Withington pupils are working on a number of ideas to raise funds for the relief effort following the calamitous earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Several imaginative fundraising endeavours are already in the planning stages and will soon be launched. Our girls are very affected by what has happened and it is heartening that they have spontaneously asked for approval to ‘do something'.

Another person associated with Withington who has immediately set out to help is Mrs Pickering's son Chris, whose wife Rie (neé Yoshioka) worked at WGS as a cover teacher and who ran a very popular after-school Japanese Club for Juniors and Seniors. Chris plans to run the Edinburgh Marathon at the end of May and is requesting sponsorship to raise money for Shelter Box, a UK charity who deliver emergency shelter, warmth and dignity to people affected by disasters worldwide. They have already begun a relief operation airlifting emergency-aid boxes to Japan.

Chris is aiming to complete the marathon in under 3 hours and feels it is appropriate to use it as a method of raising cash for Japan as it was when he was living there that he got into marathon running. Chris's ‘just giving' page is: http://www.justgiving.com/Chris-Pickering . All donations will go directly to Shelter Box and onward to those suffering in Japan.