Student-Led Charity: St Mary's Students Organise Events for Lourdes Initiative
Students from across St Mary's Senior School recently had the exciting opportunity to take part in, and organise a wide variety of charitable activities in aid of our Lourdes Fundraising Initiative, supporting Galnfield Children's Group.
Students demonstrated impressive initiative by organising diverse fundraising activities within their form groups. These events, scheduled during breaks and lunchtimes, challenged participants to develop crucial leadership and management capabilities while honing their project planning and execution skills. The creative fundraising efforts spanned from delectable bake sales and various engaging "Guess the Teacher" competitions, whether that was baby photos or masked singing, to a school-wide non-uniform day that united the entire student body for a worthy cause.
St Mary's' ongoing support for Lourdes go back decades; there are two main elements.
Members of the St Mary's community, whether that is staff, students or alumnae, will join this traditional pilgrimage to Lourdes, a journey of profound spiritual significance. This year, several members of the sixth form have volunteered as 'handmaids', where they will accompany and help care for the needs of sick pilgrims who are making their own journey. The pilgrimage offers students a meaningful opportunity to serve others while experiencing personal transformation, deeply aligning with St Mary's Catholic values and heritage. This sacred journey promises to be both a selfless act of service and a spiritually enriching experience that will strengthen participants' connection to their faith.
Our Lourdes Fundraising Fortnight is an annual initiative to raise money for the Glanfield Children's Group, who support disabled children and young adults with learning difficulties and their families to take a holiday-pilgrimage to the French town of Lourdes, every August, in conjunction with The Catholic Association. The funds, raised by the charitable activities and hard work of students, will contribute greatly to the execution of the trip.
