On Friday, June 16, three 6th Form students from St Bonaventure’s, abseiled down the iconic Orbit structure and observation tower in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford, for CAFOD.

The 114.5 metre tall building is the UK’s highest free fall abseil and only the brave attempt such a feat but that is exactly what John Dawes and Gabriel Vieira, both 17 and  Amal Shabu who’s 16,   did to raise funds for the charity.

In the build up the the descent, the boys were busy selling ice creams and lolly ices in the playground at the school in Boleyn Road every lunch time and break time to help boost funds. With the warm weather, it proved to be very popular with the ices selling out each day. This gave the lads  tremendous encouragement and set the scene for the abseil beautifully.

They set up a JustGiving page as they initially wanted to raise £300. They exceeded their target by an amazing £360 and raised £662 in total and were overwhelmed by people’s support and generosity. Amal went on to explain: “It was a fantastic challenge and I’m glad we reached the ground safely. I’d like to thank everyone who contributed and made it all worthwhile”

The Director of RE at St Bonaventure’s, Andy Lewis, went with them added: “They said they wanted to do something big for CAFOD and you can’t get much bigger than this. I felt really proud the way they behaved on the day and the way they wanted to do something good for the charity that’s close to their hearts.”