A friendly and rather unusual visitor, in the form a stunning fibreglass Hippo, arrived at Farleigh School on Friday. Its mission? To challenge the children to Guess The Name. Duly four children came up trumps, or rather they knew their stripes, as they correctly guessed the name to be Zippo.

This sunny afternoon activity, which raised £128 for local children’s hospice, Naomi House, was part of the fund raising initiative, 'School of Rock', which took place in the grounds at Farleigh the following day. The event raised a staggering total of over £20,000 for Naomi House and national charity Arthritis Care. Local pop sensation 'The Lawbreakers' (a group largely consisting of solicitors), rocked the school while the children were enjoying an exeat weekend away.

All food and wine was from locally sourced Hampshire companies as were the incredible floral decorations which transformed the marquee into a Narnia-esque venue with lamp posts, multi trunked silver birch trees and over a hundred gloriously vibrant rhododendron bushes. Towards the end of the evening such was the vibe of the gig that parent backing singers were on stage to sing for their supper, which proved the success of the evening.

20th May 2010