Entrepreneurial students raise funds for Brontë heritage project
A group of entrepreneurial students at York St John
University have raised vital funds to support two Brontë heritage
projects in Haworth as part of a university module designed to
develop employability skills in the Arts.
A pilot scheme, set up between the
University’s English Literature programme and Haworth Parish Church
and the Old School Room, involved second year undergraduates
contributing to the awareness and fundraising programmes for both
the Parish Church and the Old School Room.
One option in the students’
employability-based studies is to contribute to a community living
heritage project with a strong literary connection. Both the Parish
Church and the Old School Room play central roles in the legacy of
the Rev. Patrick Brontë and his internationally famous author
daughters.
Six students from York St John University
volunteered to work alongside the two Haworth-based organisations
and raised more than £600 through fundraising activities, including
a book sale onsite in Haworth and a cake sale on the York St John
campus.
Professor Gweno Williams, module leader and
National Teaching Fellow at York St John University said:
“The students on the ‘Working with words’
module have not only explored and developed vital skills relevant
to future employment in the Arts and Humanities, but also directly
contributed to a project striving to sustain Yorkshire’s literary
heritage.”
Rev. Peter Mayo-Smith, the priest in charge at
Haworth Parish Church, added:
“We are enormously grateful to the fundraising
efforts of the students and it has been a delight to see them work
hard in support of our projects. The Parish Church is close to
completion of the first stage in a three-part, five-year project to
restore the Victorian building while Brontë Spirit have just begun
a major restoration of the Old School Room across the other side of
Church Street in Haworth.”
Following the success of the pilot scheme, it
is anticipated that the project will continue to run each spring
with a new group of undergraduate students devising awareness and
fundraising activities in collaboration with Haworth Parish Church
and the Old School Room.
Picture shows (left to right): Averil
Kenyon, Haworth Church treasurer and member of the Future Group;
York St John students Rebecca Clarke, Heather Bothwell, Abi Wing,
Lizzie Shannon; and John Kirk, one of the Bronte Spirit trustees in
Haworth
For further press information please contact Amy
Hall, PR & Communications Officer on T: 01904 876466 or
E: a.hall@yorksj.ac.uk
