College Community

Community is at the heart of Cheltenham College. It is a part of life at every level from individual House activities through to whole College initiatives.

Our pupils are involved in all aspects of our community activities, helping to nurture an instinctive spirit of philanthropy and foster a strong sense of the importance of community within them. Their involvement raises their awareness of real-life issues locally, nationally and internationally. It also provides experiences that are invaluable during applications to Higher Education and entry into the world of work.

We divide our work into three strands:

• Partnership Projects
• Charity Links
• Community Action

You can find out more about each of them below. You can also find out more about supporting Cheltenham College as a friend, parent or Old Cheltonian.

Partnership Projects

We are involved in a varied and dynamic programme of partnership initiatives both locally and internationally. We have formal partnerships with two local schools.

• Cheltenham Prep partners with Saint John’s Church of England Primary School. Our partnership includes making our facilities and resources such as our swimming pool, our transport and our after-school clubs available to Saint John’s pupils.
• Cheltenham College partners with All Saints’ Academy Cheltenham. Our partnership sees us supporting All Saints’ pupils with Higher Education preparation and respective Heads of Department sharing best practice.

We also have other partnerships with local schools including the Battledown Centre in Cheltenham, Gloucester Road Primary School in Cheltenham, Gotherington Primary School in Cheltenham, The Milestone School in Gloucester and National Star College in Ullenwood.

We also support Gogar Primary School in Rongai, Kenya, Bradet Residential Home and School for Children and Young People with Special Needs in Bradet, Romania, Shamrock School Nepal in Pokhara, Nepal and the Langa Township Pre-School Trust, which supports the work of pre-schools in the Langa Township of Cape Town, South Africa.

For more information on all of our partnerships, download our educational partnerships booklet ‘Together’ at the link below.

To view the very special video created for our work in Bradet, see below.

Charity Links

Charitable giving is an important part of life at College and our pupils are an integral part of the work we do. As well as College-wide initiatives, each House chooses a charity to support each year, as does the Prefect body.

We encourage our pupils to generate their own ideas to support their chosen charities and to deliver projects and events themselves. In this way, pupils have raised funds for good causes in the past year through events as varied as a whole school walk and a comedy night. In the past year, Cheltenham College raised over £58,000 for various charities, with over £31,000 going to the Prefects’ chosen charity Teenage Cancer Trust.

For more information on all of our Charity and Community Action work, download our booklet ‘Together – Charity and Community Action’.

Community Action

Cheltenham College is proud to support the local Cheltenham community of which it is part. We encourage our pupils to see themselves as part of this wider community as well as our College community.

Their involvement in these activities not only helps our pupils to make a difference in their local community but also develops the virtue of voluntary service and an awareness of communities of disadvantage, deprivation and disability. It builds valuable life skills that supports pupils’ Higher Education applications and entry into the world of work.

We provide volunteering opportunities under the main headings of care homes, charity shops, schools and children care centres. In the past year, our pupils have contributed their time and skills to:

• Charity shops including Age UK, Daisychain Benevolent Fund and Longfield
• Local community amenities including Sandford Park, Cheltenham General Hospital and Cleeve Common
• Care homes including Abbeyfield, Windsor Street Care Centre, Thirlestaine Park Care Home, Bay Tree Court Care Centre, Charlton Kings Care Home and Faithfull House
• Local youth groups including Tewkesbury Baptist Church and Holy Trinity Tewkesbury
• Charities including The Chamwell Centre and the Momentum mentoring scheme that matches the talent of Academy school leavers with the opportunities provided by private school alumni networks.

For more information on all of our Charity and Community Action work, download our booklet ‘Together – Charity and Community Action’ below.