As the winter nights draw in and the temperatures plummet, pupils from Eden Boys Bradford are spreading seasonal cheer throughout their community by supporting local people through its Winter Gift Programme.
At Eden Boys Bradford, we pride ourselves on making a positive difference to society. We are committed to playing an active role in our community and helping others. This winter, we are stepping up our efforts to support the most vulnerable people in our community.
The Winter Gift Programme is an annual campaign which sees pupils and staff from every Star Academies school unite to participate in a broad range of charitable giving, acts of kindness and volunteering; all with one simple aim – to make sure no one faces the challenges of winter alone.
Throughout the campaign, we will be supporting those in our local community – young and old – who are unwell, elderly or living in care, and those experiencing homelessness, loneliness or food poverty. As well as benefitting vulnerable people, our pupils will also gain from their involvement by expanding their leadership qualities – by devising, organising and taking part in charitable endeavours – and experiencing first-hand the positive impact of helping those less fortunate.
Our pupils have been taking part in fundraising activities, donating gifts and giving their time volunteering to support those most at need in our community through charitable actions.
Pupils in each year group have supported different local charity this year as part of our commitment to serve the most vulnerable members of our community to tackle food poverty and spread kindness and bring a smile.
Year 7 pupils have donated food items for Bradford Central Foodbank. The Foodbank was extremely grateful for their support. They wrote: “A massive thank you for all the food Eden Boys Bradford donated. We really appreciate you doing all the work for us. Please pass all our thanks to all pupils, parents and staff who gave so generously this Winter. You donated over 100kg of food which will provide over 150 meals for needy families in Bradford.”
Year 8 pupils have been collecting toiletries, gifts and confectionary for Greystone Nursing Home in Heaton. These were all wrapped into hamper baskets to be hand delivered to the residents. A group of Year 8 pupils and staff then visited the care home and spent some time talking to the residents, playing games and decorating snowmen biscuits with the residents. This was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone. The Care Home were so grateful for the visit and gifts. “It has been a very positive experience, residents have appreciated the visit and games, as well as the thoughtful and beautifully wrapped hampers.” Prior to the visit pupils also took part in dementia awareness workshop delivered by Schools Linking to develop a greater understanding of the challenges faced by some of the elderly residents at the care home.
Year 9 pupils have been competing to raise the highest number of donations to support refugee families in Bradford. We are so proud of their efforts and generosity. We were able to donate over 100 boxes of food items, toiletries, and hampers to Bradford Refugee Forum and Millside Centre which supports refugee and asylum seeker families. The gifts boxes were collected by representatives from the organisations who were overwhelmed by the pupils’ kindness and compassion for needy families. They said, “Thank you so much for your generosity. It is such an honour, and we really appreciate it.”
Year 10 embraced Horton Housing Associations’ Warm this Winter Campaign enthusiastically, they donated warm blankets, socks, gloves, and hats, including toiletries and biscuits. These were wrapped in hampers and collected by grateful volunteers from Horton Housing Association.
Year 11 pupils were able to support all the charities. Girlington Community Centre was supported with much needed food hampers to support the local community. These gifts will be much appreciated by the community and will help tackle food poverty in the area.
Robina Naznine Principal at Eden Boys Bradford said: “Our annual Winter Gift Programme not only supports the most vulnerable members of our community but affords our pupils the opportunity to develop their leadership skills and to experience the personal satisfaction that comes from demonstrating kindness and helping those less fortunate. It gives me an enormous sense of pride to see our pupils, parents and colleagues embrace this invaluable campaign with such incredible compassion and generosity.”
One of the pupils who has been volunteering throughout this programme said:
“Taking part in the Winter Gift Programme has been such an exciting and rewarding experience. It is so nice to know so many local people will be supported through the efforts of our school. I am so glad I could make a difference to our community.”
