Lent is a time where many people give up one luxury item they enjoy, such as chocolate, alcohol and sweets. This period spans across 40 days and 6 Sundays from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday. For those of the Catholic faith, Lent is a very important time in their religious calendar, as they are preparing for the resurrection of Christ.  However, when people think of Lent they rarely think of giving to others, they are focused on the sacrifices they are making for this time, and Ursuline High School in Wimbledon are trying to combat this way of thinking this Lent.

For the weeks leading up to Lent, Ursuline High school has a serious of activities, each changing weekly to give to those in need this Lent. These activities range from a small daily task such as smiling at someone or having a conversation with someone shy or larger tasks affecting those in and out of our local community.  In the second week of Lent each ear group from years 7-13 was asked to bring in a notebook for women in Sudan to be able to study, in total the school collected 332 notebooks.

In week three each year group was asked to bring in a different item to give to the local food bank in Wimbledon; Year 7 was asked to bring in coffee, Year 8 brought canned tomatoes, Year 9 had canned meat, Year 10 collected sugar, Year 11 had canned potatoes, Year 12 brought in long life milk and finally Year 13 collected squash. The Chaplin of Ursuline High School told me that “during Lent Catholics are asked to do four things; pray, fast, give to others and the ask for forgiveness. This year we tried as a school to do all these things, so by giving to food banks and collecting the notebook, we have given to others.”

So, whether you are participating in Lent this year by giving up an item you enjoy, try and give this Lent in order to further your faith, or if you’re not religious to help those in our community that need it this Lent.

Morgan Grover 

Ursuline High School