Thousands raised to block Bablake School and King Henry VIII School mergerThousands of pounds have been raised for a fund hoping to block the merger of Coventry's two top private schools, King Henry VIII School and Bablake School.
The GoFundMe page, set up by campaign group 'Action 4 Henry's and Bablake', has been set up to fund legal action to push back against the proposals.
The funding page had already received more than £6,000 of donations at the time of writing from people wishing to push for the two schools to stay separate.
King Henry VIII School was set up 1545 and Bablake School was set up in 1344, and both share a long history of rivalry and achievement.
Coventry Schools Foundation runs both schools and is overseeing the merger.
Action 4 Henry's and Bablake say they have set up the page because "legal action will also be needed to actually block the merger and save King Henry VIII and Bablake Schools as two distinct and successful schools."
CoventryLive first reported on the shock merger in October 2020, and Coventry Schools Foundation has since pressed on with a new name,uniform, and timeline on bringing the two schools together.
Their timeline says the new Bablake and King Henry VIII School (BKHS) will be open for September 2021.
But the Charity Commission have opened a case looking into the merger, and CoventryLive understands it is expected to report back with its findings shortly.
Writing on the GoFundMe page, Action 4 Henry's and Bablake said: "It is almost certain that legal action will also be needed to actually block the merger and save King Henry VIII and Bablake Schools as two distinct and successful schools. We are instructing Irwin Mitchell LLP, a leading law firm who are experts in advising on disputes in the Education Sector, to help us reach this outcome."
Spearheading the campaign, former Bablake School headmaster George Fisher said: "We're not here trying to relieve some sort of hey day as it were, we're here to look at what can be two very dynamic and forward looking schools which are there to serve the children of Coventry and that's what they have done very very successfully for a long period of time.
"To risk losing that and merging them into one sort of anonymous BKHS school, to me would be a disservice to the city really."