Abstract

For adult hospices, engaging with schools is a challenge; many support children’s charities. We wanted to engage with secondary schools, to educate them about hospice care, help to develop some key skills and get them fundraising.

Our Five-0 Project was aimed at secondary schools, who were challenged to recruit a team of six students and raise a minimum of £1,500 over 11 weeks from a start-up investment of £50.

We visited to talk about the project and what it would mean for the school. Recent reports from the government and the private sector have expressed the importance and benefits of Enterprise in education in today’s schools. Schools were particularly engaged with the emphasis on business skills, innovation and supporting charity. We recruited seven schools including three new supporters.

Our sponsor, NatWest, provided three mentors for each school, to support their business ideas, how to maximise income from their fundraising and events, and covered the cost.

In January, a launch evening gave all schools the opportunity to meet each other and their mentors, and start discussing their ideas. We held two progress meetings to offer encouragement and support to the students. The schools visited the hospice to understand our work and how they were making a difference.

At the awards evening, schools presented their experiences over the 11 weeks to a panel of judges, including what they had learnt about the hospice and new skills they had developed. We were overwhelmed with the positive feedback from students, schools and parents. The Project raised over £17,000 and two schools did not reach their £1,500 target. The Five 0 Project will now become an annual fundraising initiative for secondary schools for our hospice.