Charity Work
Our charity work at Hope Academy is fundamental to our Christian Vision of 'serving one another through love'. Throughout the school year, students and staff work closely with a variety of local, national and international charities, such as St. Helens Food Bank, Nugent, Christian Aid, Macmillan Cancer Support, Teenage Cancer Trust, Cafod, and Laughter Africa. We have a dedicated team of fundraisers in each year group who work with their House Team to help others.
Laughter Africa Danceathon! 29th April 2024
29th April was International Dance Day, a day that was created by the United Nations to celebrate dance and to encourage participation and education in dance. We had our third annual danceathon with the children in Sierra Leone who are cared for by Laughter Africa. Laughter Africa works with street children in Africa to help them fulfil their aspirations and bring about positive change in their lives. This involves social workers meeting the children living on the streets. Whatever they need, Laughter Africa is willing to provide. It was wonderful to see the children helped by Laughter Africa dancing with us via a live link! The money raised directly helped the children who were dancing with us.
Big Lent Walk 2024
For Lent this year, we joined CAFOD and took part in ‘The Big Lent Walk 2024’. The challenge was to walk 200km over the 40 days of Lent, to raise money for all the amazing things that CAFOD does! Stand in solidarity with communities around the world by walking, running, rolling or strolling with friends and family, and at Hope Academy!
Year 7, 8 and 9 completed their walks in the WB 18th March 2024, and Year 7 added an extra 852km by walking the 3km to and from St. Mary's Church on the 26th March for our Easter Service, taking our total kms walked to nearly 2000km! We have also managed to beat our target fundraising of £250 by nearly £100 (including Gift Aid). Well done and thankyou everybody!
This is the link to donate to the Hope Academy team: HOPE ACADEMY FUNDRAISING Please sponsor your child to help us raise vital funds for CAFOD. Every £1 raised will help fight poverty globally in countries like Afghanistan, Colombia, the Democratic Rebublic of the Congo, and South Sudan.
For more information about CAFOD and ‘The Big Lent Walk 2024’, please follow the link here: Big Lent Walk
(updated 26th March 2024)
Sweet Treat Fridays!
Every Friday up until Easter we have been selling jam doughnuts and other sweet treats by the main hall for 50p to raise money for Cafod and the children of Gaza and the Holy Land. We are aiming to raise at least £100! Please support by buying a Friday treat!
Thank you to all who supported this fundraiser. We raised over £140 to send to the Children of Gaza. Well done. Thank you very much to Trevors Foodservice for donating the items to sell.
Teenage Cancer Trust Fundraising
From October- December we did a number of fundraising events to raise money for the Teenage Cancer Trust in memory of Sam. We are happy to announce that we raised £1678.26. Well done to everyone for such a superb effort to help other teenagers with cancer.
Teardrops Christmas Toybox Appeal 2023
During Advent, our Year 11 Prefects, along with Iona Head of House Miss Hand, organised a toy collection for Teardrops.
Teardrops are a St. Helens based charity who were founded to help and support homeless people with a view to getting them off the streets and to live a better life. They now also support families in the area who may struggle at different times throughout the year, such as Christmas. This is why Teardrops launched their Christmas Appeal Project.
Each form had a box to fill with toys and gifts for local families who were struggling over Christmas time. The kindness of our students, staff and their families meant that we filled 35 boxes of toys for Teardrops Charity. This made such a difference to many families over Christmas. Thank you to everyone who helped.
We can still help families in this New Year too by living out our vision of Serving One Another Through Love.
Santa Dash - 11th December 2023
Our third annual Santa Dash was another fun and joyous event, with students raising money by 'dashing' around the sports hall in Christmas Fancy Dress as many times as they could in an hour! Money raised this year for our Annual Santa Dash will go to Teenage Cancer Trust in memory of Sam.
Clothing Collection with Roberts Recycling
Having a clear out of your wardrobes? Please bring in any clothing donations to the chapel! Our collection box is in the chapel ready to take any donations! Clothes, shoes, bags, and belts can be donated. (Please place all items in a bag before putting in the box.)
Roberts Recycling Ltd offers an industry leading textile recycling service for charities with the common goal of diverting textile waste from landfill by facilitating its reuse. They are registered with the Fundraising Regulator and are members of the Charity Retail Association and the Textile Recyclers Association.
Their clothing collection and distribution service ensures unwanted clothing finds new life. After collecting, they process the clothing at the Knowsley depot. The clothing is then shipped across Europe and the Middle East, where it is distributed and put to good use. They carefully select and regularly visit these partners to guarantee ethical working practices.
Hope Food Pantry Donations
Our Hope Academy Food Pantry has been a great help to a number of our families - thank you for your kind donations.
Please continue to donate items if you can. We accept long life food and drinks that stock our own Food Panrty which is located in the chapel. Any extra food items are taken to our local foodbanks.
If you need any food, please come to the chapel at the front of Hope Academy to use our food pantry. Bags are stored under the table. If you are in need of a food voucher for the foodbank, please contact our chaplain Kasia who will be able to help on 01744 671930 or kasia.boydell@hopeacademy.org.uk.
St. Vincent de Paul (SVP) Charity Work
Our Academy chaplain Kasia and the student chaplaincy team work closely with the SVP society. The SVP is part of an international Christian voluntary network dedicated to tackling poverty in all its forms by providing practical assistance to individuals and families who need support. They have supported many families in our Academy by providing, for example, furniture, clothing, help with bills, and Christmas hampers. If you are struggling in any way, please contact Kasia who can see what help the SVP can provide for you. Alternatively, if you would like to volunteer and help with the work the SVP do, please contact Kasia. To find out more about the SVP, please have a look at their website.
(22nd January 2024) Thank you to St. Helens SVP who donated another 6 warm and waterproof coats to our coat appeal at the weekend! If you are in need of a coat, please see Kasia in the chapel. There are a variety of sizes for everyone. Don't suffer on cold and rainy days!
Macmillan Coffee Morning - Friday 29th September
We had another succesful Coffee Morning, with lots of delicious cakes baked and bought! Our Student Events Team helped to serve our guests, and it was lovely to be able to invite the families of our students into the academy hall for such a relaxing morning. Thank you to all who supported our Coffee Morning. We raised over £500 for Macmillan!
Charity Work 2022-2023
A huge thank you to all staff and students who have contributed to our charity work over the academic year 2022-2023! In such difficult financial times, our Hope community has come together and shown lots of generosity and kindness!
The grand totals are as follows for the Academic Year 2022-2023:
This means that since over the past 2 years of our House System, we have raised over £7000 for a variety of charities! A huge well done for serving others thorugh love. Your kindness and generosity is greatly appreciated.
(updated 26th March 2024)
