In our school there is a charities committee, the committee is linked with the Rotary Club. We support three charities, one international and two local;

• Red International
• Cash 4 Kids
• Kayleigh’s Wee Stars

Red International work with carefully selected implementing partners whose focus is specifically on relief, education and development projects in particular countries and regions. Northfield Academy sponsors two Indian children (a boy and girl) who are living in poverty, we are raising money to ensure they get a better education.

Cash 4 Kids responds to the needs of children in our communities so they can live life to the full and realise their individual potential.

Kayleigh’s Wee Stars is a charity based in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.  Kayleigh’s Wee Stars was established to provide financial support for families where a child has a terminal illness.

The committee is arranging many different events in order to raise money for these charities. Some of these events include and India night to raise money for Red International, a football match with Balfour Beatty to raise money for Cash 4 Kids and a sponsored leg wax in school to raise money for Kayleigh’s Wee Stars.

Valentin Gruener, a 27 year old man from Germany rescued and raised a young lion cub by himself in a wildlife park in Botswana. Gruenur says that since Sirga, the lion cub, arrived he basically hasn’t left the camp. The pair spend their time hanging out in the Botswana bush, together they do the kind of things that big cats enjoy, such as hunting, play-fighting and  chilling under trees. Gruenur says he was unsure of Sirga after her first kill, however she ‘allowed him to come in’.

Willy de Graaf has gave Gruener 500 hectares (two square miles) to create a “miniature park” for Sirga to roam freely, but she will not be released into the wild. They will not release Sirga back into the wild not because she would not survive but because she has lost her fear for humans. In the park Sirga can roam like a wild lion but she will remain safe.

Gruener put aside his work on a PhD while he was raising Sirga, and has hardly ever left her alone. He says he will possibly return to his work once Sirga has a bigger closure and more space, and possibly another lion companion. Gruener says Sirga is his priority and as long as she needs him, he’ll be there for her. Gruenur says nothing will ever change between him and Sirga.