By Krish Lukha

Every year, the start of the Christmastime period at the RGS is marked by our annual fair, which this year took place on Saturday 2^nd December. It saw the return of hundreds of people coming to celebrate and enjoy the festivities from 1pm to 4pm in the Great Hall. With over 40 stalls, many of which were run by people adorned with festive garments, this fair proved to be one of the busiest in recent years and was the inaugural event of the very popular raffle. Music was played by the Staff Wind Band and Mr Locke; delicious baguettes were provided by our hard-working catering department and the school had been decorated in a variety of seasonal ornaments.

This year’s stalls included:

• Enterprise Tycoon Stands (organised by Mr Stratford):
  • ’80s Retro Sweets
  • RGS Hot Cups (which sold out during the fair)
  • Vine-dicate (Electric corkscrews)
  • Bucket Hats
  • Milkshakes
  • RGS Branded Glasses
  • Flasks

• RGS Silent Pool gin (which has been a huge success amongst the parents)
• Rikkyo School’s RGS-branded Japanese Kadomatsu, which have similar origins to those of Christmas Trees
• Adult and child tombola (the latter of which had completely run out of prizes!)
• Raffle
• Ceramics
• Artwork
• Textiles
• Jewellery
• For Earth’s Sake (sustainable products of all sorts)

The Fair has raised over £2250 for this year’s nominated charities (Cardiac Risk in the Young, Cancer Research UK and Surrey Search and Rescue) in just a few short hours; this is a large sum of money which will make a huge difference! Thank you to Mrs Rathmell and to the parent, student and staff volunteers for all of their hard work, without whom the event would neither take place nor be anywhere near as successful. I am confident that next year’s Christmas Fair will be just as, if not more, entertaining than this year’s and I would definitely recommend coming along.