TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT Monday 11 September 2023
Public Benefit
The Charity’s purpose is to advance the education of pupils in the School, in particular developing effective relationships between the staff, parents and others associated with the School, engaging in activities or providing facilities or equipment which support the school and advance the education of the pupils, we work to bring the community into the School and taking the School into the community.
Benefit is demonstrated through Magherafelt High School pupils having access to resources, events, activities and links with the local community which are not available through direct school funding
What Our Organisation Does
We run a pre- loved re loved uniform sale annually, for the benefit of High school pupils, we take donations of used uniforms and offer them to new and returning pupils and their families, this is important as families are struggling with the cost of school uniforms. We also provide a service to families from outside NI who seek to make NI their home, we work directly with the authorities to offer an out of hours service at short notice to provide full uniforms to their children. As a result of our work, we were invited by Mid Ulster Council (CYPSP) to help set up a tool kit for other local schools to run their own used uniform sales in primary and post primary schools. Recycling uniforms reduces the amount being sent to landfill. We also run general clothing sales, prettiest pooches competition, Platinum Jubilee Tea Party, car boot sale, and pop-up uniform event. We have built a large external local community interest following the above events, showcasing the High School and its’ links to Mid Ulster and the surrounding towns. We run a craft group every Monday night in the School during term time, it is open to everyone, it has widened our community involvement, we teach knitting, crocheting, sewing, upholstering and horticulture, it is also a place to meet socially for a cuppa, all items produced are sold at crafts fairs in school and other schools. As a group we share our skills and knowledge and offer fun events such as stone painting. This past 2 years the group have knitted and crocheted baby hats for neo natal units (Antrim Area Hospital and Altnagelvin Hospital.0 Our group receive donations of material from Saville Row Shirt Company, Charles’ Shop, Cookstown and the general public, we taught cutting out patterns and sewing Syringe driver bags, they have been distributed to Garden Street Surgery District Nurses , Laurel House Antrim and North West Cancer Centre, Altnagelvin. This work is ongoing. All monies raised by the Group
go back into the school, to date we have purchased Weighted blankets (SENCO), Cleaning Machine, (Caretaking Dept) and Shredder (Administration)
In April we launched a ‘ We’ll Meeting Again Project’, this is a joint venture with the Magherafelt Branch of the Royal British Legion, our adventurous programme is to knit and crochet poppies complete with buttons and sew onto a dress, we have produced a wallet containing a knitting and crocheting poppy pattern, a message from the RBL and a ball of red wool, we have advertised our project on line and word of mouth, we know the many who have attended the group and learned the skills will take up the challenge, we have invited local groups to come in on a Monday night , where tuition is available , to date there has been a strong response from those associated with the School and others who just want to be part of this amazing project, the finished dress will be on display during the period of Remembrance in November
In November we propose running a pre- loved reloved Christmas jumper swap shop in school