MES students with quilts for project linus

Community Involvement

Giving back at ESMS

At ESMS we believe it is our duty to help prepare all young people for their responsibility to the world at large through active involvement in service to the schools and to the local community:

  • Over 500 Senior School pupils are actively involved in community service within and outwith the schools, including the entire Sixth Form of over 200 students
  • We have raised funds for charities including Riding for the Disabled, Help for Heroes and Teenage Cancer Trust
  • Over £51,000 was raised last session by Senior School pupils for a wide range of local, national and international charities
  • The Junior School raised over £25,000 for more than 11 charities, including including Simpson's Special Care Babies, RNLI, Finlay’s Friends, NSPCC Scotland, SAMH, The Chesney Trust, Read for Good, The Yard, and Oaklands School
  • Those involved in the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme (about 300 in all) take part in service to the schools and to their local communities.

In many instances, the schools’ support for charities extends beyond fundraising to incorporate significant community projects.  All three schools support the development and management of two schools in Malawi, both through charitable fundraising, working with Open Arms Malawi, and by supplying teaching and pupil support during the summer and autumn breaks.  The Mary Erskine School and the ESMS Junior School have been heavily involved in the establishment, through The Chesney Trust, of The Edinburgh Girls’ High School in north-east Malawi. ESMS has also completed the sixth year of a ground-breaking Partnership Agreement with City of Edinburgh Council, whereby the schools took over the management and maintenance of Arboretum Playing Fields on a 60-year lease, in exchange for the restoration of the previously derelict pavilion and guaranteed continuing access by local clubs and schools.  Under the agreement, local schools use Arboretum playing fields for rugby and football fixtures free of charge on a weekly basis.