Spread the Warmth!

Earlier this month on Thursday 3^rd December, ALRA South 2nd Year Students staged a joyous and inspiring event in the Great Hall for local community groups. Spread the Warmth was a project undertaken by this whole year group and, as you can see from our photos, it was a big success - with singing, dancing, comedy, music, mulled wine, cups of tea and cakes by the hundreds!

Elderly Wandsworth residents and members of local organisations including the Katherine Low Settlement in Battersea joined students and staff for an afternoon of seasonal celebration which left everybody feeling inspired and ready for the Christmas holiday. The Great Hall made the perfect setting with lights, Christmas trees and specially made bunting donated by one of the student’s parents. It’s not every day the students get to dance a conga around decorated banqueting tables!

Our wonderful choir leader and singing teacher, Holly Aisbitt, came in especially to lead the choir and accompany the singing.

The students had spent the second part of the term raising funds through bakes sales, an online donation account and by personal visits to shops and businesses where they charmed their way into the receipt of impressive raffle prizes and donations. In total they had raised several hundred pounds. This meant that they could offer the Spread the Warmth event free of charge to our special guests – many of whom have personal stories about and emotive memories of the Royal Victoria Patriotic Building during its fascinating history which could be the basis for a movie. Some of our guests have even offered to come back next year and be part of the entertainment, so we very much hope we can make this an annual event.

Pictured here are members of the Second Year group as well as other students and faculty with our guests as they ate, drank, danced, talked and sang together for several hours. ALRA’s students were impeccable hosts from start to finish and made every effort to make the event as comfortable, seasonal, happy and spectacular as possible.

We would like to send our thanks to everyone who attended and a huge congratulations to the student organisers and those who helped make the event such a success.

We would like to take this opportunity to wish all of our students, supporters and Alumni a very happy Christmas and a wonderful, happy and successful New Year for 2016.