London Celebration!

Teams from Haling Manor High, London Academy and Parliament Hill School travelled to central London for the second London Celebration of the year. And what an event it was! We heard all about the Trust Youth projects the teams had been doing, raising money and awareness for the British Red Cross, RSPCA and Age Concern. Here is what they did:

Haling Manor

• Charity: RSPCA
  
• Year group: Year 7s and 8s
  
• Fundraising projects: cake sale (£25) and food stall (£60)
  
• Campaign: to introduce free range eggs into the school canteen
  

The team ran a Year 8 assembly to raise awareness about the importance of free range eggs, and then met with the school's Canteen Manager and Head Teacher, presenting them with a petition of almost 500 signatures from pupils in the school. As a result, the school will be introducing free range eggs this autumn. 

After a fantastic presentation at the Trust Youth Celebration, the team were awarded the Best Presentation, as well as a special certificate for participating in Trust Youth and doing such a great job for the RSPCA.

London Academy

• Charity: British Red Cross
  
• Year group: Year 10s
  
• Fundraising project: dress down day (£800)
  
• Awareness raising project: assembly in front of 300 people
  

This is the third year London Academy have been involved with Trust Youth, and they raised a huge £800 for the British Red Cross, as well as spreading the message about the Red Cross to their fellow pupils at an assembly in front of 300 people. Pamela Chapman from the British Red Cross was thrilled with their work, and handed out the Trust Youth certificate for Best Teamwork at the Celebration, as well as the participation award for supporting the British Red Cross so well.

Parliament Hill

• Charity: Age Concern Camden
  
• Year group: Year 10s
  
• Fundraising project: car wash, cake sale, pyjama day (£486 raised so far, more to come!)
  
• Awareness raising project: Clip It bags
  

This is the first year Parliament Hill have take part in Trust Youth, and they decided to support their local Age Concern in Camden. The team ran a number of fundraising projects, with more money still to come in, and through designing special trendy bags they raised awareness of the work of Age Concern. They estimate an amazing 1,200 people heard about Age Concern through their awareness raising. Gary Jones, Chief Executive of Age Concern Camden, was hugely impressed by their work, and handed them the Trust Youth certificate for best fundraising idea, as well as a certificate of participation for supporting Age Concern.

See below for comments from some of the teams on the day!

London Celebration comments

We have learnt:

• About Trust Youth
  
• About others and what they have done
  
• How our contributions can be so important and affect the lives of others
  
• How to use skills in different ways and how important they can be, such as teamwork which has improved through organising our events
  
• Most importantly, we have learnt how to co-operate and communicate when essential. How to get on with people that you may not be friends with. And how to work with teachers and gain the help needed in order to achieve our aim.
  

Sadia and Zac (London Academy), Jasmin (Haling Manor) and Hanan (Parliament Hill)

London Celebration comments

One of the best experiences we had was making new friends. At the beginning we didn’t really know each other, but as time passed we grew a relationship with each other and became close to each other.

Another good experience we had was working as a team which as a result created a bond with one another. We learnt with each other, and at the end of it we successfully achieved our goal and raised more than we could imagine.

Ylli, Ekin, Madhu, Tomi and Kelly (London Academy and Haling Manor)

London Celebration comments

We learnt teamwork, how to communicate ideas and pick the best ones. Also we learnt new skills, such as filming.

Valerie (Parliament Hill), Georgia and Nikki (Haling Manor), Keshvi and Jack (London Academy)

London Celebration comments

Throughout this project we have learnt a lot of new things. One of these was what different charities do to help and the impact they can have. We also gained a lot of communication skills because we had to speak to different people. It was also important that we worked as a team and co-operated which was something we got better at after doing the project.

The most important thing we learnt was how to be a good leader. Some of the quiter people had a chance to stand out and make a difference. We were able to show our abilities when we wouldn’t normally have the chance. Overall it made us much better people.

