Charities, Assemblies & Fundraising
To encourage our children to help those less fortunate than themselves, St. Mary's supports a number of charities both at home and overseas.
Speakers and representatives from all our charities come to St. Mary's and talk to the pupils and staff about their great work, causes and needs. These assemblies highlight the needs of others worldwide, and our pupils and staff work hard to raise the money or gifts, so urgently needed by these wonderful charities.
- At Harvest Festival, the children provide food hampers for local homes and supports either The Fireside Centre or St. Vincent de Paul Society in Birmingham who offer food and shelter for the homeless in Birmingham's city centre.
- During Lent we support Father Hudson's Society's Good Shepherd Appeal which helps mentally ill adults in the community, and a CAFOD appeal is always undertaken which highlights and supports financially a variety of campaigns worldwide.
- At Christmas we support either The Samaritan's Purse 'Operation Christmas Child Shoe Box Appeal' or Team4U Shoebox Appeal, which is a gift of "Love in a Box" to children overseas at this festive time.
- Other supported charities include Macmillan Cancer, Children in Need, Little Princess Trust, Save the Children, Ifakara Bakery Project, The British Legion's Poppy Day Appeals and our local Red Cross.
Other Collections
- Hearing Dogs for the Deaf - Used Stamps - Our used stamps box is located in the school foyer. Please keep sending them in.
- Primrose Hospice - Foreign Coin - Our collection of foreign/old coins is ongoing. They are being collected on behalf of the Primrose Hospice. Please hand in to the school office.
- St Vincent de Paul Alliance - Nothing goes to waste at St. Mary's. We have recently embarked on a new alliance with Steve Martin and the wonderful people from the St. Vincent de Paul Society or SVP. They are an internataional Christian voluntary organistion dedicated to tackling poverty and the disadvantaged by providing practical assistance to those in need. Steve will be coming into school on the 2nd and 3rd Friday of every month to collect all the uneaten fruit and vegetable from KS1. The collection will be cut up and added to fruit salads and distributed at a Birmingham soup kitchen. At Harvest Festival, the children provide food hampers for local homes and supports St. Vincent de Paul Society in Birmingham who offer food and shelter for the homeless in Birmingham's city centre. Together, pupils, parents, staff and parishioners donate food items which are presented and blessed at Sunday parish mass.