Social Enterprise in Action for Quaker Week

Members of the Social Enterprise Club and animal-lovers from the school’s boarding community travelled to Hurst, Berkshire, on Saturday 4^th October to present the Diana Brimblecombe Animal Rescue Centre with a cheque for £500! Marking the end of Quaker Week 2025 the group exhibited their Quaker values in action and illustrated this year’s theme of ‘Love Thy Neighbour’, providing both financial support and plenty of adoring cuddles with the abandoned pets.

The Animal Rescue Centre was selected by the 2024-25 Social Enterprise group to receive hundreds of pounds of profit generated by their activities between January and June 2025. They undertook icecream and cookie sales, provided refreshments for the staff vs students hockey match, delivered roses and notes for Valentine’s Day and sold Mental Health Goody Bags.

Co-curricular club organiser and Business teacher, Sarah Owen, reflected: “Social Enterprise is a fantastic club that brings together students and develops their entrepreneurial skills. It is entirely student-led and the group dynamic helps them to work collaboratively to plan, prepare and organise events with all the proceeds going to charity. It’s an invaluable experience as they learn to work as a team and to understand the logistics of running a business. Making money is really a bonus, not the main focus of the club; we give the money to charity as that is a more Quakerly approach.”

Each year a new charity is chosen by the Social Enterprise Club members with the only stipulation being that it is small and local. The choice of charity has to be fully researched by students to ensure the charity is still active and performing a valuable role in society by checking with the Charities Commission.

The Diana Brimblecombe Animal Rescue Centre was founded over 50 years ago. For a large part of that time animals rescued by the charity were kept at the home of Mrs Brimblecombe, who was awarded the MBE in 2001 for services to animal rescue. Over the years, thousands of unwanted, stray and neglected animals, have been looked after and rehomed and the charity has been on a 13-acre site with purpose-built accommodation since 2003 and our students were delighted to be able to engage with some of the current furred and feathered guests at the weekend!