FOUR schools raised more than £150,000 during a second ever ‘Giving Day’.

RGS Worcester, RGS The Grange, RGS Springfield and RGS Dodderhill came together for 36 hours of fundraising which will have a positive impact in the community.

Pupils of all ages took part in several challenges over the two days last month with the 1291 Food Bank Challenge being one of the most popular.

RGS Worcester is reputedly the sixth oldest school in the world and its first written history dates back to 1291.

Accordingly, pupils were challenged to collect 1,291 items for the local food banks and the response from RGS pupils and their families was “remarkable”.

More than 2,200 items, equating to 805kg of supplies, were donated and delivered by pupils in Worcester and Droitwich.

Over the giving day, pupils also embarked on several fun activities in school to raise funds, including wearing their loudest and proudest green outfits to represent the school’s colour, completing whole school conga lines and taking part in 21.5 minutes, 1,291 seconds, of aerobics and dance.

John Pitt, executive headmaster of the RGS Worcester Family of Schools, said: “We instil a culture of giving back in all our pupils and helping those in our community is embedded in the RGS ethos.

“We all came together for our giving day which was great fun and engaged all of the RGS community — pupils, alumni, parents, staff and friends of the school.

“The response to the food bank challenge was extraordinary and really quite overwhelming.

“In addition, to see the support given for bursaries, to make sure children who live in Worcestershire can join our schools in the future, was incredibly impressive and moving, especially in the current challenging economic climate.

“We also really enjoyed reading so many positive comments about our four schools by members of the RGS community during the Giving Day.

“Thank you to everyone involved for your incredible support.”

House captains and members of the charity committee delivered the items collected for the food bank.

They enjoyed a tour of the food bank and found out more about how the donations will be used to help those in need locally.

With support and donations from former pupils, parents, staff and friends of RGS, over £150,000 was raised.

These funds will be used by the school’s foundation charity and enable young people from the Worcestershire community to join RGS with bursary awards.

The awards ensure that young people whose families are unable to afford the fees can join the school.

RGS currently has over 100 pupils in receipt of financial assistance with a long-term vision that by 2041, coinciding with the school’s 750th anniversary, at least one in four pupils will be in receipt of support.

Scott MacDonald, foundation director, said: “Thank you to everyone across the RGS community for your support — it really does make a difference and makes all the hard work worthwhile.

“We had a great day while also raising significant support for the food bank and for our bursary awards which will make a difference to local people now and in the future.”