The Big Give Philanthropy in Schools programme promotes the benefits of intelligent charitable giving. Designed to be run during lesson time or as an after school activity, the scheme encourages thorough research into organisations and allows pupils to learn about the valuable work of various charities. They then decide which charity to award a donation voucher to, based on the information displayed on charity and project profiles.
Through the generosity of the Old Oundelian Club, each fourth former (year 10 pupil) at Oundle had access to a £5 voucher, which they could donate directly to a charity of their choice. Each house group was then given the chance to present a ‘pitch’ to the School’s Charity Committee for a charity that all the Fourth formers in that House agreed was worthy of receiving the grand prize donated by the Old Oundelian Club. The best five were then given the chance to present to four members of the Old Oundelian Committee in the Big Give Grand Bid, with a chance to win a £1,000 donation for their chosen charity.
The chosen houses backed MIND , Water Aid, Cancer Research UK, World Land Trust and Vital for Children.
The winners were Wyatt House, who represented MIND wearing t-shirts printed by ‘clothes2order’ who matched the £1,000 voucher, making a very generous donation of their own to MIND.
The Wyatt girls commented: ‘We chose MIND as our charity because we all feel this is an increasingly relevant topic that needs to be addressed – not only with help after the problem has started, but help to prevent the root causes of mental health issues. We need to remove the stigma around mental health, which is one of the many things that MIND addresses.
“We put in hours of research on finance, the history of the charity and why we chose it on a very personal level. It means so much to know that our hard work has paid off and that we are able to show our gratitude to a charity that truly deserves it.’
Chair of the Old Oundelian Club, Ian Hodgson, commented: “The OO Club is delighted to continue to be involved with The Big Give. The standard of the final five presentations was extremely high and having to choose a winner very difficult. However, our final decision was that Wyatt would receive £1,000 for their charity MIND with £100 for each of the other finalists namely Laxton, Fisher, Kirkeby and New House.”
Head of the School’s Charity Committee, Ian Clark, commented: “The Big Give Grand Bid 2015 has hopefully helped a number of Fourth Form pupils find out more about charities and how they work, and those who presented gained some excellent experience. We hope that the OO Club will be willing to continue its generous support in the future.”
