Friends of Pinewood

The Friends of Pinewood are a group of parents and staff, who organise fundraising events for pupils, parents and the extended Pinewood community. As well as raising money for the school and local charities, the events we hold bring people together in a fun, relaxed and social environment.

At present we hold two events in the Autumn Term: the ever popular Bonfire Night and the excellent Christmas Fair (when we operate our own Bistro in the school dining room); in the Spring Term we organise the fiercely contested Quiz Night and in the Summer Term we end the school year with our wonderful Summer Evening.

The money that the Friends of Pinewood raises for the school is put into projects that the school would not normally have been able to fund, such as the Assault Course, the Pre-Prep Outdoor Classroom and Multi-Sensory Garden, the choir robes and interactive screens for the Lower School and Pre-Prep as well as a number of other smaller requests, such as bean bags for the boarders’ common room and make up for school plays. 

More recently the Friends of Pinewood have made a significant contribution to the provision of match kit to all pupils in the Prep School; provided sporting photographs to brighten up the walls of the new changing block, and paid for a number of quarter and half size cellos for the music departmen, which hopes to offer free trial lessons in a variety of instruments.

In the year 2006/07, thanks to the generosity of Pinewood families, we were able to donate around £3000 to charity, including donations to the Thomas Waley-Cohen Fund and Fitzwarren House (a local care home).  In 2007/08 we donated £1000 to the Riding for the Disabled Association (through paralympian Anne Dunham) and most recently in 2008/9 we donated £1500 to the Swindon Food Bank.  Through the Pre-Prep and the World Vision charity we continue to support Fatmata, a young girl from Niger and sponsor endangered animals at the Cotswold Wildlife Park.  At the end of the Summer Term, we were pleased to be able to support the newly founded George Bailey Trust, by providing refreshments for the Year 8 sponsored bike ride, and at the beginning of the Autumn term, presented them with a cheque for £500.

As a committee, we have a lot of fun and are always looking for new members or helpers. If you think you would be interested in joining the Friends of Pinewood please speak to Ali Foxell, Katharine Hipwell or Henrietta Hoyland.

2010 Diary Dates

Christmas Fair - Saturday 4th December

Latest News

In March we held another collection for the Swindon Food Bank and managed to collect 99.1kg food, which equates to 117 meals for local people in crisis.

Friends of Pinewood were delighted to be able to donate £2,000 to the Wiltshire Air Ambulance Appeal.

Bonfire Night 2009