Monday 4 October 2021 marked the one-year anniversary of the death of Charter School North Dulwich staff member, Karla Pappon. Karla was a much-loved and respected colleague who had worked in the Special Educational Needs Team at the school for ten years. She tragically died at the age of fifty-six on 4th October 2020 following an unexplained incident during a charity bike ride last September, where she fell from her bike, sustaining a head injury from which she sadly never regained consciousness.
The school community was devastated by this loss and has spent the past few months planning how they can pay a fitting tribute to Karla and the amazing work she did for the school and its pupils. The plan is to build the ‘Pappon Court’ at The Charter School North Dulwich, in recognition of Karla’s passion for sport, especially tennis – she ran the school Tennis Club at the nearby North Dulwich Tennis Club for many years. This large and ambitious project will give the school a first-class multi-sports court from which every pupil will benefit, as well as providing an additional facility which the local community will be able to access. The total cost of the project is £250,000.
The school must raise this money to see this plan become a reality. To kick off the fundraising, on Saturday 25th September, over fifty staff members from The Charter School North Dulwich took part in the first of many events planned this year. Staff either cycled from the school in North Dulwich to Brighton Pier, or walked the ten miles from Newhaven to Brighton – using social media to encourage friends, family, and members of the local community to donate to their Crowdfunding page: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/thecharterschool-northdulwich?utm_term=xWRrXqAND
Karla’s family commented ‘As a family it is very heart-warming to see this fundraiser and gesture in Karla’s name. We sincerely hope that Karla’s infectious enthusiasm for tennis will be embodied in this court and that it will bring joy to the staff and students at the Charter School, who were so central to Karla’s life.’
So far, the team have raised £16,500 and more events are planned during the next 12 months. If you would like to contribute, please follow the link below
https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/thecharterschool-northdulwich?utm_term=xWRrXqAND
All donations are gratefully received and will help get the school closer to realising this fitting tribute to a much-missed colleague.