SHOCC is a way for students, staff and members of the University's community to work together to make a difference. Here are some of the current projects that we are supporting.
SHOCC is working with a former student of St Mary’s University to build and furnish three new kindergarten classrooms at Christ the King Kindergarten School Tombura-Yambio in South Sudan. The numbers attending school decline markedly in the rains, which are common for much of the year, when the mud floors disintegrate. SHOCC is working with the Parish of Great Bookham and Effingham near Guildford, Surrey who are providing funding to construct a women's refuge in Tombura.
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The Religious of the Assumption, East Africa, plan to open a 16-classroom girls’ secondary boarding school at Kisaki near Singida in Tanzania. It will be modelled on their girls’ secondary school at Moshi. They currently run a primary school at Iguguno about 25 miles from Kisaki and there is an acute shortage of secondary places in government schools. Career-orientated workshop-based training on the model pioneered at Orkolili (see SHOCC project near Moshi) will be added. SHOCC has been supporting the Kisaki development since 2016 and is working with donors to complete the school and provide staff accommodation. A shower and toilet block (£17,000) will be constructed before the school opens in 2023. Private funding enabled a science block to be constructed and SHOCC raised £7,5000 to roof the building. A further £5,000 will provide benches and equipment for the laboratories.
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SHOCC has supported the work of Orkilili School since 2008 and, in that time, it has provided £62,789 of funding. This has enabled the construction of dormitories, a technology workshop, a computer room, a school hall, and a catering unit.
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SHOCC is working with families living in Northamptonshire who are committed to providing annual fees for students at two Outspan schools in Uganda. Each family donates around £400 including gift aid to support these children. Education is under considerable pressure in Uganda and has been severely affected by the Covid pandemic. Pupil numbers have not returned to pre-Covid levels and staff found it difficult to manage during the pandemic.
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SHOCC has provided support and funding since the Santa Maria Hospice was opened in 2004. It continues to help through advice and funding when possible.
The hospice is managed by Maryknoll Sister Dee Smith who graduated from St Mary's in 1975. SHOCC has provided £89,268 that has enabled the hospice to develop its own farm and provide a hydro-therapy facility for the patients. The hospice is named after the University.
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In 2023, 20% of the UK’s population lives below the poverty line. In 2017, according to the End Child Poverty Coalition, nearly 6,000 children (15.9%) were living in poverty in Richmond upon Thames. Whilst this is the lowest level of any London borough and is well below the 53.4% for Tower Hamlets, it still remains a challenging figure. Whilst having the fifth lowest number of rough sleepers of any London Borough in 2021, there were still 61 individuals sleeping on the streets of the borough.
SHOCC continues to support this local organization by involving staff and students in fundraising campaigns.
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SHOCC has provided nearly £60,000 to support the construction of a new primary school. Seven classrooms are now in full use and the school has grown from 70 pupils in 2015 to over 450 in 2023. It was placed third in the District in the recent national Year 4 examinations. SHOCC is currently funding the construction of a dining hall and aims to raise £50,000 to complete a reception area and staff block by 2024/5.
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In 2023, 20% of the UK’s population lives below the poverty line. In 2017, according to the End Child Poverty Coalition, nearly 6,000 children (15.9%) were living in poverty in Richmond upon Thames. Whilst this is the lowest level of any London borough and is well below the 53.4% for Tower Hamlets, it still remains a challenging figure.
SHOCC has provided over £3,500 to support the work of this local organization.
Read the full project brief
Occasionally SHOCC is asked to support the education of an individual child whose parents have died. It cannot support many such children and usually has to find donors who are willing to provide funding for the period of the child’s education. At any one time, it is common to have 3-4 such children being supported, usually by anonymous donors.
Read the full project brief