FUNDRAISING – 50 wishes
we used this to inspire the next stage of fundraising with a ‘this is just the beginning; look what else we could do with your support!’ approach. We were lucky to secure a spot in
the London Marathon charity ballot. Loads of parents applied to run for us, and we chose the one with the strongest fundraising plan. There was a huge buzz of support for her around the school and she raised £2,500 through her JustGiving page, all of which was ringfenced for the 50th anniversary ‘50 Wishes’ fund.
Young fundraisers To build on this excitement, we
launched a fundraiser called ‘50 for 50’. Our runner, Kayley, came and spoke to the children in assembly, and we invited them to create their own sponsored challenges based on the number 50. They could do 50 of anything they wanted. While raising money was important, my aim was to inspire the children as young fundraisers. We wanted to teach them that they are capable, that their contributions are valuable and that through taking collective
responsibility, they can have a meaningful impact, even at a very young age. The children came up with
lots of creative ideas: some wrote 50 rhyming words, and one boy completed 50 sums that added up to 50; others cycled an impressive 50 laps around the park. A couple of talented bakers made and sold 50 cupcakes. Some children took part in a sponsored silence, one boy learnt 50 Spanish words, and another played 50 holes of golf with his dad. My eldest child swam 50 lengths of the local pool; my youngest swam 50 metres. It was important to us that the
It was important to us that the initiative was fully inclusive, to show the children that their unique interests, talents and abilities are useful
carers how to create a JustGiving page, which makes it easy to share the link with friends and family who live far away and don’t usually get the chance to support the school. For those who preferred not to set up an online page, we gave an option to take part in the challenge offline. To promote a sense of collective responsibility, we suggested each child aim for a modest fundraising target of either £5 or £10. In the end, the amounts varied widely, with some children raising £20, while others raised several hundred pounds.
A feeling of pride Every week, our headteacher held a
initiative was fully inclusive, to show the children that their unique interests, talents and abilities are useful. One of the most memorable challenges came from a boy who emptied his entire bucket of Lego on the floor and completed 50 Lego walks across the pieces before tidying it all up himself! We put a printed document about
the challenge in each child’s book bag. We also explained to parents and
‘Wow Wednesday’ assembly where she read out a roll of honour of the participants. We never disclosed how much money each child had raised – instead she celebrated the pupils who had either set up or completed their challenge that week. It was noticeable that lots of new children joined the initiative on Wednesday afternoons. By the end of term, 97 children had completed a 50 for 50 challenge (a third of the school) and we held a special assembly to award a medal and a certificate to every child who took part. Their pride was tangible; lots of children who may not normally receive academic or sporting accolades flourished in this project and it was wonderful to have a way to celebrate each pupil’s unique contribution.
The next generation Although I had hoped for more
participation, the children who took part collectively raised a staggering £10,321. Now, the school council are leading plans to spend the money raised in a way all the children can feel really excited by. We are planning to create a 50 for 50 ‘thank you’ wall, with the name of every child who took part recorded as having contributed to this significant project in the history of the school. I hope every child who took part will be able to look at it with pride and say: ‘I helped make that happen.’ I’d like to think they might just grow up to be the next generation of PTA volunteers.
24 SPRING 2026 School Fundraising
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