Charlotte and Christopher (London Academy), Fatima (Parliament Hill) and Fatema (Haling Manor High)

Celebration blogging

Last week we held our London and Dudley Celebrations for several schools who have run fantastic projects this year. We asked the students to put together blog posts on how they've found Trust Youth - see below for the results!

Dudley Celebration: student blogs!

What we enjoyed the most was knowing that all the money we were raising was going to charity - it allowed us to get to know each other more and it will encourage us all to make a contribution to charity in the future. Plus we all had ice cream and biscuits! Matt, Alex and Alex (Redhill School)

I liked raising money for charity because it was for other people. In this project we worked together and raised money for a good cause. Asma, Sarah and Noor (Pedmore School)

Individually and as a group we have enjoyed many aspects of the project. We liked preparing the fundraising events and putting up posters to advertise events for the Red Cross. During the challenge many of us made new friends and enjoyed the experience. To conclude, the best part overall was selling things and raising money. We learnt how to work as a team and developed individually. Sophie, Suzie and Ste (Redhill), Mamoona, Stacey and Natasha (Pedmore)

We found that one of our best experiences was raising money and having fun at the same time. Also, we found making posters and marketing the event was fun. Moreover, the best experience was seeing fellow students buying the ice cream and keen to help raise money for a worthy cause. From this experience, we found that we learnt how to work well within a team and how to improve if we carry out any more events in the future. Danielle, Kieran and Zulikhan (Pedmore), Lucy, Chloe and Ryan (Redhill)

The best thing about this project has been: learning lots about the British Red Cross, improving relations with our team members, selling and making profit for a good cause. The challenge has been the long queues for the ice cream stall. Vicky, Cheryl and Jo (Redhill), Kirsty, Zahra and Zawadi (Pedmore)

London Celebration: student blogs!

What’s good about Trust Youth?

• People can trust young people these days because people mostly have a low opinion of young people
• We got to work with teachers in a more informal way
• Created a community spirit within the school: people around the school were very supportive and interested in the project
• Raising money and awareness for charity – felt like we were doing a small thing for someone else, to make a difference
• Working in a team
• You realise a lot of things you didn’t know before – we take things for granted
• Doing things you don't normally do - taking part in the events
• Getting to talk to and work with people you don’t usually talk to

Trust Youth is good because it helps to develop a lot of skills that you can’t develop in a classroom.

Why do fundraising?

• When you go to university this is something good you can write on your UCAS form
• Makes you feel good about yourself
• Helping people that can’t help themselves
• New experiences
• Fun!

We’d like to thank Trust Youth for giving us this opportunity. Thanks to our mentors Heather and Rachel from the Red Cross, and our schools. We’d like to carry on and do our mentoring for the new Year 10s next year!

Hema, Aamna and Baljeet (Loxford School), and Ayse and Fasiha (Sailsbury School)

London Celebration: student blogs!

Trust Youth is a good experience as it helps kids raise money for people in need. This money goes towards helping the poor. It shows how serious young people are about helping people. We all learnt how to work as a team and in this process we got to meet new people. We enjoyed our time while doing something serious. At the end of the day we left with a positive feeling.

Salma, Nurzahan, Rowshaneva and Hanisha (Loxford School) and Tom (Crown Woods School)

London Celebration: student blogs!

Why do Trust Youth?
Trust Youth is an organisation that raises money for charity by getting young people in school involved. First we had to pick a charity and then find some information about that charity.

The best part of all this was organising the events and taking part in them. Working as a team was hard because everyone had different opinions but it was also good because we had creative ideas. We learnt many skills such as teamwork and planning.

Why do fundraising?

• To help people that are less fortunate than yourselves
• To make a profit we learnt business techniques
• We chose events that were popular so that they would be a success
• It was very creative
• Makes you feel like you’re achieving something for someone else
• Treats us as adults and respects us more
• You get noticed well

We would definitely recommend this to the younger years because it was a great opportunity.