Serving others is an important part of life at Manor. We encourage our community to live out this aspect of our vision in a variety of ways, including through our fundraising and charity efforts.
We are proud of our long standing partnerships with a number of local, national and global charities. Every month we have a non uniform day in school. Students and staff are encouraged to bring in £1 to wear their own clothes for the day. This money is shared between Cry in the Dark and Mbedza, with a proportion given to other local charities throughout the year.
Cry in the Dark
Cry in the Dark was established by Steve Cooper after he visited a Romanian orphanage. Steve was moved to build a better home for the children there, many of whom have complex needs. Today, Casa Lumina is, as its name suggests, a true House of Light to the young people. It provides them with food, shelter and education. The charity has also built a hospice for children and young people with life limiting conditions in Romania. Previously, Manor students and staff have gone to Romania for two weeks to support the work of Cry in the Dark. Everyone who went, staff and students alike, found it a life-changing experience. We hope to resume this trip in the future.
Mbedza Projects Support, Malawi
Julian Watson, one of our previous peripatetic music teachers, introduced Manor to Mbedza Projects Support in 2007. Mbedza is dedicated to the prevention and relief of poverty in Malawi. The charity’s work includes the installation of stoves for cooking, drilling boreholes, planting and maintaining sustainable trees for wood, encouraging testing for HIV/Aids and a range of other activities. Manor is committed to raising funds, each month, to support the work of the Songani Hope and Wellness centre which provides HIV testing, education and counselling for the Zomba District in Malawi. We are extremely proud of our link with Malawi and every two years we take students to Malawi to visit the projects and experience Malawian culture.
The Archbishop of York Youth Trust
The Archbishop's Young Leaders Award aims to encourage young people to “Be the change they want to see” in their local community and beyond by developing their own leadership abilities through service to others. Manor is proud to have been the first school to take on and develop the award and offers the Key Stage 4 award as an alternative GCSE option. Through the award, our young people have taken part in a whole range of school and local community projects including supporting a local home for people with dementia and running lots of charity fundraisers.
York Schools and Youth Trust (YoYo)
YoYo are an ecumenical Christian charity who support collective worship, RS lessons and run a variety of lunchtime clubs in schools across the city. YoYo are a weekly presence in Manor through running two lunchtime clubs, contributing to our collective worship and delivering RS lessons at numerous points during the year.
Every year, YoYo runs reflection spaces for our new year seven students. These spaces provide an opportunity to reflect on their new start to secondary school and their place in the world around them.
Other charities that we have supported over the years include:
York Besom, Restore York, Refugee Action York, York Lollipop, Kitchen For Everyone, The Millie Wright Foundation and St Leonard’s Hospice.
