COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES
SCORE! is a youth development project in the inner city Hulme and Moss Side areas of Manchester. It is run by Coniston Hall and is sponsored by the Manchester City Council. University students volunteer to give a few hours each week to help in the educational and social development of young people aged 10-15 living in these areas. The programme is based on one-to-one tutoring together with sports and musical activities. The tutoring provides essential skills in mathematics, science and English, while the activities foster team spirit and social awareness. A key factor underlying the success of the programme is the motivational inspiration that the university students provide as role models for young people with limited social expectations. The programme runs on a weekly basis during term time and there is also a two week summer project August. For more information contact us!
Visits to the elderly and those in need A great part of the social work encouraged by Coniston Hall are the visits made by students to hospitals, old people’s homes and, in general, people in need. The purpose of these visits is to offer the lonely and those in need the warmth of a friendly conversation rather than solving great human or economic problems. Students likewise, benefit from what they do since their eyes are opened to the needs of others, thereby increasing their awareness, experience of life and encouraging their solidarity and generous response.
SOCIAL PROJECTS ABROAD
Coniston Hall has organized several social projects in Kenya, Poland, Estonia, Israel and Mexico. These projects are always carried out in cooperation with local NGOs that have a good knowledge of the needs of the beneficiaries targeted in each case. The projects bring together students from different countries together with British volunteers, who work side by side for 3 weeks in the summer. Before that, the student volunteers from Britain are involved, together with the project leader, in the preparation of the project. They work together to raise the necessary funds, acquire a basic knowledge of the languages involved, get to know each other and form a balanced team that will work well together.
The Monkolé Project
Monkolé hospital was opened in 1991 by a small group of medical students who were researching in Kinshasa. Today, it has 46 beds, 15 doctors and 50 nurses. It saves many lives every year: 33,000 patients were treated in 2006, and 38,000 children have so far attended Monkolé’s health and hygiene education courses in their local schools.
But, although it now serves half a million people, Monkolé hospital is only equipped to carry out 350 surgical operations a year. Mothers and young children are at particular risk, and, in line with World Health Organisation aims, we are raising funds towards a new Mother and Children Medical Centre.
