Children become entrepreneurs in school fundraising scheme

Children at Bishop’s Waltham Junior School in Hampshire have been tasked with an entrepreneurial challenge as part of a fundraising scheme by the school and its Parent and Teacher Association.  In order to raise the funds needed to purchase new equipment from leading playground equipment supplier, Playforce, the children are currently taking part in the school’s “Enterprise Scheme”.

At the start of the month-long scheme all children within the school were given £1, which they are investing in their own fundraising project with the simple aim of generating as much money as possible. Head teacher of Bishop’s Waltham Junior School, Darren Campbell said: “We’ve had some children club their £1s together in order to buy ingredients to hold their own cake sale, whilst one boy has used his £1 to buy a bucket and sponge and will be offering his services to clean cars in his spare time. The creativity that the children have demonstrated in coming up with their own fundraising projects has been fantastic.”

Another inventive child has used their money to buy a stamp in order to send a letter to Britain’s Got Talent judge and former pupil, Amanda Holden, to ask for a donation of Shrek tickets to be raffled.

Before the children are able to invest their £1 a basic business plan must be presented and approved by a teacher to ensure their safety during any fundraising activities.  Mr Campbell said: “Having taught the children some basic business principals in order to complete their plans the children are not only helping the school raise money but also learning some useful skills that could benefit them in later life.”

The children will be supported in their efforts by the school’s Parent and Teacher Association which has promised to match any money the children raise.  Mr Campbell said: “Having identified a number of pieces of outdoor play equipment we wanted to purchase we presented it to the children so that they had a clear goal to work towards in their fundraising endeavours.  We have a target of raising £6000 for all the equipment we want but the children have the added incentive of being able to choose additional equipment if we manage to raise money above and beyond our target.”

Dr Colin MacAdam, Managing Director of Playforce said: “The Enterprise Scheme that Bishop’s Waltham Junior School has implemented is inspiring.  Giving children the tools to raise their own funds for the playground equipment will surely give them a real sense of achievement, especially once the equipment has been installed and they can see what all their hard work has accomplished.  The key to any playground development project is a school’s budget and identifying where the funding is coming from. At Playforce we work very closely with schools, offering a consultative approach in order to help identify the availability of play grants and funding sources for early years, primary school and community play environments.”

The Playforce equipment that the school hopes to purchase after the completion of the Enterprise Scheme at the end of June includes the Burma Bridge, a fine line tightrope challenge which focuses effort and concentration on the feet in order to test and develop balance and co-ordination. The Solar Powered Stop Clock has also been chosen to encourage children to time themselves on a wide range of physical activities.