Cadets help the heroes

Cadets raising money for Help for Heroes with Waterloo Road stars William Ash and Ben Davies

Groups of Hopwood Hall Cadets have taken part in a variety of fundraising activities to raise money for Help for Heroes.

After coming up different fundraising plans, the first and second years came up with some creative ideas; they turned the activity into a friendly competition, each group wanting to raise more than the other.

The first years undertook a simple yet effective idea to bag pack at Tesco in Rochdale. On Monday morning, the 12 students donned their uniforms and collection buckets at Tesco; they spent three hours working hard to collect as much money as possible. They really enjoyed the day, especially engaging with various people from the local community. Initially, they thought they had raised £140 maximum. At the end of the day, they were very shocked to realise that they had raised £500.

After hearing this, tutor Craig Harrison’s second years were quite worried that they would be unable to surpass this total…

…however, one of the second year students Khizer Mohammed looked a little less worried than his class mates as he had a little surprise for his fellow peers. He had previously written to Warburton’s Bakery and secured an unspecified donation for sponsorship to make their task easier.

Michelle Green their Curriculum Manager also helped the cause by acquiring two local celebrities to sign autographs for a charity donation session. Local celebrities Ben Davies and Will Ash appeared in front of a hoard of Waterloo Road fans, eager for a picture and autograph. Several of the second year cadets stood guard and kept order after fans queued for a glimpse of the pair.

Whilst this was being done, a sponge event was happening just outside the main entrance of the College. A selection of Hopwood Hall staff including Principal Derek O’Toole, plucked up the courage to be sponged by students in the name of charity. Students could either throw sponges or dig deeper into their pockets to be allowed to completely soak the selected staff member with a bucket of water.

Big crowds were drawn to both events with many generous donations.

A spokesperson for the college, said: “The day was a great success and after the counting was done, all cadets were delighted to have raised £1100 for such a worthy cause.”