King's in the Community

Each year at King’s, our pupils and staff engage in a wide range of activities to raise thousands of pounds for charities close to our homes and hearts, as well as national charities that campaign on specific issues and some that help children around the world.  

Pupils themselves are engaged in choosing the charities, often reflecting concern for children in the UK and abroad and a range of health-related charities. It is to our pupils’ credit that they embrace the opportunity to help and support others beyond the school community.  

Every year, King’s staff and pupils raise in the region of £30,000 for charities. One of the highlights of our fundraising calendar is the Fashion Show organised by our Sixth Form, which each year raises around £6,000 for The Christie. In addition, King’s also donates items (such as gift boxes, hampers, etc) to Macclesfield Rotary Club, The Salvation Army, The Children’s Mission in Zambia and our partner school in Kenya.

King’s has a long history of providing community access to its facilities and forming strong links with community sports groups. Our sports facilities are currently let to community groups on five nights a week and on both Saturday and Sunday. Our multi-sports facilities on Westminster Road, including our flood lit Astros, are used by a wide range of local sports clubs. Some of the local clubs and community organisations that benefit from King’s facilities include: Macclesfield Hockey Club, Bollington Ladies Hockey Club, Bollington FC, Wilmslow Town FC Veterans, Macclesfield Junior Football Club, AFC Prestbury Nomads (Juniors), Park Royal FC (Juniors), Banardos and Macclesfield Pioneering Women.

We always welcome enquiries from other organisations about potential new partnerships. Depending on the nature of the facilities that you would like to use, facilities may be let free of charge or at subsidised rates. In the first instance, please get in touch with Caroline Johnson, Director of External Relations: mail@kingsmac.co.uk

King’s has been recognised as the first school on the planet to set up a Merit First Council to champion the United Nations’ sustainable development projects. Working with the World Merit Charity, which aims to empower young people to build a better future, King’s has been working in the local community to support sustainable development through a wide range of challenging projects. As the first school to set up a Merit First Council, King’s is now showcased as a leading example to other schools and youth organisations worldwide.

The Chief Executive of The World Merit Charity, Marlou Corneilssen, who visited King’s and presented them with an award, said: “Using the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals as our guide, we plan projects on a local and national level that create positive impact striving for a more sustainable future and a better world for all. The King’s pupils are unstoppable and relentless in their support of our goals and we are delighted to make King’s the first ever school to win our top schools’ award.”

King's pupils have worked with Cheshire Streetwise to help the homeless, supported local foodbanks, held an eco fashion show, raised money for The Christie Hospital, collected litter and recyclable plastic around the town, raised money and donated clothes to DoubleJoy orphanage, and donated sanitary products to combat period poverty.

Macclesfield Music Centre meets each Saturday morning during term time, at the King's School, making use of our classrooms, tuition rooms and halls. MMC is an independent charity offering everyone in Macclesfield and surrounding community the opportunity to enjoy making music. Members range from 3 to 80 years of age, and music is performed by groups and ensembles at all levels, providing progressive training and experience of wind band, jazz band & orchestral playing. Private music tuition is also available.

Since 2009, King’s Infant & Junior pupils have supported Destiny Garden School in Mombasa, Kenya, whose main aim is to enable children to escape poverty through education, but it also provides basic welfare through nutritious meals and clean drinking water.

Each year, our Infant & Junior pupils take part in a host of fundraising activities to support our friends at Destiny Garden School. The children have had fun hosting concerts, recording CDs for sale, participating in Santa Runs, cake sales and other activities. Last year alone, pupils raised £3000 for Destiny Garden School to boost their school lunch programme and this year pupils have raised £760 to buy new books.

King’s also has links with Connecting Kids Education Foundation (CKEF) in Ghana, which is continuing to benefit many children in the West African country. The first consignment of books, chairs and tables were put to good use by hundreds of nursery and school children in the towns of Kissi and Anum. The books and furniture were allocated to St Peter’s Nursery and to Kissi Bisease Primary School, the latter of which now has its first ever fully furnished library. The sports equipment and kit donated by staff and parents as well as the last consignment of books was shared between schools in Anum, Kisse Bisease and a new project location in a remote part of Brong Ahafo region. Each year, we also send over several hundreds pairs of donated school shoes.

Every two years, King’s pupils in Year 11 – 13 are given the opportunity to participate in a ‘World Challenge’ expedition to places such as Namibia, India, Bolivia, Costa Rica and Java. At the heart of each expedition, which is entirely planned and funded by the students themselves, is a community scheme to assist local people. In recent years, King’s pupils have laid a 2km water pipe for a remote village in Namibia, taught English in a school in India, built a wall and toilet block for a remote school in Bolivia and volunteered in an animal sanctuary in Java.

Our Sixth Form students continue to deliver a community outreach programme, delivering a range of science and team-building activities to around 450 pupils in a number of local primary schools. During National Science Week in March, our Sixth Form students planned and delivered a Science Roadshow at the Catalyst Museum to around 150 Year 8 – 10 pupils from various schools.

Sixth Form students were active throughout the year in their support of the local community with around 30 of them at any one time volunteering in local charity shops, special needs facilities, care homes, schools, hospitals and so on. Our ‘Choirs in the Community’ scheme continued, with Sixth Form Choristers attending a number of local care homes prior to Christmas in order to bring entertainment and festive cheer to our community.
 
Each year, King’s also invites local schools to attend talks by visiting authors and speakers, as well as Creative Writing and Poetry workshops, Language Workshops, Drama performances and music concerts. In recent years, King’s music concerts have raised money for Syrian refugees and a new roof for Macclesfield Parish Church.