Scholars and Sidcotians, 4% from current parents, relatives and staff, 3% from past parents, relatives and staff and 8% from grants and charitable organisations. 

We were immensely grateful to the students who spoke at the event this year. Esme, who joined Sidcot in September 2023 in the Third Form, spoke eloquently about her excitement of performing experiments in the new Science labs. Her fellow Sixth Form students Fanny and Sofia, both Scientists at IB level, spoke of how thankful they were for the transformation in Science, explaining how the new spaces have enabled them to experience a more efficient workflow for their experiments and commenting that the space was comparable to studying Science at university or on a professional level. There was also some nostalgia amongst the audience, for the experiment scars on the ceilings and for the old graffiti that they may have even been responsible for!  Overall, the general consensus was that the new labs were very much needed and are certainly appreciated by all who are currently studying and teaching in them.    

Sarah spoke about the impact and importance of Sidcot bursaries. Currently 10% of students at Sidcot are supported by means-tested bursaries. Over the last decade the Sidcot Bursary Trust has supported over 65 students, who have all gone on to work in a range of industries. We expect there to be an increasing demand for bursarial support in the coming years with predicted changes to the VAT-exempt status of independent schools, so this is where our development focus will be in the coming years. Bursary recipients Joshua and Jasmine (Lower Sixth) kindly shared their experience of receiving a bursary with our donors. They are both a real credit to Sidcot and are certainly making the most of all the experiences their Sidcot education offers them. You can view the video here. 

For 2023 and 2024, revitalising our Science labs was the main focus for the development team. In total we raised £366,783 (excluding gift aid) as part of our ‘Be in Your Element’ campaign. We are really grateful to everyone who supported this important investment in our STEM provision. For more details on this campaign, follow this link. Our thanks especially go to the Sidcot Education Trust for dedicating a large proportion of a significant legacy from Dorothy Thomson (S: 1936 – 1943) and to Roger Croker (S: 1948 – 1954) for their considerable donation towards the fabric of the Physics laboratory.  

Sarah thanked the three Sidcot Trusts - the Sidcot Building Trust Fund (SBTF), Sidcot Education Trust and Sidcot Bursary Trust - for their ongoing support. Thanks also to Wiz Marks (S: 1961 – 1968) for updating everyone on the work of SBTF. If you would like more details on the Sidcot Trusts and how to support them, please follow the links above to our website for more detailed accounts and donation options. 

The majority of our guests took the opportunity to tour the School to see for themselves the impact recent developments have had for current and future students.  Before touring the newly renovated Science Labs and quad area guests also heard about our community outreach projects. Sidcot works closely with our local multi-academy trust (MAT) partner ELAN’s primary schools to provide educational experiences and opportunities across multiple disciplines throughout the School.

Thanks to a generous parent donation and educational grant, we have also run an art project with Arcadia and Weston College this year, with the final outcome displayed at this year’s Glastonbury Festival.​ We hope to continue this relationship moving forward. 

Following the tour, guests were able to enjoy lunch in the refectory and cake in the library while mingling and exchanging memories of School. 

Our Donor Report outlining our fundraising and outreach programmes across 2023/2024 was also distributed. An electronic copy can be read on this link: Donor Report 2024  and is also available in hard copy format on request to development@sidcot.org.uk. 

We would like to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who came to the event, and of course to those generous philanthropic supporters either of our three Sidcot Trusts, or directly to the School, whose gifts make such a difference to our students' and staff members' experiences.