EDUCATORS at a school in Penarth have been left 'astonished' as students at a special needs school raise an incredible £26k for school and career essentials.
Sixth form students at Ysgol Y Deri have managed to raise over £26,000, in collaboration with Careers Wales, with the aim of raising enough money for a mini bus which can take them to attend important careers events and experiences.
Heading up the initiative were the school's post-16 transition lead, Stacey Long, and Careers Wales’ business engagement adviser, Geraldine Doyle, who saw that students would benefit from visits to future employment sites, although no means of transportation was a barrier for the students.
Stacey Long, said: "We set a fundraising target of £20,000, we were astonished by how quickly this was reached and surpassed with a total of £26,393.97.
"The success of this project was down to the hard work of the pupils, Careers Wales, and a fantastic promotional video that they produced in conjunction with Slam Media.
"Our new ‘Bus to Our Future’ van is now on the road and branded with logos of the companies that sponsored it. It is an invaluable resource to get pupils out on work placements and work-related visits."
Pupil-led campaign, entitled the ‘Bus to Our Future,’ was launched to raise money for the new minibus, with local employers joining to support the campaign and equip students with the skills they needed to achieve their collective goal.
Industry professionals like Bethan Wicks (marketing expert) and a representative from the Safe Foundation charity, delivered sessions to the pupils. These sessions aimed to equip the students with fundraising strategies, how to gain exposure through social media, how to create an impactful presentation, how to create a catchy campaign name, and how to apply for funding.
After these sessions, students went on to deliver presentations and pitch to local and national businesses such as Admiral, an insurance company, while also practicing their pitches with Viridor, a resource and waste management company.
Viridor were able to help students secure a £3,000 grant, while Admiral were able to donate a whopping £10,000 to the fundraising efforts.
Geraldine Doyle, Careers Wales’ business engagement adviser, said: “I was delighted with the enthusiasm of pupils.
"I could see it was making a real difference to their confidence.
"They really threw themselves into this campaign and learned some important work skills along the way.
”The minibus will allow the pupils to access valuable careers and work-related experiences to expand their horizons and prepare them to make future careers decisions.”
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