Back in January, Adam wondered how some private schools would fare under new rules which force all charities to prove they’re run ‘for the public benefit’.
 
In their effort to obey the law many of these charitable private schools have been highlighting the number of bursaries they give out, or the swimming pools and football pitches they’ve made available to the local community. Eton devotes a whole section of its website to its various community schemes.

But it seems that Whitgift School in South Croydon might have a different and more flamboyant approach. Chatting to one of our interns – a former student at Whitgift – he mentioned his old school’s wildlife collection: apparently it has a menagerie of peacocks, cranes, African and Asian birds. The school is expanding its collection too: according to the website, it’s recently introduced a pair of Prevost’s Squirrels.

Why has the school taken this rather eccentric move? According to our insider, one theory is that, along with its other links to the local community, the school’s feathered (and furry) friends attract local school kids and so help the school fulfil its public-benefit requirements. But will this actually qualify as an 'identifiable benefit to the public?' I have my doubts.
 

 

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