Cumnor House Sussex raises over £25,000 for Home-Start Crawley, Horsham & Mid-Sussex

Christmas at Cumnor is an incredibly special time when the strength of its school community shines through. This year has been no exception with over £25,000 raised for Home-Start Crawley, Horsham and Mid-Sussex.

“2020 has been incredibly challenging in many ways and it was important to us that we could support the local community this Christmas. Home-Start CHAMS are a fantastic charity who have been working with families for 22 years, providing vital support for families with children under five, young or new parents and those facing mental health challenges, offering a lifeline to make positive change,” comments Fergus Llewellyn, the school’s new Headmaster.

This year, Cumnor’s renowned Christmas Fayre was held online in partnership with Avenue A, who created a ‘virtual marquee’. Over 50 stallholders took part with 10% of every purchase donated, not only supporting Home-Start CHAMS, but also providing vital support to local, small businesses at such a challenging time. The school also held its annual silent auction and raffle.

The children at Cumnor were central to the school’s fundraising efforts, with everyone from Nursery to Year 8 coming together on Friday 11th December for a day of festive activities including a virtual trip to Lapland powered by carrot relays to feed Rudolph, Santa welly-wanging and ‘pass the pudding’ races!

In addition to fundraising, Cumnor partnered with the Haywards Heath branch of Iceland to donate 40 food hampers along with a book, jigsaw, family game, mince pies and essential toiletries for local families who may not otherwise receive a gift this year.


“It has been without doubt one of the most challenging years to date for the entire nation,” comments a spokesperson from Iceland. “As a business we recognise how important it is to support local communities and are proud to work alongside Home-Start CHAMS in this fantastic initiative.”

The money raised by Cumnor for its chosen charity, will enable Home-Start CHAMS to provide regular individual family support through a network of trained volunteers as well as group support for new parents and young mums under 25, helping parents overcome the challenges they face and support young children’s early learning.

“We have been absolutely overwhelmed by the support of the Cumnor community,” comments Alyson Smith, Business and Fundraising Manager from Home-Start CHAMS. “In these unprecedented, challenging times, we have never needed our community’s support more. We are delighted to receive this vital help at such a difficult time for all. We have been working tirelessly to continue to offer our services to families locally and adapting our service to meet the restrictions presented by Covid-19, but there is still a lot of unmet need.”