Local students have collectively raised more than £13,000 for terminally ill people as part of St Catherine's Hospice Youth Enterprise Project (YEP).
Designed to develop students' business skills, YEP challenged students to unleash their inner entrepreneurs. It asked them to organise fundraising events that would raise a minimum of £1,500 for St Catherine's with the support of 12 business mentors from NatWest who also sponsored the project. NatWest gave the students £50 as an initial investment and supported them as they worked on their fundraising.
The pupil's amazing achievements were recognised at an awards ceremony last night (25 April) at Christ's Hospital School in Horsham.
The ceremony gave five teams of pupils from Hazelwick School and Thomas Bennett Community College in Crawley, and Tanbridge House School in Horsham the chance to showcase their fundraising ideas to a judging panel in a bid to win an award.
Pupils were also supported by family, friends and teachers, as well as Trustees from St Catherine's and senior NatWest staff.
Innovative presentations showcased varied fundraising ideas including bake and hot chocolate sales, refreshment stands, film nights and even designing and making a bespoke phone holder at school to name a few!
Schools scooping an award on the night included:
- Hazelwick School - Most money raised
- Hazelwick School - Most pounds per pupil
- Thomas Bennett - Best presentation
- Caterham Team 2- Most innovative fundraising idea.
Sophie Peckham, Community and Events Fundraising Manager at St Catherine's, said: "It was fantastic to hear the innovative ways our schools raised money for us with the support of their NatWest mentors. I hope they're as proud of themselves as we are of them. Without our supporters, we wouldn't be able to care for local terminally ill people when it's needed most. And it's great to engage with younger members of our community to help them understand more about the work we do caring for local people and their families. The awards night was really inspiring and the efforts of all the young people involved will make a huge difference to the people we care for. I'd like to thank all our school teams, their teachers, parents and NatWest mentors for making YEP such a great success! I'd also like to thank Christ's Hospital School for allowing us to host the awards there."
If you are interested in finding out how your school can get involved in YEP next year please contact Abi Harley and Felicity Parsons in St Catherine's Community Fundraising Team on: comfun@stch.org.uk or: 01293 447316.