Since 2014, S3 pupils from Lathallan School have been among the thousands of young people from across Scotland participating in The Wood Foundation’s Youth and Philanthropy Initiative (YPI) each academic year.
An active citizenship programme, YPI raises awareness of social issues and local charities, and empowers young people to make a difference in their local communities. This year, Lathallan’s YPI cohort included six groups, each representing a different charity:
- Alcohol and Drugs Action (ADA): Elizabeth Cook, Pippa Hopkin, Maia Dinsmore-McFarlane and Tigerlily Toley
- Young Carers Angus: Charles Gilbert-Talobre, George Russell and Megan Field
- Angus Women’s Aid: Oscar Waddell, Robbie Greenwood, Julietta Sikorsky and Evie
Colquhoun - Time to Heal: Alexia Humphrey, Tatum Henderson and Imogen Grantham
- The Haven (Stonehaven Community Larder): Darren Hamilton-Hall, Harry Devlin, Daniel Coll and Marcus Summers
- Radio North Angus (RNA): Patrick Coll, William Irvine-Fortescue, Corin Stewart and Oliver Milne
The YPI Final was held at the school before the Christmas holidays, with each group pitching their research and ideas to a panel of judges, including: Senior School PE Teacher, Mr Gabriel-Clark; Senior School Maths Teacher, Mrs Sarah Lyall; Junior School Teacher, Miss Naomi Bell; and fellow pupils’ and members of the 2021/22 YPI winning team, Arran Keenon, Ruaridh MacIver and Ailsa Arbuthnott.
Together with Mr McKeown from the Wood Foundation (Judging Facilitator), the panel chose which group to take responsibility for directing a grant of £3000 (£2500 from the Wood Foundation and £500 from Lathallan) to the charity they had championed, with The Haven crowned the winner.
Three of the other groups also secured donations for their chosen charities, sponsored by Lathallan’s Pipers’ Coffee Shop: ADA, £150 and Time to Heal, £100; and Angus Women’s Aid, £50. In addition, the following was raised by each group as part of their own fundraising activities: Angus Women’s Aid, £150; ADA, £554.70; Time to Heal, £96.40 and The Haven, £400.13.
Ranjit Fernandez, Principal Teacher of Business Management and Computing Science, and Careers Adviser, is the Programme Lead for the Youth and Philanthropy Initiative (YPI) at Lathallan. He said: “I have been impressed each year by the efforts that our pupils make to support their bid to win £3000 for their chosen charity.
“Since its inception at Lathallan in 2014, pupil initiatives have included writing and publishing an original song (which, to this day, still raises money for their chosen charity, Hear Me, through worldwide sales); interpretive dance and emotionally-charged drama presentations.
“Pupils have also raised money through bake sales and sponsored events. The mocktail evening run by the ADA group was another first and, once again, our pupils have impressed with their creativity and determination to do the best possible work for their chosen charity.”
One of this year’s highlights was the ‘All Glamour, No Damage’ mocktail evening held by the ADA group, during which guests enjoyed a selection of drinks made by the pupils themselves, including All Day Apple, made with Lathallan apples and created to pay homage to the charity the event was organised in aid of.
Representatives from ADA, Alison Thomson and Loreen Marouan, were invited to the event as guest speakers and gave an insightful presentation about the vital work their organisation does, with Mrs Thomson saying:
“It’s so important for young people to get involved in their communities and see the kind of work the third sector does – after all, these are the doctors, social workers and health professionals of the future, and we fully support their endeavours. Money from projects like YPI enables us to provide extra practical support to our service users that we couldn’t normally give. We are extremely grateful to Lathallan for choosing to represent us in YPI.”