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.