For more than 20 years Archbishop Holgate’s School has enjoyed fruitful links with projects, schools, charities and individuals in both South Africa and Uganda.
The Diocese of York is twinned with three Dioceses in South Africa – the Dioceses of Cape Town, False Bay and Saldhana Bay. As a Church school Archbishop Holgate’s has fostered a great link with the Diocese of Cape Town. This started with a visit by two staff in 2004 and has continued with seven subsequent visits by staff and students, the most recent in April 2018.
Project work this time included creating a new play area at an AIDS orphanage, teaching in a school, planting a vegetable garden and doing other work that that the school has partnered with over many years. This year the students took thirteen extra suitcases full of donated items in addition to the large amount of things in their own luggage. This included over 800 World Book Day books, almost 100 pairs of football boots, two suitcases full of football team strips, knitted items donated by local church members, teddy bears and other cuddly toys and a huge amount of second-hand clothes for babies and children. These were donated to a variety of groups from township football teams to an AIDS orphanage, local schools, a maternity hospital, a foster home and support groups for HIV sufferers. It is estimated that the group took well over 300KG of donated items in the additional cases and in their own luggage. The task of transporting these items across London was challenging.
The visits to Cape Town involve extensive community service and educational elements; as well as getting to know the people, culture and history of Cape Town. The latter is achieved through visits to churches, youth groups and through home stay. Our visits always have a threefold dimension to them. There is the educational element; visiting Robben Island and Table Mountain, as well as other places. There is the extensive community service element and finally there is element of engagement with local people through home stay with a local church and a school, attending youth events and working alongside the local people.
As a fruit of their on-going relationship with the Diocese of Cape Town the school has twice played host Capetonian students who came to study in the Sixth Form as part of a month long exchange. Archbishop Holgate’s students made reciprocal month long visits to the prestigious St Cyprian’s School in Cape Town. The school has also welcomed a group of Capetonian footballers and youth workers from the Diocese too. Sadly the visit of 2020 was cancelled due to the worldwide COVID pandemic. The school has maintained its links with its many partners in and around Cape Town, and is exploring how to resurrect another visit to the Diocese of Cape Town in the future.
So successful is the schools link that our Chaplain is a member of the steering committee of the York Diocesan link group with Cape Town. Abaana is a Christian based charity which invests in Children in Africa, helping them to break the chains of poverty, through education. Most of their projects are in Uganda, working in 13 locations supporting the children and parents in those communities. They have been able to build 13 schools, support churches and sponsor over 1,300 children as well as working with children on the streets and other projects. Abaana has raised over £1,000,000 to help build schools, medical projects, water pumps and support many children in need. In April 2024 Archbishop Holgate’s School was delighted to be able to welcome the Abaana New Life Choir to spend some time with them. Their visit proved to be a highlight of the year for many people at school.
In the first quarter of 2024 twenty children and their chaperones toured Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The purpose of this was to raise funds for the ongoing work of Abaana; especially in terms of education and work with orphaned street children. The tour has also had the added benefit of raising awareness about their work too. Archbishop Holgate’s was the only concert and host venue in York, and the only school to host the choir in mainland Great Britain. This is the third time that a choir of children from Uganda have visited the school. A choir visited in both 2017 and in 2019.
In July 2025 19 pupils and 2 staff set off on a Journey to Uganda.The aim of our Journey was to provide valuable support to the charity Abaana in transforming the lives of children and their communities in Africa. Before leaving for Uganda, as a team pupils had fundraised over £5000 in order to raise vital funds for equipment and resources that would need to be taken.
When arriving in Kampala, the group’s first destination was the Abaana guest house. Here they were greeted by Aunty Fiona, Aunty Jill, Aunty Mary, Aunty Sue and Aunty Joanne, not to forget their helpers Charles and Shirat! The guest house is owned by Abaana and staff here ensured that pupils settled into the climate of the country, teaching them some of the local customs and traditions. To climatise pupils even more to the local culture, the staff at Abaana set the group a ‘Market Challenge’. The team was split into 4 groups and given the same amount of money. The task was to shop for set ingredients on a list and haggle for the cheapest price. Being from England and tourists, it’s common to be charged high prices, so pupils needed to work hard to bring the costs down.
