SPECIAL SECTION – Sustainable PTAs


person to judge the competitions. Try to use broad categories, such as ‘longest vegetable’, ‘sweetest fruit’ or ‘pinkest flower’ to encourage as many people to enter as possible. Invite attendees to bring their


own homemade dishes or request donations of homegrown and locally grown ingredients and make your own food to sell. If you have a school garden, use produce from this too. Run a farmers’ market alongside


your festival and sell stall spaces to families and local people, who can then sell their own produce and homemade items. You may also want to have external stallholders – investigate your town market


Run a farmers’ market alongside your festival and sell stall spaces to families, who can sell their own produce and homemade items


for ideas. A farmers’ market can be run at any time of the year.


Second-hand sale Second-hand sales are a great


opportunity to re-home pre-loved items while giving visitors a unique shopping experience. Regular second-hand sales will encourage people to stop buying everything new and prevent old items going to landfill. Your school is the perfect


location for a second-hand clothing sale as children often grow out of clothes when they still have plenty of wear left in them. To make more of your sale, open it up to local people or run the event with another local school. Hold it in a large space such as your school or village hall. Take advantage of the seasons by collecting fancy dress clothes in the run up to World Book Day and festive jumpers in the run up to Christmas. Turn to p27 for our FAQs on second-hand sales.


Virtual balloon race Balloon races are a popular


‘Our farmers’ market raised £680’


‘To celebrate the abundance of locally grown food and lovely crafts in our area, we decided to hold a farmers’ market in the community centre in Morwenstow. The centre offers free parking and also has a play park. We charged £10 per stall and admission was free. The market attracted a large selection of food stalls selling items such as eggs jams, vegetables, honey


and sausages. We also had craftspeople and artists selling knitted products, paintings and macrame, to name but a few.. We did most of the setting up the day before and needed nine volunteers to help on the day itself. Some of the booked stallholders weren’t able to attend at the last minute, but others, who hadn’t booked, arrived asking for space and


we managed to fit everyone in. We were open for four hours and everyone pitched in at the end to help clear up. Alongside the stalls,


the PTA ran games, face-painting, a tombola and a raffle. We also sold homemade cakes and scones. We raised £680 after costs.’ Steve Brookes, PTA Chair, St Mark’s CofE Primary School, Bude, Cornwall (95 pupils)


fundraiser for PTAs, but not for the environment. Balloons can scatter miles apart and litter a wide area of land, causing damage to animals and wildlife. Even ‘biodegradable’ balloons take years to decompose, meaning one spectacular moment has a huge impact. Instead, consider setting up a virtual balloon race with ecoracing.co as a fun alternative. The website uses real weather data and geographical positions to simulate what flight path your virtual balloon takes. Balloon sponsors can even decorate and alter their balloon as many times as they like prior to launch.


Involve pupils A pupil eco-council is an


excellent way for children to inspire the whole school to go


green. Invite pupils to sign up and ask teachers if they can pinpoint any budding environmentalists. Members of the council can suggest green ideas and initiatives, help run eco-events and encourage their friends and parents to join in.


pta.co.uk SPRING 2020 43


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60