Community Service, open from Year 10 upwards, offers the boys a chance to get involved in a variety of worthwhile local projects. Around 160 boys take part each week, their skills and expertise stretching across a wide range of activities. The projects, which are varied and constantly evolving, generally require about one hour per week, either at lunchtimes, after school or on Saturday mornings, although many boys become more extensively involved.
Within local schools, the boys help by providing additional support with PE, reading, art, cookery, IT and drama. Pupils at Langbourne Primary School, Aylesbury Academic Grassroots Saturday School, Dulwich Hamlet, DUCKS, Highshore Special School, Turney Special School, Kingswood School and Nightingale School have all benefited from the boys’ efforts.
Some boys also work with Dulwich Helpline (which provides assistance for local vulnerable people) by teaching IT skills, taking part in home visits and helping with gardening. Others visit residents in Athol House (a Leonard Cheshire home), and some volunteer at the Dulwich Picture Gallery, helping with anything from delivering fliers to acting as a guide. At Southside Young Leaders' Academy Dulwich boys help with a project aimed at supporting young, black children in Peckham and Camberwell who are in danger of becoming disruptive in school and the local community.
We set great store by the valuable work which the boys undertake in the community; service of this nature contributes hugely to the development of the boys into socially aware, helpful and responsible individuals.