Parents and Friends Association

Summer Fete 2024

 CHAIRPERSON REPORT - October 2023

The objectives of our school PFA are to organise fundraising events and activities and make these as much fun as possible for the children and to involve as many people as we can. All funds raised and spent are for the benefit of our Astrum schools. As parents, carers, grandparents, teachers and LSAs of the children of the school, we are automatically members of the PFA and anyone can volunteer to help the PFA at any time no matter how big or small the task and how little free time.

Looking back on the fundraising year of September 2022 up until July 2023, it started out with the postponed summer fete from July 2022, this proved to be the right decision to have postponed.  The weather held up considerably favourably compared to the heatwave of July, the turnout was excellent, and we managed to raise £3791, including the match funding from Janet Mitchell at Barclays.

Ideas for fundraising from the previous meetings were put in to place, some ideas were:

• Amazon Smile which has now been discontinued by Amazon
• Easy Fundraising which we continue to promote on a regular basis
• Xmas for schools
• 50/50 raffles
• win a day off work raffle
• and a quiz night

After the summer fete, our next big event was the quiz night held in February 2023.  This too was a huge success and enjoyed by all.

Our next major event was the summer fete in June 2023 which raised £1381.50. With match funding by Barclays, courtesy of Janet Mitchel, we got an additional £924.65 and we also received £1000 from Shell, courtesy of Victoria Blackburn. This gave us a grand total of £3306.15

I would like to extend some thanks. Firstly, thank you to the members of the committee who continue to pull together despite all their personal, work and family commitments. It goes without saying, that without all the PFA helpers, who generously give time, lend equipment, sponsor, donate and contribute, there would be no PFA events. We have achieved lots and we are proud of what we have all accomplished.

I would like to at this point mention the contributions of Steven Day who up until April 2023 was co-chair with myself.  Steven was instrumental in making the fete a success as well as the quiz night which was so popular due to his contacts with quiz master, Reg Wheeler, who made the evening such an entertaining and engaging event.  Steven stepped down from his position in April due to personal commitments and I must say, I have definitely felt his absence. His skills in graphic design are par with an expert in the field and his event management was flawless.

I feel we need to find a way to engage and involve more people in to our events.  We have some wonderful suggestions on how to continue to grow and raise funds, but this can only be done if we have the manpower to support the events.  Victoria has been great in sourcing grants, but without the support in putting together the applications, the funding out there is beyond our reach.

Whilst we celebrate our successes, I think it is important to recall the demanding workload placed on the few volunteers we had in place. I would suggest we create a strategy to recruit new members before we move forward on planning more events to create a more realistic balance of responsibilities. The summer fete, in particular, cannot continue as a responsibility for a handful of individuals. If we cannot recruit the necessary volunteers to create a fair workload, I suggest that each site take ownership of individual fetes.

I think we should make enquiries with local secondary schools and offer volunteer positions for students who wish to gain experiences they can apply to their UCAS applications.

I welcome any further implementations we can make to ensure our continued success in fundraising.

Ameena Gilani

If you are interested in getting involved please email newbridgepfa@gmail.com

We continue with our easy fundraising campaign which to date has raised £37.31.

Easy fundraising is an easy and free way for anyone who shops online to donate to the PFA.  Download the app and do your on-line shopping via easyfundraising and the retailer will make a proportionate donation to the PFA with no cost to you. www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/newbridge-pfa/ With over 8000 retailers participating, every penny you spend will make a difference to the PFA.