Strathblane Primary Fundraisers
End of year report 2008-2009
The SPF have had a pretty busy and productive year. We have organised a wide range of events and activities. Not all of these are ‘fundraisers’ – some are purely social events; some have raised money for other charities. However, we have also been successful in raising a significant amount of money for the school.
I am enormously grateful to the large number of parents who have been involved in SPF activities throughout the year. Each event has been co-ordinated by a different person or team or people, meaning that no one person got saddled with too much workload or responsibility (with the possible exception of Linda Barclay our Summer Fair hero!) At each event we have received a huge amount of support from parent helpers. It would have been impossible to run these events without this support.
SPF activities over the last year comprised:
Halloween Disco (October): We had a very successful Halloween Disco (in two parts – one for the younger pupils, and one for the older pupils). These were organised by Beatte Schwann and Jennie McCutcheon. The two discos were well attended, and appeared to be thoroughly enjoyed by all.
Africa Day (November): The SPF supported the school with their ‘Africa Day’ event, with the SPF involvement co-ordinated by Suzy Ure. A large team of parent helpers were involved in assisting with the sponsored race and classroom activities. It was great for the children, school staff and parents to work together for this great cause.
Christmas Fair (November): Val MacCorquodale co-ordinated our Christmas Fair, which was very well attended and was a great fundraiser. Again, we were grateful to a large number of parent volunteers who assisted at various stalls. Feedback was very positive, but the SPF also took notes of lessons learned for how the event may be improved in future.
Christmas Concert (December): Gun Organ and Debbie Bolton organised the raffle hamper (which raised a lot of money) and also co-ordinated the teas and coffees, assisted with a band of parent helpers.
Red Nose Day (March): I organised the Red Nose Day joke competition in school which raised money for Comic Relief. I subsequently used all the jokes from the day to compile a school joke book which has been sold to raise funds for the school.
‘Shamrocks & Shortbread’ Ceilidh (March): Vivienne MacKay and I co-ordinated the ceilidh event, which was well supported and attended. Although this was primarily a ‘social’ rather than ‘fundraising’ event, it did make a significant profit. It appeared to be well enjoyed, and it was nice to see parents and children dancing together!
‘Rag Bag’ (April): Rag Bag continues to be a good fund raiser – literally providing money for old rope! This years collection was less profitable than last year, but still well worth doing. The funds raised subsidised the performance of ‘Reduce, Re-use, Recycle’ for all classes in the school.
Summer Fair (May): Linda Barclay did a fantastic job of co-ordinating our very ambitious all-day summer fair event. The SPF teamed up with the Strathblanefield Community Development Trust for the event. Linda had a vast team of helpers – both organising the event and helping on the day. Feedback has been very positive, and it was a very successful fundraiser. We have also taken notes of lessons learned for future summer fairs.
In addition to the events above, the SPF have been on hand to provide support and refreshments at school events such as the recent meeting for parents of P1 entrants.
The SPF are grateful for the assistance and support of school staff at our events, in particular Mr Thom who is extremely supportive and accommodating, and is always there to the end with a broom in his hand!
The Next SPF Year
We have one event scheduled for the next academic year – the Fair Trade Fashion Show on Friday 23rd October, which Ann Scott is co-ordinating. This will involve all classes in the school.
I will be stepping down as Chair, but very much hope to continue being involved in fundraising activities. A new Chair will be selected at our first meeting of the new term: 8pm Tuesday 1st September at the Blane Valley Inn. This meeting will also involve drafting out the calendar of events for the forthcoming year.
Considerations for the new SPF Year:
• Clearly it will be important to consult with Mrs Logan regarding the proposed calendar of events for the year.
• This year we included an event for pupils only (the Halloween Disco) and an event for families (the family ceilidh), but there was no event purely for parents – e.g. in previous years there were events such as wine tasting evenings. Perhaps next year a parents’ social night could be included in the calendar.
• The ceilidh was successful, but perhaps should not be done every year – the family quiz night was popular the previous year. It might be worth considering alternating the family event with a quiz one year, ceilidh the next, or considering any new ideas for a family event.
• I would suggest that the SPF calendar of events and the choice of themes for events should consider what is going on in the school. For example, by happy co-incidence P5 had Scotland as a topic when we were putting on the ceilidh, so we were able to use their artwork as decoration. However our Summer Fair theme of North America did not tie in with any topic work. It would be nice to have more cohesive planning of events and themes.