Lathallan students raise more than £4,000 for local charities

Lathallan pupils have raised more than £4,000 for local charities through their participation in The Wood Foundation’s Youth and Philanthropy Initiative (YPI).

Since 2014, third-year students from the school have joined thousands of young people across Scotland participating in YPI each academic year. An active citizenship programme, YPI raises awareness of social issues and local charities, empowering young people to make a difference in their local communities.

This academic year, Lathallan’s YPI cohort included six groups, each representing one of the following local charities: Alcohol and Drugs Action, Young Carers Angus, Angus Women's Aid, Time to Heal, The Haven Community Larder (Stonehaven) and Radio North Angus.

In their bid to secure a grant for the charities represented, each group pitched research they had conducted about their chosen charity and their fundraising ideas to a panel of judges which included teachers, members of the previous year’s winning team and Kenny McKeown from the Wood Foundation who acted as Judging Facilitator. 

The winner chosen by the panel was the group representing The Haven Community Larder, with the pupils securing a grant of £3,000 (£2,500 from the Wood Foundation and £500 from Lathallan). The group also raised a further £400 for the charity as part of their own fundraising activities in the lead up to the judging event.

Three of the other groups also secured donations for their chosen charities, partly sponsored by Lathallan’s Pipers’ Coffee Shop, located on school grounds and run by teachers, pupils and parents for the school community, as a social enterprise. Its focus is to raise funds for charitable causes, while giving students a taste of the world of work.  

Ranjit Fernandez, Principal Teacher of Business Management and Computing Science, and Careers Adviser, is the Programme Lead for YPI at Lathallan School. He said: “I have been impressed each year by the efforts that our pupils make to support their bid to win £3,000 for their chosen charity.

“Since its inception at Lathallan in 2014, pupil initiatives have included writing and publishing an original song (which, to this day, still raises money for their chosen charity, Hear Me, through worldwide sales); interpretive dance and emotionally-charged drama presentations.

“Pupils have also raised money through bake sales and sponsored events, showing their creativity and determination to do the best possible work for their chosen charity.”

One of these events was a mocktail evening held by the group representing Alcohol and Drugs Action in which they raised over £500 for the charity. Guests enjoyed a selection of drinks on the night made by the pupils themselves, including a mocktail made with apples picked on the grounds of Lathallan and named All Day Apple, inspired by their chosen charity.

Representatives from Alcohol and Drugs Action, Alison Thomson and Loreen Marouan, were invited to the event as guest speakers and gave an insightful presentation about the vital work their organisation does.

Mrs Thomson said:“It’s so important for young people to get involved in their communities and see the kind of work the third sector does – after all, these are the doctors, social workers and health professionals of the future, and we fully support their endeavours. Money from projects like YPI enables us to provide extra practical support to our service users that we couldn’t normally give. We are extremely grateful to Lathallan for choosing to represent us in YPI.”