LATHALLAN pupils raise more than £4,000 for local charities by participating in the Wood Foundation’s Youth and Philanthropy Initiative (YPI)
Pupils at Lathallan School have raised more than £4,000 for local charities by participating in the Wood Foundation’s Youth and Philanthropy Initiative (YPI) – a programme designed to empower our young people to make a difference in their communities.
Subscribe to our daily newsletter
Why? Free to subscribe, no paywall, daily business news digest.
Since 2014, every pupil at Lathallan has had the opportunity to participate in the YPI scheme during their S3 academic year.
For this year, Lathallan’s YPI cohort included four groups, each representing one of the following causes: Time to Heal, Tayside Cancer Support, Calico Aberdeen and AIMS – Aberdeen Independent Multiple Sclerosis.
In a bid to secure a £3,000 grant for the charities represented, each team pitched research they had conducted about their chosen charity and their fundraising ideas to a panel of judges which included teachers, members of the previous year’s winning team and representatives from the Wood Foundation.
The winner selected by the panel was the group representing the Time to Heal, with the pupils securing a fund of £3,000 which includes £2,500 from the Wood Foundation and £500 from Lathallan School.
S3 pupil Poppy from the winning group said;
“We’ve learnt so much through YPI and are so happy to have received this funding for our chosen charity – Time to Heal. We’ve heard stories of survivors and hopefully, through our presentation, we’ve helped other people understand more about the needs of people affected by abuse.”
S3 pupil Lola added:
“We plan to do more for this charity over the coming year and are organising ‘Lathallan’s Got Talent’ next term.”
Three other groups secured £600 donations for their charities, sponsored by Lathallan’s Pipers’ Coffee Shop, located on school grounds and run by pupils for the school community as a social enterprise.
Ranjit Fernandez, Principal Teacher of Business Management and Computing Science, is the programme lead for YPI at Lathallan School. He said;
“We are so pleased to be celebrating Lathallan School’s 10th year of participating in YPI Scotland. What began as a small class-based experience for our pupils has evolved into a school-wide event, where our past YPI winning teams now host and actively contribute to the judging panel. This initiative has philanthropy at its core and has become a key thread in our annual school activity, serving as a testament to what our school stands for.”
Ali MacLachlan, UK Director at The Wood Foundation, said:
“It was a pleasure to be at Lathallan School’s YPI Final Showcase as the community celebrated its 10th year of empowering students through this vital active citizenship opportunity.
“The passion, determination, and creativity shone through, and students brilliantly showcased how the charities are addressing an array of social issues.
“Thank you to our local funding partner The Northwood Charitable Trust and thank you to the whole team at Lathallan who show such commitment to the programme year upon year.”
The Northwood Charitable Trust is the funding partner of YPI in Dundee and Angus, and Blaire Thomson – Head of the Northwood Charitable Trust – is an Old Lathallian.
Lathallan School’s YPI final for 2023 reflected on the achievements of the current academic year, as well as the legacy that has been created by Lathallan School pupils over the past 10 years.
Lathallan has raised over £30,000 for worthy causes since 2014.
