Abingdon News No. 57

22 April 2021 At 10am on 3 February our inaugural Giving Day went live and what followed was 30 hours of activities, videos, testimonials, energy, intrepidation and giving! Our social media platforms were awash with ‘150’-themed activities which brought the worldwide Abingdon community together to raise money for our bursary programme. As Abingdon slept our international community came to life with Nick Drake (OA 1993) surfing 150 metres in Malibu. Activities in Abingdon were a bit less glamorous but great fun and included over 60 pupils making breakfast omelettes in less than 150 seconds with Pete Bignell, Director of Sport. Mr McDonnell, Mr Golding, Mr Birkbeck and Mr Davies cycled 150km in their bubble peloton and Mike Windsor, Headmaster, rung the school bell 63 times with Adam Jenkins, Head of Lower School, topping it up to 150. Even though the school campus was closed the whole community came together and kept the energy going for 30 hours. £148,000 was donated in support of bursaries by 445 people across our Abingdon community. These vital funds have enabled us to offer more bursary places from September 2021, giving the opportunity of an Abingdon education to more pupils who we believe will thrive here and contribute to the ethos of Abingdon School. Thank you to everyone who took part. Abingdon Development The 1563 Society Celebrating the first two years This month marks two years since the launch of Abingdon’s legacy society. Since its inception in 2019 we have welcomed over 50 members who have informed us that they have chosen to remember Abingdon in their will. Recent legacy gifts have contributed to various areas of school life, and are fundamental to our future. The 1563 Society meets regularly, albeit remotely during the last year, to reminisce, make new Abingdon friends and socialise with other members and their families. In our 150th year on this site by Albert Park, we have set ourselves a target to increase our membership to 150. If you would like to learn more about joining our legacy society, our Development Manager, Harriet Alderman, would be delighted to talk to you. You can reach her by email at: [email protected] or by telephone on 07918 746679 Abingdon 150 Giving Day