Support Lemuel Findlay Supplementary School!
UPDATE (October 2021):
To all of our supporters,
It is with great sadness and heavy hearts that we write to inform you that our dear colleague and family member Cherryl Ann Blair passed away on Saturday 2nd October 2021. We extend our deepest condolences to all of her family and friends.
Our School was shocked and deeply saddened to hear of Cherryl’s Passing. Cherryl was a School Trustee, Management Committee member and the School’s Treasurer for over 30 years. In 1989, she left Guyana to join her husband Simba in the UK and she worked ardently as a volunteer for the School ever since. She remained committed to supporting our parents, children, teachers and volunteers.
Cherryl contributed to setting up this campaign and stayed optimistic about the School’s ability to keep going during challenging times. In lieu of flowers, Cherryl’s family have asked that well-wishers continue to make donations to the School in Cherryl’s memory.
We would like to say a massive thank you again to everyone that has donated to the School so far, including Cherryl’s family and friends for their recent contributions.
Cherryl’s loving presence, warmth and radiant smile brought joy to our Saturday mornings and touched everyone who knew her. We will continue to celebrate her life and keep her legacy of love alive.
With thanks,
LFSS Management Committee
-----
SUPPORT ONE OF LONDON'S OLDEST BLACK SUPPLEMENTARY SCHOOLS
Who we are
Lemuel Findlay Supplementary School (LFSS) (Registered Charity No. 1031507) is an award-winning Saturday School, known locally for providing the best supplementary education for African-Caribbean children aged 5-16 in Tottenham and surrounding areas. The School’s main objective is to help children and young people of African and Caribbean heritage to achieve their full potential. Through our extra tuition and cultural activities, we aim to build our students’ self-esteem and prepare them for future success.
Since 1974, we have supported the education of thousands of Black children in Tottenham. Our school was one of many Black supplementary schools founded by concerned parents and teachers during the Black Education Movement of the 1970s. Today, our dedicated team of teachers and volunteers continue to run classes every Saturday morning during term time at the College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London (CONEL).
What we do
We provide a positive, safe and supportive learning environment to encourage our students’ personal growth and academic excellence. Our team of qualified Black teachers provide lessons in English, Maths, Science and African history. We run extracurricular projects and go on school trips to provide opportunities for learning outside the classroom about heritage and different careers. Most recently, our secondary students took part in a project now on display at the Dub London exhibition at the Museum of London.
Why we do it
Black children and young people are still facing racism in education. A recent report by the Haringey Education Partnership revealed that despite recent improvements in educational outcomes for Haringey schools, the attainment gap at GCSE between White British and ‘BAME’ groups in Haringey is the biggest in the country. Black Caribbean children are most affected and Black boys have the lowest attainment of all ethnic and gender groups in the borough.
We need your help .
We are facing some of the biggest challenges in our school’s history.
Our financial resources are increasingly under strain. We are entirely self-financed and all of our income comes from students’ fees and community donations. In 2016, the council discontinued our annual grant and we have not received funding from any major organisation since then. We successfully raised funds at our 45th Anniversary celebration last year, but we need to raise more to keep going. We want to keep fees low to ensure children from all households can benefit from what we offer.
We are concerned about the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the education of Black children. School closures, job losses, and the shift to virtual learning has disrupted learning and many of our students have been unable to return to Saturday School as parents reassess their financial priorities. Many parents would still like extra support for their children to catch up on missed learning, in-person or remotely. But we recently found out that two-thirds of our secondary students do not have access to their own laptop or tablet for learning at home. We want to provide opportunities for students to attend Saturday School remotely.
Where will the money go?
We are asking for donations and for support in raising awareness about our school.
The more donations we receive, the more children we can support.
· £5: Essential PPE for staff and students – hand sanitisers and face masks
· £10: A reading book by a Black author for our ‘library’ for students
· £20: Exercise books and stationery for one class for a year
· £50: A half-term of fees for a student from a family facing financial hardship
· £100: A tablet for a child to access online Saturday School tuition from home
· £300: An LFSS Scholarship place for free extra tuition for a year
We would like to see foundations and businesses in Tottenham and beyond making donations and supporting us by providing stationery, tablets and laptops to give more children the opportunity to access to remote learning.
We are committed to transparency and we’ll provide you with updates on how your donations are helping our school.
How can I support LFSS?
DONATE: Click Donate now to make a donation, big or small.
SHARE: Share this page with friends and family online.
Use the hashtags #SupportBlackSaturdaySchools and #DonateToLFSS
FOLLOW: Like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter (@lfss1974) to help us build our online presence :)
To find out more about LFSS, visit our website at www.lfss.org.uk
We truly appreciate any and all of your support in what is a challenging time for everyone.
Thank you!
Lemuel Findlay Supplementary School (LFSS)
