Four of our primary schools took part in the Cash For Kids Sports Challenge this year. Caldew Lea Primary School, Newtown Primary School, Petteril Bank School and Yewdale Primary School got creative whilst coming up with innovative and exciting ways to raise as much money as they could for their school.
The Cash For Kids Challenge runs across participating schools in Cumbria for one month, from 16th September to 16th October, to raise as much money as possible. Each school retains all the money they have raised, plus they get a chance to win one of five cash prizes. The school that raises the most money wins £5,000, with second place taking the £2,500 cash prize and the third-place finalist winning £1,500. There are additional £500 prizes for the most creative fundraising idea and best use of social media.
Our schools got their creative thinking caps on and devised some ingenious ideas!
Caldew Lea Primary School held a fantastic Sports Challenge Day, an action-packed day with bike-a-thon challenges, a spin bike that did not stop all day and lots of other fun activities. The highlight of the day was the children being able to take penalties against Carlisle United goalkeeper Tomas Holy!
Newtown Primary School and Yewdale Primary School both held a ‘Break The Rules’ day, in which the children were allowed to break the rules, but each rule broken would cost them £1. An example of some of the rules that were broken were wearing non-uniform, bringing toys into school, eating their favourite snack at break time and even a double breaktime! Mrs Lund, Family Learning Mentor, and parent, Samara Cuthbert from Newtown Primary School, even completed the Great North Run to raise funds!
Petteril Bank School set up an incredible ‘Get Muddy’ assault course, where the children certainly got very muddy indeed! They enjoyed running through the mud and showed great teamwork and resilience when completing their challenges – what a fun way to raise money.
All of the schools held a disco dance-a-thon too because who doesn’t love a good boogie to music! The children all enjoyed donning their disco outfits and dancing the afternoon away – the best way to stay active whilst having plenty of fun.
Collectively, the schools have raised an astounding £9,531.15! This total meant that they were the second highest fundraiser, meaning they also scooped up the £2,500 prize, as well as Petteril Bank School winning the Best Fundraising Idea award, with an additional £500 prize. This means the total funds raised sits at £12,531.15 – an incredible amount of money that will go back into our schools to improve the opportunities given to our young people. We are so proud of the staff’s creativity, the willingness of the children and the generosity of our parents and community – thank you all. A big thank you must also go to Mrs Lund who tirelessly organises this incredible fundraising challenge every year.
