The Interact club is a prestigious and highly valued club, which encourages students to organise and participate in a range of charity and community events that help both our school and the community. Each year we work closely with Lichfield’s Rotary Club, who help mentor and sponsor us during weekly meetings that are held in school where we collaborate together to plan events throughout the academic year.  

They offer opportunities to volunteer within the community, meaning we as a school have great opportunities to work with various businesses, organisations and charities – both local and national. Some such events that we have volunteered at are: the Castle to Cathedral run and Cars In The Park; at events like these we are proud to represent the school and make connections with people in our local community.  

Alongside this, the Interact Club coordinate the yearly Shoebox Appeal donations, by collecting and boxing up items ready to send off to children in need. This year we donated the remaining boxes left over to Ukraine, and had an astounding amount of support from students in school who rallied round to donate items. In addition, we work with teachers to help collect donations for the local Harvest festival and work with the lower school to take donations to our local food banks.  

Within school, we are responsible for organising events and occasions that raise money for our chosen national charity – Guide Dogs UK. During this charity fundraising week, we led a dog agility competition for staff’s dogs, created a treasure hunt for the lower school, opened cake stalls during lunch times and visited tutor groups to spread the word about helping this specific charity. In particular, to commemorate the 90th anniversary of Guide Dogs UK, we organized a 90s dress up day within the Sixth Form which was a hit; we raised £250 for guide dogs through this event alone, which we are incredibly proud of.  Awards were given to the best and most comical costumes.  

To support our fundraising efforts please donate via the link below. 

Click here to donate

On the whole, the Rotary Club has been amazing to work with! With thanks to their donations and mentoring it has allowed us to help a whole host of people and charities this year – from individual students in school, all the way to national charities on a larger scale. Interact club is so rewarding to be a part of; it is something that every young person should aim to join if they have the opportunity to. It is a fantastic way to help the community alongside your friends and peers. Charity work in particular has been an excellent asset to add to our CVs as we progress to further education and has enabled us to grow in confidence and initiative – key skills for the wider world of work. Our horizons have been widened and we’ve loved every minute of it!  

Molly Jones, Charities Coordinator, said: ‘Being part of the Interact Club is a privilege as it allows students to have their voice heard, create impact within school and influence the culture of school life at The Friary. We now pass the mantle onto the Year 12s!’