You may remember at the start of the year as part of our good news stories for January we shared with you the fundraising efforts of Largs Out of School Care Club. We want to share with you more about what they have been doing for Signpost and what happened at the end of January.
In October of last year the children of an after-school club in the North Ayrshire town of Largs decided they wanted to start a business enterprise to raise money for a charity. They asked staff members if they could be given some options of charities that they could support. One of our supporters who works for the after-school club brought in some of our materials for the children to see. After going through the materials they decided to choose Signpost as the charity that would benefit from their business enterprise.
The group decided they would create and design crafts and goods which they could sell to family and friends. They designed hot chocolate mugs, keyrings, candles, Christmas tree decorations, and baked cakes.
Once they had produced many different items the children began selling them in the lead up to Christmas. As well as selling the crafts to family and friends they also had a stall at the Largs Primary School Christmas Fayre. On top of selling the items for Signpost they took the opportunity to display Signpost leaflets at their stall, giving people the opportunity to find out about Signpost.
The group kept selling all the way up until the Christmas holidays. When they returned in January they counted the money to find they had raised £250 for Signpost.
When the team at Signpost heard of all their hard work and effort in raising money for us, we knew that we had to go and thank them.
On January 27th 2020 Peter McEleny our communications officer went and visited the children and staff at the after-school club.
Peter had been asked to share with the children more about Signpost and the work that we are involved in. Peter took the opportunity to let them know about one of our areas of work, WASH – Water, Sanitation and Hygiene. He explained the water crisis that exists throughout the world especially in developing countries such as Uganda and Tanzania, two of the countries that Signpost currently works in. The children were able to have a go of lifting the containers that many young children have to carry for hours each day to collect water. One of the girls said, “I can’t believe how heavy this container is and there isn’t even any water in it.”
The children were then able to try our tippy-tap demonstration, a simple way that many throughout the world use to ensure effective handwashing without the use of running water.
The talk concluded with the children handing over a cheque from Largs Out of School Care club to Signpost International. Peter again thanked the children for all their hard work and presented them with a certificate officially thanking them for all of their support.
After the talk the children came out in groups to use our virtual reality headsets. The VR headsets transported them from the hall to the countries that we work in. They were able to journey with those in the communities that we walk alongside and were able to see what a day in their life looks like. The headsets were a great success and the children loved exploring the classroom in Uganda that they were able to see.
For Peter the highlight of the visit was when a 10-year-old boy asked, “When I am 20 can I come and work for Signpost because I really want to?”
It is fantastic that young children here are engaging in the work we are involved in and want to know what they can do to help others.
Signpost International would once again like to thank all the children, staff and parents of Largs Out of School Care Club for supporting us.
