Honour the 600!
A key event was Honour the 600, raising £16,697 for Face-Faw projects. On 21 February 2008, 170 students from all houses of the school read for 10 hours - 600 minutes - in praise of Honour, ending with a reading of the Charge of the Light Brigade, Honour the 600, by Alfred Lord Tennyson.
For 600 minutes on 21 February 2008, 170 students read in the Main Hall, an hour for each House (the order of Houses had been chosen at a draw on 12 February 2008). At 8.30am on 21 February 2008, Will Asquith (EW) was the first to read, followed by Matthew Ellis (EW), Edward Levack (EW) and Ben Pearce (EW), finishing with Izzy Cornwell (A), Aurea Kevill (A), Teresa Burnford (A), Catlin Mackellar (A) and then all present reading aloud from Alfred Lord Tennyson Honour the 600, the Charge of the Light Brigade.
During the day, readings ranged from extracts from the Iliad and the Aeneid, from Beowulf and Sir Gawain to Malory, Shakespeare, Milton and Flashman. The reading was televised to large screens in the Big Passage and in the refectory (during lunch).
Honour the 600 was organised by Patrick Garety (O) with his teams: Primary Organising Committee [POT] and Secondary Organising Committee [SOT]. The Primary Organising Committee consisted of Patrick Garety with Louisa Grew (B), Henry Hawkesworth (H), Sophie Ryan (A) and Matthew Zu (O). The Secondary Organising Committee consisted f Alice Reid (A), Claire Dawson (B) , Patrick Cudmore (C), Dominic Ramsden (D), Hewie Dalymple (EW), Charlie Foster (H), James Burnford (J), Charlotte Codrington (M), Patrick Garety (O), Alexander Entwisle (T). The organisation of the event was done through the English Department and the planning of Mr Carter and Mr Murphy.
Sponsorship for this event was for each House – in the final stages St John’s House jumped ahead with most sponsorship with £4,884, receiving generous support from parents and from former members of the House – St John’s House 50th anniversary Dinner provided sponsorship of an estimated £3,200 of this. St Edward’s-St Wilfrid’s had led for much of the time and finished second with £2622, followed as third by St Hugh’s 1548, fourth St Oswalds £1486, fifth St Dunstan’s £1328, sixth Cuthbert’s £1307, seventh St Bede’s £1239. There are much memorable generosity, and by the close of Honour the 600 on 21 April 2008, £16,697 (including tax rebates due) had been raised or promised.
Projects supported by Honour the 600 included the Francis Maria Libermann School in Zanzibar, ophans in Romania, the hungry in Zimbabwe (through the Ampleforth foundation of Christ the Word), a project called Amathuba in Natal, South Africa and the sick in Ethiopia.