During the trip pupils were able to visit Saint Julians school and the home of the New Life Choir. The Choir sang for the team and spent time asking about life in England. They also enjoyed playing football in the courtyard. Four of the team were also able to be reunited with the children that they sponsor and spent time talking to them about how much they are benefiting from the support of Sponsorship.
Visiting a Remand Home in Naguru pupils were exposed to a place where children were awaiting trial from a range of petty to serious crimes. Hundreds of boys and 7 girls confined to a small place with no educational materials or resources, left to wonder what life had in store for them. The team’s time here was quite sombre and at times felt a little helpless but the children here showed so much kindness and generosity, we only hope that many of them get a second chance in life.
The team’s next visit was to the Abaana New Life Homes, it was here that they would meet Uncle Ronnie, our helper for the next week. The New Life Homes is a home that houses 28 children that have been rescued from the streets of Kampala. These boys have been homeless for long periods of time, beaten, bruised and even suffered serious accidents such as being struck by motorised vehicles. Listening to their stories, donating football kits and games, it was the New Life boys that served the group with some life lessons that would live with them forever, love, unity, hope, compassion, trust, dance, resilience, the list could go on and on. These young boys truly taught the pupils the true meaning of ‘your present circumstances don’t determine where you go’. Like the New Life Choir, these boys rely on Sponsorship. Money received here goes to pay for shelter, food and education.
Travelling 6 hours East to Busia, on the border of Kenya, is where the team would be spending a week. The team would spend time in the local community and work to paint the whole of Kisole Primary school, alongside completing a full 4 day teaching timetable. Each morning they arrived they were greeted with song and dance.
A day of school here would begin at 7am and finish at 5pm, children would be set homework each night for the next day and in some cases had to carry out a 4 hour round trip walk, on their own, from as young as 4.
Kisole Primary School is a remarkable place with a remarkable school community. Parents of the children support the school and the christian values it represents. On arriving at the school, many parents arrived to greet the team, giving them blessings throughout our speeches and performance of Waka Waka. As a team we enjoyed teaching children arts and crafts, parachute games, reading for pleasure, duck duck goose and much more. The highlight definitely being the whole school sports day run, splitting the school into houses and undertaking activities such as tug of war, javelin and sack race.
Alongside all of the fun and activities, the team would rotate to ensure the important job of painting the school took place. The school was painted both inside and out with the help of an experienced local painting and decorating team. The final results were amazing and the pupils and staff were so happy that the school was now beginning to look like a real place of learning.
The group would spend a weekend in Busia doing something really very special and that was visiting the homes of some of the pupils in the primary school, meeting their families and undertaking typical work and activities that would have been carried out in the home each day. Throughout our visit we learned so much about the community and were able to bring the families we visited soap, salt, rice, toothbrushes and toothpaste. Houses were made from mud, beds on floors, food farmed and prepped as a collective family effort before each meal time. Water was collected from distances away and balanced on heads with remarkable strength. Outdoor spaces were kept clean using sweeping brushes made from harvested materials and clothes washed using a basin and soap. Whilst in the home, we were able to assist with many of the daily chores.
It was hard for the team to put into words what this experience has taught them, though it taught them so much. As they continue on with their studies and eventually their next steps, there will always be a part of them that remains in the ‘Pearl of Africa’. Whilst the pupils went to serve and support a remarkable community and culture, providing them with some provisions and resources to enable them to grow and thrive in careers that would support their families, will they ever know the lasting impact they had on them and their lives. For that they are very thankful.
The school aims to continue the partnership with Abaana and Kisole Primary School, giving pupils the continued opportunity to experience something truly remarkable and to make a difference to the lives of others.