Trinity School’s T60 bursary fundraising campaign has been named one of just six national finalists for Independent School of the Year for Outstanding Fundraising Achievement 2026.
The national recognition follows an extraordinary year for T60, a whole-community fundraising campaign supporting the Trinity Bursary Fund, launched to mark 60 years since Trinity moved to its current site in Shirley Park.
The Independent School of the Year for Outstanding Fundraising Achievement award recognises outstanding fundraising across the independent schools sector. Trinity joins Kellett School, Oswestry School, Shrewsbury School, St Leonards and St Paul’s Girls’ School on the six-school shortlist.
T60 set out not simply to raise funds, but to start a wider conversation about why school bursaries matter: helping talented young people from different backgrounds access a Trinity education while protecting the diverse community that enriches the experience of every student.
At the heart of the campaign has been a whole-community effort. Students were challenged to raise £60 each in whatever way they chose, inspiring everything from individual sponsored challenges and performances to the student-led T60 Makers’ Market, where 34 student and six staff stalls raised £1,200. The Music Department’s ambitious ‘600 miles’ challenge brought hundreds of students together and raised around £5,000.
Alumni, parents, students and staff have also shared their own experiences of Trinity and the role bursaries have played in shaping the school. Their stories have highlighted not only the opportunities created for individual bursary recipients, but the value to everyone of learning alongside people with different experiences and perspectives.
Former Head Boy and bursary recipient Jared Thompson (Class of 2025) summed up the idea behind the campaign when he said: “A school shapes its pupils, but I believe pupils also shape their school.”
The campaign has also helped change perceptions of bursaries within the wider Trinity community. More than half of those surveyed said T60 had changed their understanding of bursaries from financial aid to protecting the diverse community that defines Trinity, while 76% agreed that diversity is fundamental to Trinity’s excellence.
Headmaster Alasdair Kennedy said: “To offer a world-class education, we need a classroom filled with a diversity of voices, backgrounds and perspectives. We need the brightest minds from across Croydon [and South London] to challenge, inspire and learn from one another.”
The finalist recognition comes as T60 continues into the new academic year, giving the more than 200 students who joined Trinity this September the opportunity to become part of the campaign too.
Students are invited to take on their own T60 Challenge before Christmas, finding their own way to raise £60 – whether through a sponsored challenge, sale, performance, event or something entirely of their own invention.
Find out more at Trinity Gives
The winners of the Independent School of the Year Awards 2026 will be announced at a ceremony on Wednesday 14 October.
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