The HOPE Foundation and the Rockwell College Union - Archived from 2022-

Over the last number of years, the Rockwell College Union has given important and much

needed support to the HOPE Foundation, a charity firmly embedded in the Transition Year

programme of Rockwell College and throughout the school as a whole.  

The HOPE Foundation is dedicated to promoting the protection of street and slum children in

Kolkata and the most underprivileged in India. HOPE works to effect immediate and lasting

change in their lives. With 60 projects, HOPE provides sustainable holistic solutions to

protection and development. By providing healthcare, counseling and education, HOPE

ensures children in its care enter adulthood equipped with the tools and support they need to

live healthy and happy lives.

Each year, pupils from Transition Year travel with the HOPE Foundation to see first-hand the

plight of the street children. Substantial fundraising is required to enable the pupils and their

teachers to travel and the fundraising covers travel costs and a significant donation to the

work of the charity. By donating to this fundraising, the Rockwell College Union is helping

to provide HOPE with the means to give education and healthcare to the most vulnerable of

Kolkota and thus provide them with a real future. The Spiritans have a commendable

tradition of working with the poor across the world and, through its support of the HOPE

Foundation, the Rockwell College Union continues that tradition. The funds provided enable

the charity to run schools and healthcare facilities, but also to provide the basics of childhood

like crayons, books, toothbrushes and small toys to children who have nothing. Education is

a vital step in the war against poverty and HOPE gives that education to help improve the

lives of generations of people.  

For the pupils who participate, the experience is life changing. Those who take part continue

to support the charity after they return and some even travel back to India to work directly

with HOPE. The Rockwell College connection to the charity is further strengthened by the

role of Denis Leamy, former pupil, who is a Goodwill Ambassador for the charity.