Bedales Block 4s win £3000 for charity Simon Says

Bedales Block 4s win £3000 for 'Simon Says' charity

02/12/2011

32 Bedales students in Block 4 (year 10) stepped into the limelight on 1 December as the seven finalist teams for the first ever Bedales Youth and Philanthropy presentation evening with the winners receiving £3,000 for their chosen charity ‘Simon Says’.

Over the last few months students at Bedales have been taking part in The Youth and Philanthropy Initiative (YPI), an international programme which has helped over 20,000 students in the UK to win over £400,000 for local charities. In teams, students researched social problems in the community and then chose the charities they believed are making the biggest contributions to tackling the issues they are passionate about. Students investigated how additional funding could benefit the charities and then created presentations on their chosen charity.

Having been voted into the final by their peers, the finalists were joined by an audience of Block 3 and 4 (years 9 and 10) Bedales students, charity representatives, parents and staff. The teams made inspiring and compelling presentations to a panel of judges on why their selected social charity should be awarded the £3000 donation. The charities represented included Home Start Butser, Parkinson’s UK, ‘Simon Says’, The Snowdrop Trust, Trinity Winchester, U3A and the Rosemary Foundation.

‘Simon Says’, a local charity that supports bereaved children and their families, emerged as the winning recipient of the cheque thanks to a highly professional and engaging presentation from students Cora Corre, Poppy Duncan, Jojo Mosely, Claudia Rea and James Forsyth. 

Paula Wiseman of ‘Simon Says’ said "I was thrilled to witness the superb presentation given by these inspiring young people who demonstrated a deep understanding of the work of ‘Simon Says’. Through their dedication and enthusiasm we will benefit from a very significant sum of money, which will contribute to us being able to offer a residential weekend for bereaved children and young people. Offering practical and creative activities we will be able to encourage team work, build confidence and self-esteem, encourage the sharing of individual stories, untangle and express a range of feelings, and continue the young people’s individual journeys towards understanding their grief. We are very grateful indeed to these young people at Bedales, thank you!"

Keith Budge, Headmaster Bedales Schools, praised the initiative, commenting “This has been an excellent experience for our Block 4 students. They have grown in confidence, learnt more about themselves, and also more about the Third Sector’s huge contribution to society. As a judge I was impressed with the quality and content of the presentations. Several of the charities commented how impressed they have been with the attitude and maturity of our students and are very keen to work with us in the future.”

About ‘Simon Says’

‘Simon Says’ is Hampshire’s charity for supporting children and young people to re-adjust to life after the death of someone important in their lives which can often bring confusing and conflicting emotions which left bottled up can have a devastating effect on the child in later life. If you are interested to learn more about the support offered by ‘Simon Says’, please call their office 023 8064 7550 or visit their website: www.simonsays.org.uk.

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