In 2016, Oundle School once again ran the Big Give’s Philanthropy in Schools programme, which aims to inspire the next generation of philanthropists.
The programme promotes the benefits of intelligent charitable giving. Designed to be run during lesson time or as an after-school activity, the scheme encourages thorough research into organisations and allows pupils to learn about the valuable work of various charities. They then decide which charity to award a donation voucher to, based on the information displayed on charity and project profiles.
Through the generosity of the School’s alumni Old Oundelian Club, each Fourth former (Year 10 pupil) at Oundle had access to a £5 voucher which they could donate directly to a charity of their choice. Each House group was then given the chance to present a ‘pitch’ to the School’s Charity Committee for a charity that all the Fourth formers in that House agreed was worthy of receiving the grand prize donated by the Old Oundelian Club. The best four were then given the chance to present to three members of the Old Oundelian Committee in the Big Give Grand Bid, with a chance to win a £1,000 donation for their chosen charity.
The four Houses chosen for the final were Bramston who backed Build Africa (www.build-africa.org/ ); Laxton who backed the Willow Foundation (www.willowfoundation.org.uk/ ); Sidney who backed Meningitis Research (http://www.meningitis.org/ ) ; and Wyatt, who backed Childline (www.childline.org.uk).
The winners were Wyatt House, with Lily Rose Tebbutt, Maddie Terrell, Flora Stocks, Charlotte Phillips, and Sophia Ogilvie representing Childline, who are also planning to present on Childline at Laxton Junior School.
Head of the School’s Charity Committee, Ian Clark commented, “The Big Give Grand Bid 2016 has hopefully helped a number of Fourth Form pupils find out more about charities and how they work, and those who presented gained some excellent experience. We hope that the OO Club will be willing to continue its generous support in the future.”