Pupils in Tyne and Wear raise more than £2,600 for charity

Caring youngsters in Tyne and Wear have helped to generate more than £2,600 for charity through a series of fundraising events that they organised themselves.

The annual fundraisers have become a regular fixture in the calendar at St Mary’s Catholic Primary in Cullercoats, led by the school’s Mini Vinnies group – junior members of the St Vincent de Paul Society, a Chrisitian voluntary organisation devoted to tackling poverty. 

“Each year, our Mini Vinnies organise events to support our charitable giving and helping the common good,” explained Joanne MacDonald, Deputy Headteacher at St Mary’s, which is part of the Bishop Bewick Catholic Education Trust.

“The charities can be suggested by our school community or by the Mini Vinnies themselves. In previous years, we have supported St Oswald’s Hospice, Marie Curie, Lymphoma Action, and Maggie’s.”

The campaign kicked off with a whole-school sponsored walk, which raised almost £1,700 for the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development.

“This year was our bi-annual Big Lent Walk, where our whole school community, from Nursery to Year 6, completed a combined total of 700km around our local area to raise funds for CAFOD,” said Mrs MacDonald. “We raised an amazing £1,689, and were presented with a certificate during a thank you assembly by CAFOD representatives.”

Besides CAFOD, three additional charitable causes were chosen to benefit from the school’s support.

“We always fundraise for our local St Vincent de Paul, as the Mini Vinnies is part of that charity,” continued Mrs MacDonald.

“This year, the staff selected our local Mind charity, in support of our work around mental health, especially for men. One of our Mini Vinnies suggested the Sightsavers charity, as his father has fundraised for them before.”

Once the charities had been selected, it was down to the pupils to decide how funds should be raised, with the Mini Vinnies again taking the lead – and bringing the fundraising total to an impressive £2,643.86.

“The Mini Vinnies choose the fundraising activities for their chosen charities,” added Mrs MacDonald. “This year, they invited each class to lead a weekly cake sale, with children bringing in a selection of cakes to sell to their peers. 

“The Mini Vinnies also organised a Rainbow Craft Day, making a range of crafts from bookmarks to pebble pals, from keyrings to jewellery. They then asked everyone to pay £1 to come to school in rainbow-coloured clothing and buy some of the crafts.

“It was a wonderful day, and helped us raise £954.86 that was distributed between our three charities.”