“In a word: charity cannot be neutral, antiseptic, indifferent, lukewarm or impartial! Charity is infections, it excites, it risks and it engages!' (Pope Francis)

At Gunnersbury, community is about people not structures, programmes, responsibilities or duties.  The Religious Education department and Chaplaincy team co-ordinate the school’s service to the community - local, national and international - which includes a wide range of charity fund-raising.

Fundraising and charitable events are a year-long feature of school life.  The continued remarkable generosity of the whole school community has helped many people across the UK and abroad who are not as fortunate as ourselves.  We support a variety of charities, including CAFOD, Aid to the Church In Need, The British Legion, Ealing Foodbank, Caritas, Mary’s Meals, Cancer Research, and Shooting Star to name but a few. Each year, we invite spokespeople from these charities into our school to raise awareness during our morning collective acts of worship. Annual charity events can be found in the school calendar. Our Adoremus Choir and Sixth Formers bring festive cheer each year to commuters at Northfields Station, singing Christmas carols and raising significant contributions for Shooting Star Chase, a children’s hospice, in the process. The 6^th Form Chaplaincy Team single-handedly organised a Charity Football Match with great success, to raise funds for Aid to the Church in Need. They have also contributed a great effort to the CAFOD Family Fast Day where they organised a soup sale from start to finish, including making the soup from scratch with the help of our generous kitchen staff.

It is imperative that no one...indulge in a merely individualistic morality. The best way to fulfill one's obligations of justice and love is to contribute to the common good according to one's means and the needs of others, and also to promote and help public and private organizations devoted to bettering the conditions of life. -Gaudium et Spes ("The Church in the Modern World"), Vatican II, 1965 #30

We encourage our pupils to see the wider world and to support the common good internationally. Our Year 12 students visit Lourdes annually as ‘red caps’ with the Charity ‘Across’ on pilgrimage with Westminster Diocese, to recognise the impact their efforts can have on others. Although we will never meet most of the people who benefit from our charitable giving, it is heart-warming and reassuring to know that a relatively small amount can make a huge difference to the lives of so many people.