Spearheaded by the school’s Environmental Committee, students and staff took part in two separate clothing collections as part of their efforts to ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’.

One initiative was a fundraiser for the Veterans at Ease charity, which provides mental health support for ex-servicemen and women and their families in the region, and runs a charity shop in Lynn.

“Springwood High School has been supporting and working with this charity for a few years – for example, showcasing clothes on loan from their shop during the school’s annual fashion shows,” said Agnieszka Munns, Environmental Lead at Springwood, which is part of the West Norfolk Academies Trust.

“The charity shop has also displayed original designs by the school’s A Level Fashion students,” she continued.

“The Assistant Manager of Veterans at Ease, Lesley Dunn, was delighted at the generous donation from the school, and was happy to invite people to the newly refurbished and restocked community charity shop at Norfolk Street.”

Springwood’s second clothing collection took place as part of the Bags2School scheme, with staff and students from Years 7 to 11 donating their unwanted clothes to raise money for the school, as well as to support those fleeing the war in Ukraine.

The scheme, which has raised £48 million for participating schools and businesses since its launch in 1999, collects and sells unwanted textiles to importers across Eastern and Western Europe, Africa and Asia, and is currently working to help Ukrainian refugees in Poland.

“The students and staff collected 280kg of donated clothing in total, as a way of fundraising, and are hoping to make a small profit of £115,” added Mrs Munns, who coordinated the collection. “This will further benefit and support our student-led activities around the school.

“More importantly, this fundraising helped develop a sense of community spirit, including pupils, staff and parents, which was the main reason for this whole-school initiative.”