SCHOOL’S OUT l l Worth sharing i t y
‘We held a campout to highlight local homelessness’
Lying outside on a dark February night last year, my fingers were turning different shades of blue. Unfazed, I reached for my woolly gloves in a bid to keep warm. In neighbouring gardens, another 20 families from our secondary school were shivering in the cold too. Why had we pitched our tents in the middle of winter? To fundraise, of course. We called it our ‘Great Garden Campout’ and split the proceeds between the school and Manna House, a local homelessness charity. Providing they had a garden,
families were invited to make camp ‘We brought a defibrillator
to our local community’ An ambulance pulled up outside our school, blue lights flashing and sirens blaring. Inside, the children were practising CPR, but this was not an emergency. We were celebrating the launch of our new community defibrillator. The PTA is on a mission to make life-long memories for the
children and build a strong relationship with the community. Local people are always so generous when we’re fundraising for our school, so it’s important to help them out in return. So when the school floated the idea of a defibrillator, the
PTA suggested it be made accessible to the wider community too. We needed to raise £1,600, and we were so fortunate that the Yorkshire Ambulance Service offered to split the cost. We were blown away by the community effort, and in two months, we had surpassed our target, raising over £2,000 through raffles, donation boxes and JustGiving. The mood was incredible as we unveiled the defibrillator. The school held a special assembly to teach the pupils about this life-saving kit with the Yorkshire Ambulance mascot, ParaTed, in attendance. We love fundraising for the community because it shows our children how important it is to look out for each other. Lynsey Ryder, previous chair and Sarah Fawcett, current chair, Robin Hood Primary School PTA, Wakefield, West Yorkshire (450 pupils).
58 SPRING 2022
pta.co.uk
for a night and raise sponsorship. Because of Covid, groups couldn’t mix at the time, but the campout gave people something unusual to do and the chance to help out. We saw the event as a chance to sensitively remind
people that they were sleeping outside by choice. Of course, if we really were too cold, we could just grab another blanket, but homeless people don’t have that luxury. As well as promoting the serious message, we
encouraged families to enjoy themselves and share pictures on social media. People got very into it, posting images of their families setting up tents, toasting marshmallows around a campfire and having a boogie before bedtime. We collected sponsorship through JustGiving
(
justgiving.com), and our campout raised £1,100. Half went straight to Manna House, and the rest supported the school with geography trips and foreign language library books. Our success has made us keen to run our ‘Great Garden Campout’ annually. We hope to see children team up with their friends and the head teacher pitching his tent this year! Claire Wickham, Chair of The Queen Katherine School Association, The Queen Katherine School, Kendal, South Cumbria (1,100 pupils).
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