Charity

Looking after those in need

CHS nurtures a compassionate culture where all Waconians are encouraged to take an interest in the world around them, show kindness, and when possible support others in need.

Here are some ways our School Community is currently supporting refugees, asylum seekers and migrants from Afghanistan, the Ukraine, and other locations around the world.

Supporting Afghan asylum seekers

In January 2022 the School’s Musical Theatre pupils welcomed an external audience for a Refugee Matinee performance of their production, ‘Matilda.’

In celebration of Nowruz (Iranian New Year), hotel-accommodated asylum seekers made up of families were welcomed to CHS to enjoy an evening of Afghan music, games and typical buffet food from their nation to mark the occasion.

Supporting refugees from the Ukraine

 CHS’s 2022 Annual Spring Concert is raising money for the Ukrainian Humanitarian Appeal.

Also raising awareness of those affected by the current crisis in Ukraine, CHS’s Lower School pupils use Newsround resources in both their timetabled Subjects and Form Time. In the Sixth Form pupils have been shared two Podcasts (The Big Steal and the BBC’s Ukraincast) via Google Classroom for those wishing to understand more about Putin’s time in office and daily updates on the crisis. Year 12 and Year 13 have been provided with an assembly focusing on a timeline of events since 2000-present of Putin’s time in office.

One of our Year 13 students proposed the collection of goods for the Ukraine; a van of donations from CHS has been driven to the Ukraine/Polish border to deliver the items for those stranded after leaving their homes resulting from the dangerous situation in their towns and cities. The items included sleeping bags, towels (in new or very good condition), toiletries, sanitary products, toothbrushes and toothpaste and First Aid Kits – CHS families have responded incredibly generously.

We will be making further collections but if you would like to contribute further to the collection of goods in the meantime, donations can be made to the UK’s Ukraine Collection Depot in Prestwich. For more information please contact fionabuxton@chschool.co.uk for details.

For further information and to show your support visit Ukrainian Humanitarian Appeal here.

Whole School Charities

Every year we support two charities that support young people in Africa.

CHS in The Gambia is a community school in the Gambia that CHS has been supporting since 1998 and Small Steps who support, educate and promote the inclusion of young children with learning disabilities in Uganda.

We also identify other whole school charities that we support over a period of two years that are close to the hearts of our community.  Many members of our wider community have been affected by breast cancer so we raise awareness and make a difference to the care and treatment that is provided to individuals and their families. Currently, we support Coppafeel, who have a goal to give everyone the best possible chance of surviving breast cancer by speaking to young people in their natural habitat to talk boobs and affect real behaviour change, and Christies, who provide enhanced services over and above what the NHS funds. Gifts from the public make a huge difference to the care and treatment that The Christie is able to provide to their patients and their families.

Lord Dubs, an Old Waconian, fled Czechoslovakia on the Kindertransport in 1939 and has dedicated his life to making a positive change to the lives of refugees campaigning tirelessly and promoting the ideals of democracy, social justice and good governance. In light of the current refugee crisis and to support the legacy of Lord Dub’s life work, this year CHS are also supporting Care4Calais, a volunteer-run refugee charity working with refugees in the UK, France and Belgium.

House Charities

In addition to our whole school charities, CHS also supports 4 local charities in the North West through fundraising campaigns for a two year period to deepen the impact we can have through fundraising. Students from each House nominate charities close to their hearts for the School community to support. The four House Charities that have been selected for 2022 – 2024 are:

Allen – Coffee4Craig is a homelessness provision that is open every single evening. They provide a home-cooked meal, access to a medic, a shower, advice & sign posting, a barbering service and most importantly a team of friendly, compassionate faces to support their guests.

Clarke – Manchester Refugee Support Network  is a grass-roots organisation directly managed by refugee communities in Manchester. For over 24 years, they have been providing practical support to those fleeing persecution, conflict, and various forms of injustice and abuse.

Marsh –Headway promotes understanding of all aspects of brain injury and provides information, support and services to survivors, their families and carers. In addition, Headway campaigns to reduce the incidence of brain injury.

Whitehead – Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital Charity  is about making a difference to the thousands of children we see every year.  We do this by supporting projects that provide state-of-the-art and specialised equipment to help improve the diagnosis and treatment of children. CHS also supports research that can help us better understand children’s illnesses and provide the treatments of the future and we support projects that help to create a more child friendly environment.

CHS x Madlug

Madlug and CHS actively work to support children in the care system; Madlug through their buy-one-donate-one business model, and CHS through our Transformational Bursaries.

In 2022, we are supporting Madlug by recommending the purchase of their high quality school bag for all CHS pupils. When you buy a Madlug school bag, the company will donate a bag to a young person in care. Over the summer we’ll be decorating our bag racks with Madlug posters and branding as a sign of our support for their work.

Read more about Madlug’s story and browse their bag shop here.