Jesuit school launches African fund

12 March 2010

Stonyhurst College, the Jesuit boarding school in Lancashire, launched a special scholarship fund last week with a charity fashion show.

The new fund will enable children in Zimbabwe to receive an education. Celia Lupton, a sixth-former at the school and one of the fashion show’s organisers, said: “It only costs £40 per year to go to school in Zimbabwe, yet this is far beyond the reach of many people there. We wanted to raise as much money as possible to help children get an education and find a way out of poverty.”

The fashion show raised over £3,000, which will educate five children for four years each. A group of students and staff from Stonyhurst have just returned from visiting their Jesuit sister school, St Peter’s in Kubatana. Paul Warrilow, head of religious studies, and Sophie le Breton, 18, told an audience of more than 300 people why the scholarship fund was so worthwhile.

Sophie said: “I was struck by how eager the children are to learn. Pupils use every available minute to read and work, even when waiting for a teacher to arrive. They live in absolute poverty, with no electricity or running water, yet their uniforms are pristine because they are proud to be going to school.”

Natalie Crouch, 18, the fashion show’s compere, said: “It’s a huge culture shock coming home. We’ve made friends with people our own age there and it’s hard to think of the poverty and difficulties they live with. Many have lost parents to Aids or cholera and are caring for their families, often getting up at 4am to do school work.”

While the pupils were in Zimbabwe they saw President Mugabe’s motorcade, and had guns trained on them by his guards. “That was the only time we ever felt ourselves to be in any danger,” said Sophie.

The show began with a stunning creation, made out of sculptured black silk, on loan from the London Fashion Week, followed by childrenswear, evening dresses, casual clothing for men and bridal gowns, all modelled by Stonyhurst pupils themselves.

Anna Thomas, 18, another of the show’s organisers, said: “There are many people to thank, but above all, the pupils themselves were brilliant – they really worked hard as a team.”