With all of the wonderful opportunities available at St Helen's, it could be easy to forget the world outside. With this in mind, and as part of the school's Christian ethos, we have always made charity work an important part of the St Helen's experience.

Every September the school votes on three charities, one local, one national and one international, which it will support throughout the academic year. Organised by a small group of Upper School charity prefects and Mrs Grant-Ross, events to raise money range from non-uniform days, where girls contribute a pound to wear home clothes to Red Nose Day (profits split 50:50 with school charities and the Red Nose Fund) to a summer fete in the last week of term.

In 2008-2009 the school's charities were: Maggie's Cancer Centre, Oxford; Help for Heroes and Smile Train. Single events typically bring in between £400 and £500 pounds. In addition to whole-school events, all lower school forms work together at least once a year to raise money for school charities and individual girls will sometimes run a fund-raiser for a cause important to them.