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Education

Supporting learners to grow their understanding of loneliness

How we work with schools

Marmalade Trust is dedicated to raising awareness of loneliness and empowering everyone to make connections. We work closely with schools, offering FREE, interactive, and engaging lesson plans, assemblies, and resources designed by teachers for teachers. Our materials include fun printables for classrooms, as well as quizzes and guides to help EYFS, primary, and secondary learners deepen their understanding of loneliness. We hope these carefully designed resources inspire both teachers and learners!

Getting your school involved this Christmas

Our team are busy preparing to bring companionship and joy to some of the loneliest people in our region this festive season. We're looking for schools to get involved, creating cards, decorations, bookmarks or connection calendars to gift to our members. Our members (prominently older people), tell us how the children's contributions brighten their day. Last year, 87-year-old Bill told us “I will cherish the drawings, they were my favourite gift this Christmas.” 

Free downloads

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Learn about loneliness

Our charity is all about raising awareness of loneliness and empowering everyone to make connections. Download our guides and interactive quizzes.

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Choose from 11 interactive, engaging lesson plans for primary and secondary school, designed by teachers for teachers, specifically for the festive season.

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Download primary and secondary school assemblies about raising awareness of loneliness and the power of connection.

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Resources

Download fun printable resources to use in your classroom to inspire primary and secondary learners during the festive season.

15 festive fundraising ideas​

We've put together a list of ways your school can come together to raise funds for Marmalade Trust's Christmas Cheer project. 

 

Not only will you be raising funds to support our work, but fundraising is also such a good way to bring people together, find common ground and generally have a laugh and feel great!  Sounds like a win - win to us! 

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Little learners 

During a workshop at a local school, we explored the theme of loneliness. We expected a few hands when asked if they had ever felt lonely. In fact, every child's hand shot up. 

 

Their honesty in sharing experiences was heartwarming and eye-opening, “I felt lonely when my best friend Max was off sick”, and “When there was no space for me on the swings, I felt lonely”. Unlike adults, who might hesitate to discuss loneliness due to societal stigma, children understand it as a natural signal of needing more connection. Our workshop reminded us that feeling ashamed or embarrassed to talk about loneliness is a learnt behaviour, something that children don’t have.

 

Loneliness is completely normal – we are human beings who need social connections to survive! There is nothing to feel ashamed or embarrassed about. Whatever our experience of loneliness is, there are always things we can do or support available to help us feel more connected.

 

In our preparations for Loneliness Awareness Week and Christmas Cheer campaigns, we asked children to make drawings of times they felt connected, which were made into cards to give to our members. 87-year-old Bill told us “I will cherish the drawings, they were my favourite gift in the hamper this Christmas.” 

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Raising awareness in schools

Marmalade Trust has enjoyed working alongside Bristol-based schools including Victoria Park Primary, which has participated for several years in both our Loneliness Awareness Week and Christmas Cheer Projects. Helen Wright, KS1 Lead, shared her thoughts on the impact of Marmalade Trust's educational materials:

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"Victoria Park Primary School has developed a wonderful link with Marmalade Trust. We enjoy taking part in projects every year. The free informative assemblies, lesson plans, accessible resources, and loneliness guides have ensured our knowledge and understanding of loneliness has deepened. We love opening the Marmalade Classroom in our school and look forward to learning more each year about loneliness. The charity is a super special one, and we feel lucky to be a part of this community."

Get in touch

Our team are passionate about working with schools to raise awareness of loneliness and foster meaningful connections. Whether you're interested in working together, or simply have questions about our resources or projects, we're here to help. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at info@marmaladetrust.org or call us at: 07566 244788

Our three step approach

Loneliness can often feel overwhelming and something out of our control, so it can be useful to have a starting point. To help you and others to feel less lonely we have framed it into three parts.

Other ways to get involved

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From sponsored runs to cake sales, fundraising is a brilliant way to support our charity.

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Monthly or one-off contributions make such a meaningful impact to us.

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We couldn’t do what we do without the amazing support of our volunteers. Join us!

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