SleepOut

My Personal Message

About my charity

Belvedere College S.J. is a Jesuit Catholic school set in the heart of north inner city Dublin since 1832. The College is a fee paying Secondary School which is not in receipt of state annual capitation grants. In addition to academic excellence, Belvedere students achieve to the highest standards across a wide range of sporting and cultural activities. Students enjoy Rugby, Track & Field/Athletics, Cricket, Swimming/Life Saving, Tennis, Basketball, Golf, Squash, Table-Tennis, Equestrian, Sailing and Soccer and the College has a current World Champion in Taekwondo.

There is an extensive co-curricular programme of activities embracing Theatre (Musicals and Drama), Orchestras and Wind Bands, Choirs, Debating and Chess. There are student exchanges with Austria, Spain, France, U.S.A., China and India. Annual school trip destinations include Barcelona, Greece and Italy.

The aim of Jesuit education is to form leaders in service in imitation of Christ Jesus - men and women of competence, conscience and compassionate commitment. This requires an integration of the head, heart and hands in the service of justice from a perspective of faith. Intellectually rigorous Religious Education classes, annual retreats, participation in the sacraments and personal and communal prayer and reflection all lead students to the service of others in imitation of Christ the Man for others. In keeping with the Characteristics of Jesuit Education, Belvedere, as a Jesuit College, aspires that each student leaving the College would be open to growth and be intellectually competent, spiritual and committed to Justice. Social Justice activities have a special place in the life of the College arising out of the firm conviction that faith, which does not express itself in love for others and the passionate quest for justice, lacks authenticity. ‘Love is shown in deeds’. (Loyola)

The Social Justice Activities included in the College Curriculum are many and varied. Many of our students choose to teach English as a second language in the inner city. This is a programme for refugees in conjunction with Jesuit Refugee Services (JRS). Through Belvedere English Language Lessons (BELL), they also provide support for immigrant students in other local schools as well as working with Magis Ireland (The Jesuit Young Adult Ministry) for youth volunteers in developing countries. Each week, students visit the sick and elderly in the locality as volunteers in the St.Vincent De Paul Society. Those involved in the weekly ‘Soup Run’ provide food and company to the homeless on the streets of Dublin.

The College is a major contributor to Focus Ireland and the Peter McVerry Trust for homeless children in the inner city. Belvedere students “Sleep Out” on the street for three days and nights in the run up to Christmas to raise funds for the homeless. The ‘Block Pull’, a sponsored walk by the Students from Dublin to Galway in aid of Temple Street Children’s Hospital/Guide Dogs for the Blind, takes place annually in June.

Further afield, students complete a sponsored cycle of the Camino de Santiago in Spain in aid of the Belvedere Youth Club for Inner City Children. Other students accompany pilgrims to Lourdes on the Dublin and Oblates Pilgrimage, work with the most deprived in Kolkata or are involved in development projects in Africa.

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