Pupils begin raising much needed funds for local and international charities

St Mary’s Lower School pupil-led Charity Committee raised almost £500 from their first charity event of the academic year.

A movie evening took place at St Mary’s Lower School with pupils, age four through to 11 donning their pyjamas and onesies to watch the hit movie Sing 2 on the big screen within school on 7 October. Pizza and ice lollies were also enjoyed, with all proceeds from the event being donated to the Malala Fund, a worldwide organisation which aims to help every girl to learn and lead, and the local charity EACH (East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices) which supports families and cares for children and young people with life threatening illnesses.

Mrs Emma Stanhope, Head of St Mary’s Lower School said “Several thousand pounds in donations are raised every year by St Mary’s families. Our chosen Lower School charities for this year, the Malala Fund and EACH were proposed and voted for by the girls themselves. As an all-girls school, we champion prominent female figures for the girls to aspire to, therefore the Malala Fund, founded by Nobel laureate, Malala Yousafzai and her father Ziauddin, was very close to the pupils’ hearts. Assisting families more locally, EACH (East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices) was chosen so that the girls can help to provide funding for the support offered to families, ensuring all of the needs of the children and young people they care for are met. I am incredibly proud and grateful to the girls and their families for the support shown for all the charity activities we run at the school.”

Malala and Ziauddin Yousafzai founded Malala Fund in 2013 to champion every girl’s right to 12 years of free, safe, quality education. With more than 130 million girls out of school today, they are breaking down barriers that hold girls back. East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH) support families in Cambridgeshire, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk every step of the way when caring for children and young people with life-threatening conditions. Their services include offering counselling to bereaved family members, provide expert nursing care as well as psychological, physical, emotional, social and spiritual support.

Further information about the charities the pupils are supporting can be found at: https://malala.org/ and https://www.each.org.uk/