Over the past three years, the St Hilda’s Anglican School for Girls community has raised more than $500,000 for charitable organisations, including over $180,000 in 2026 alone. Alongside this remarkable fundraising effort are countless hours of volunteering, donations of essential items and practical support for communities both locally and overseas.
While the figures are impressive, they tell only part of the story.
From Junior School through to Year 12, community service is an important part of a St Hilda’s education. Grounded in our Anglican faith and our value of Belonging, our girls learn that being part of a community is not only about feeling supported, but also recognising the difference they can make in the lives of others.
Making a difference through fundraising
One of the School’s largest fundraising initiatives is the World’s Greatest Shave, with the St Hilda’s community raising more than $300,000 for the Leukaemia Foundation over the past three years.
Each year, girls make the significant decision to cut, colour or shave their hair in support of Australians living with blood cancer. For many, particularly in their senior years, it is a meaningful personal commitment that demonstrates their willingness to put others before themselves.
The Leukaemia Foundation has recognised the ongoing contribution of the St Hilda’s community.
“Donations raised by St Hilda’s students help the Leukaemia Foundation to continue investing in critical blood cancer research and provide lifechanging support to the 170,000 Australians, and their families, currently living with blood cancer around the country. Year after year, we have been amazed by the compassion and sense of service shown by St Hilda’s students as they come together for the World’s Greatest Shave, and we cannot thank them enough.”
More recently, our Year 11 girls raised more than $41,500 for Anglicare WA’s Street Connect service through the School Sleep Out, achieving the highest fundraising total of any participating school.
Street Connect provides vital support to young people experiencing homelessness or at risk of losing stable housing.
Anglicare WA Community Engagement Manager Kelly Keall praised the girls’ efforts.
“This year’s outstanding School Sleep Out fundraising result of more than $41,500, the highest fundraising total of any participating school, will help Street Connect continue providing vital support to vulnerable young people while also showing the incredible impact young people can have when they choose to take action for others. When St Hilda’s students support Anglicare WA and organisations like us, they take their compassion and turn it into action. We are proud to see these future leaders carry this sense of empathy, equity and social responsibility with them as they leave school and make their way in the world.”
Other organisations supported by the St Hilda’s community include Ronald McDonald House Charities, the Royal Flying Doctor Service, Variety – the Children’s Charity and the Dogs’ Refuge Home in Shenton Park.
Giving more than money
While fundraising is an important part of community service, the contribution of our girls extends far beyond financial donations.
Across Junior and Senior School, girls are encouraged to share their time, skills and energy in ways that make a meaningful difference. In Years 10 to 12, every girl is required to complete 40 hours of community service across her senior years.
These contributions take many forms. Our girls have:
- Tutored children in literacy and numeracy in regional communities.
- Prepared warm meals for people experiencing homelessness, with staff helping deliver them to those in need.
- Donated sporting equipment through Fair Game.
- Crocheted beanies and blankets for people in need.
- Learnt Auslan to communicate with deaf children at a local primary school.
- Supported St Christopher’s Home in Fiji through maintenance work and donations of clothing, stationery and essential items.
Each experience provides an opportunity to better understand the challenges others face and recognise how even small acts of kindness can make a difference.
Developing a lifelong commitment to service
St Hilda’s Principal Fiona Johnston said service was deeply connected to the School’s Anglican identity and its value of Belonging.
“Belonging is about more than feeling that you are part of a community. It is also about recognising our responsibility to others and understanding that we all have something we can contribute. Our Anglican faith calls us to look beyond ourselves, to notice where there is need and to respond with compassion and action. We want our girls to leave St Hilda’s understanding that success is not only about what they achieve for themselves, but also what they contribute to the world around them. By giving our girls meaningful opportunities to contribute throughout their education, we hope that sense of service stays with them long after they leave St Hilda’s.”
For our girls, service is an opportunity to develop empathy, confidence and a greater understanding of the world around them.
The more than $500,000 raised over the past three years is an achievement of which our entire community can be proud. But equally important are the hours volunteered, meals prepared, skills shared, hair donated and countless acts of kindness that cannot be measured in dollars.
Together, they reflect a culture of giving that we hope our girls will carry with them long after they leave St Hilda’s.
