At UK School Trips we realise that many of you are working hard to plan fun and educational outings for your class or group on very tight and restrictive budgets.
This is why we have created a forum to share fundraising ideas and help each other find the extra money that trips are often dependant on.
You may be astounded at the entrepreneurialism that you have available, right to hand. Do you have Alan Sugar in the making in your class or group? A fundraising initiative is a great way to uncover commitment, passion, energy, creativity, a sense of camaraderie and great for developing many important life skills.
For this section to be a success we need you to help each other. Please send your stories of successful fundraising to clare@ukschooltrips.co.uk with your name, position and the area where you are based so that we can share them in this section
Also if you use one of the ideas that you find on here please let us know and we can create a testimonial to how well our ideas work.
Over time, with your help, this will develop into a fantastic resource.
Here are some of our ideas to start you off. Please let us know if you use any!
EASYfundraising
To help your school fund future trips for free, we have partnered with online fundraisers easyfundraising.
What is easyfundraising?
easyfundraising is an online platform that turns online shopping into free funding your school can use to enable more learning outside of the classroom. They do this by partnering with over 6,000 retailers who want to give a little back, including John Lewis, eBay, booking.com, Sainsbury’s, Currys Just Eat, Argos, Etsy, and thousands more. Free and easy to use, easyfundraising democratises giving, enabling parents, regardless of their socio-economic background to help fund your school’s future trips through their everyday spending.
Does it work?
Joanna Stuart has raised nearly £1,000 for Lady Eleanor Holles School without changing her spending habits. Joanna commented, “Whether it’s my weekly delivery from Sainsbury’s, buying electrical goods from Argos, some bedding from John Lewis, or booking holidays at booking.com, the cash pours into my daughter’s school.”
What does it cost?
Absolutely nothing! It’s free to open an account, free to use and will never cost you or any of your supporters a penny extra on your shopping.
Easyfundraising is paid directly by the retailer, as are you, meaning it remains a cost-free solution for your school fundraising which you can use towards your LOtC activities, making school trips even more accessible for all of your students!
How Do I Open An Account?
- open your account at easyfundraising.org.uk/uk-school-trips
- Once registered, your school can book a 1-2-1 call with the easyfundraising team for tips and advice on raising as much as possible. There is also an online portal with personalised pre-built flyers, posters, social media copy, and images to help promote easyfundraising to your school community.
- Spread the word – share the ‘support us’ link you will find in your account and get parents, governors, teachers and more raising monies through their online shopping too!
Since its establishment, easyfundraising has raised over £40M for good causes and charities. Over £5M of that, schools have used to give their students better experiences, in and outside of the classroom.
Help fund more experiences for your school; register to get started; www.easyfundraising.org.uk/uk-school-trips
EBAY
A great way to fundraise and at the same time develop commercial awareness and IT skills.
Set up an Ebay account and get all of your pupils or group members to bring in unwanted items to sell on Ebay. Keep going for however long it takes until you have made enough money to fund the trip you want for everyone involved. Give regular updates to where you are and where you need to be. Maybe set targets and deadlines depending on the age of you group. Most jobs these days involve working to targets and deadlines so this would be great for older children.
TEDDY BEARS PICNIC
Perfect for younger children and nursery schools. Hold a picnic where children pay to bring along their favourite teddy bear.
TALENT CONTEST, PANTOMIME, SHOW OR CONCERT
Sell tickets to parents and neighbours. Work out the cost of the trip per person and then price the tickets at a percentage and work out how many tickets each pupil needs to sell. EG Trip is £5 each. Tickets are £2.50 each. Each pupil to try to sell 2.
TEA DANCE
A great way to involve your local community. Hold a tea dance that is from 3.30pm (or whenever your school day end) Pensioners can be lonely and love to be around youngsters. Brighten their day and raise the funds you need. At the same time teach your group about history by using a theme from bygone years. EG the 1920?s. Have music, food, dancing and a dress code from the time you chose. Price the tickets reasonably and approach pensioners within the schools neighbourhood. This could be something that is done monthly. All pupils have to get involved by dancing and socialising with their elderly guests.
PLAYGROUND CAR WASH
Once again done after school. By charging £5 per car for a full clean you could quickly raise enough money for that dream trip. If you don?t have the facilities ask each child to offer car washing services to members of their family, neighbours they know and friends of the family.
MOTHER AND BABY CLUB
Another way of involving your local community by giving them what they need. Use your school hall once a week at a set time. Put down your gym mats for babies to have a good crawl on, layout the chairs and offer tea and coffee. Make sure all the mothers with babies in your local area know. A good way to do this is through your community doctor, midwives, health workers and library.
FARMERS MARKET
In line with healthy eating- children could be responsible for growing vegetables in the school garden and then have a ?farmers market? when they are ready to eat.
NON UNIFORM DAY
Again in line with healthy eating, children give up their snacks for the day and donate the money to the trip fund. In return they don?t have to wear their uniform.
NEARLY NEW SALE
An old fashioned Ebay. Invite the local neighbourhood along to a sale of good quality second hand items, such as crafts, books, clothes and toys. One persons junk is always anothers treasure.
