Christmas day. We’d received various gifts as donations, and I took delight in distributing them to anyone who paid me a visit. I also handed out vouchers entitling parents to a free hot dog, drink or mince pie. I enjoyed life as the Giving Tree and feel confident the scheme will return again this year. Not many fairs can boast two Santas. But as well as having one in goal, we had another in Santa’s grotto, which we ran as a pre-paid event. It was fantastic to see the children’s smiling faces as they left clutching a new toy. From behind his fake beard,


Coach Jack was getting increasingly sweaty. He’d been saving goals continually for nearly three hours. But his efforts were rewarded – he singlehandedly raised £180. Altogether, we made £2,000 from our scaled-down fair, which we were delighted with. Without putting pressure on


ourselves, we created a wonderful event that showed the school community at its best. As a new school, we have ambitious plans for this money with several long-term projects in the pipeline. We intend to develop an outdoor learning space, a library and a rooftop garden, and our fair brought us a step closer to achieving these goals. Marianne Westergaard, co-chair of Whitehall Park School PTCA, Islington, London (400 pupils)


‘Christmas was the season of giving (and asking)’


meet its new owner. The teddy tombola has always been a highlight of our Christmas fair. Parents donate these cuddly characters then we give them a bath and fasten a luggage tag, Paddington-style, around their necks. Usually, there are only a few lucky winners, but we’d decided that this year’s tombola would be held in the spirit of giving. One turn cost 50p and every player was guaranteed a cuddly teddy to take home. The Friends decided that none of


A


the children’s stalls would turn a profit this year. Instead, our income would come from parents purchasing food and drinks from the bar. When pupils spent money, they would always receive a prize. This generosity stemmed partly


from genuine gratitude that the fair could go ahead. The lead-up to the event had been a roller coaster ride. With only three weeks to go, the headteacher approached me and asked that we hold the fair outdoors because of the pandemic. As I nodded and smiled, I thought to myself, how are we ever going to pull this off? We asked for help from the local


community. The headteacher initially thought our plan to seek sponsorship for a carousel was rather ambitious, but when a local company agreed to sponsor the ride, she was impressed. We sought a bar sponsor,


t the tombola stall, 175 teddies stood in a row, each one ready to


then a raffle sponsor and a grotto sponsor, as we discovered that local firms were happy to support their community. Overall, we received over £2,000 in sponsorship. We also asked the parents. Our fair


was due to take place on a dark November evening, and the biggest challenge was lighting. But we found out that one parent was a lighting and sound engineer, and he agreed to provide 200m of festoon lights. When we saw the joyful faces of


the children at the teddy tombola, we knew the fair had been a success. We counted the takings and discovered we’d raised almost £5,000 – one of our most lucrative fairs ever. To celebrate, we asked the teachers


to send us their wish lists. They asked for items such as wet play activities, including board games, which we were happy to provide. We also invested in new tablets and accompanying tech trolley, which doubled the number of devices available to children. While it’s hard to raise funds for a small school, the upside is that the money makes a greater difference to each child. Rosie Bucknell, chair of Friends of Blackmore School, Blackmore, Ingatestone, Essex (175 pupils)


pta.co.uk AUTUMN 2022 49


IMAGES: PENALTY SHOOTOUT: TRACEY BLANDFORD, MARKETING DIRECTOR, WHITEHALL PARK SCHOOL.


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