Mental Health Awareness Week takes place this week from the 12th to the 18th of May and the theme this year is community.
“Being part of a safe, positive community is vital for our mental health and wellbeing. We thrive when we have strong connections with other people and supportive communities that remind us, we are not alone. Communities can provide a sense of belonging, safety, support in hard times, and give us a sense of purpose”. (Mental Health Foundation, 2025).
At St Margaret’s School for Girls, community has been one of our five core values for almost 180 years and has been at the heart of everything we do. Girls are encouraged to show concern for those in the wider community within and beyond Aberdeen. In the very first edition of the school magazine, The Chronicle (1930), there is a report of students visiting Linn Moor School for convalescent children to give a concert. “We went into the hall to give our concert. We sang, recited, acted and danced and the children seemed to like everything very much”. Almost 100 years later, girls at St Margaret’s are still supporting Linn Moor Residential School as they collaborate with Voluntary Services Aberdeen (VSA), to design and fundraise for a brand-new sensory room at the school. Linn Moor is a specialist education service offered by VSA dedicated to supporting children and adults with complex additional support needs. Though history has firmly separated the girls by time and space, they are forever connected through an enduring commitment to community support. It is part of the rich tapestry through which their dedication to the school values is woven and continues to bind the past with the present.
From the earliest age, nursery and junior school pupils at St Margaret’s undertake visits to local care homes. It teaches them to appreciate different generations and builds a bond between them, fostering mutual understanding and affection. The experience is also integral in developing a social conscience as children learn the value of empathy and the importance of caring for others in the community from a very young age. Across the Senior School, the girls fundraise and volunteer for communities both close to home and abroad. Nandi (IIIS) volunteers in the 'Pastor’s Welcome' at her church. This special event, designed to introduce new members to the congregation and pastoral team, is a significant occasion requiring dedication and teamwork. Lena (IVS) volunteers within the school at Nessy Club, an initiative that supports younger students in developing their literacy skills through an engaging online platform. Beyond school and church, Fiona's (VS) volunteering journey has extended to animal shelters, community centres, and charity fundraising. One of her most significant projects was a 2022 fundraiser for the Annika Linden Centre in Bali, a cause close to her heart. Inspired by a late friend’s wish, she and her peers sold sustainable flower sculptures, raising an incredible £2,000 to fund prosthetics and physiotherapy for those in need.
Within St Margaret’s itself, the school fosters its own community that extends long after pupils leave. St Margaret’s Connect, is an online community for former pupils and staff. Though it is a digital forum, the physical sense of community is still very much present. Former Pupil Days provide opportunities to catch up with old friends, share memories and maintain the connection of the wider St Margaret’s community in a very real and tangible way. Being kept informed of upcoming events and news has the effect of consolidating ties even with those who have long since left the school. Creating a forum for alumnae to share their photos and memories encourages the growth and preservation of real, enduring relationships. Being able to access the details of past pupils and staff means that if people lose touch, they can find each other again. Because so much of what makes a community after all is not just connecting, but re-connecting.
In any community, support of course works both ways and with St Margaret’s Connect, alumnae are able to give back to St Margaret’s and support them in various ways. They might choose to become a Friend of the school, make a donation, or leave a gift in their will. Most recently we have seen this sense of community at the fore during the St Margaret’s Way Challenge. Over the course of the 2024/25 school year, Head, Anna Tomlinson, and teacher of Chemistry, Judith Robson, have been walking the St Margaret's Way in Fife, the only Scottish pilgrimage route named after a woman - Queen Margaret of Scotland. The goal of the challenge is to raise essential funds for the school's Hardship Fund and means-tested Bursary Programme. The Hardship Fund provides vital support to families facing unexpected challenges, ensuring that their children can continue to thrive in the school community. Meanwhile, the means-tested Bursary Programme opens doors for pupils who might otherwise be unable to afford the opportunities the school offers. The support which has been shown, not only in monetary terms, but from past pupils, parents of current pupils and friends of the school, as they walk every mile alongside Anna and Judith, is testimony to both an enduring sense of school community and a desire to continue to help others beyond it.
If we thrive in strong communities, then it is no wonder the girls of St Margaret’s, both past and present, are able to do just that.
