Community Contributions

Throughout the year, the children at St James's have lots of opportunities to give-back to our local community. We believe that teaching our children to make valuable contributions to their local community is a vital part of them becoming well-rounded and successful individuals. Here are just a few of the ways in which our children have made community contributions this year.

Liddiard Court

Closer to home, we also consider the pastoral care of people living in our parish. Our pupils have visited Liddiard Court, a local residential home, where they have performed Christmas hymns, read with the residents and played board games, offering them companionship and company.

Harvest Festival Donations

We are pleased to support ‘Your Local Pantry Manna House’, a local membership food shop in Halesowen. Members pay a small subscription of a few pounds a week, and in return can choose groceries worth many times more, often saving up to £1,000 a year on shopping bills. Manna House Pantry is currently helping around 200 local families struggling financially to save on their groceries.

Click Here to visit the Manna House website.

We also continue to support the Black Country Foodbank. In 2024, Black Country Food Bank supported over 17,000 children in our local area.

You can find out more about Black Country Foodbank by clicking on the following link:

Click Here to Find Out More About Black Country Foodbank

Black Country Foodbank - People Helping People | Videos & Movies on Vimeo

We have received the following message of thanks from the Black Country Food Bank:

To all at St James's CofE Primary School, Wollaston

Thanks you very much for choosing to support Black Country Foodbank with your Harvest Collection thios year. All food collected and donated will go towards helping those in your community who are in crisis.

You collected and donated 228.5kgs of food and 12kg of non food, an amazing amount.

Once again, many thanks for your support.

The Team at BCFB

Blythswood Shoebox Appeal

As a Church of England primary school with Christian values, it is very important to us that our children have the opportunity to see and experience our values in action. Participating in ‘Blythswood Shoebox Appeal’ enables our children to apply the values of kindness and respect. Since Blythswood’s first Shoe Box Appeal in 1993 they have sent more than 2.8 million boxes – each one different, each one personal, each one an expression of care and kindness towards a stranger in need. The mission of the ‘Shoebox Appeal’ is to provide a message of hope for families in need who are experiencing some of the toughest circumstances around the world. We will be inviting families to fill a shoebox with small, but much needed, items - a form of easily transportable ‘Christmas stocking’ wrapped and packed with love. In recent years, our shoeboxes have been delivered to the Ukraine. Last year, we received a grand total of 96 shoeboxes and were very grateful to our children and families who transported these from St James’s to a local collection point - the car was jam packed! We hope that this helped our children to remember that Christmas is about sharing hope and love and that, in the words of Jesus, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive' Acts 20 v 35.