The Friends of Ferncumbe
Chairs’ report 2023/24
Chairs’ Report - 2023 / 2024
The Friends of Fernucmbe are delighted to report an especially successful year of fundraising, from numerous social events, activities and sponsorships during the academic year 2023-2024.
We are immensely appreciative of all the hardwork and commitment given by our trustees throughout the year: Jenny Bradley, Gemma Carver, Dani Coe, Tamara Friedrich, Mal Gardner, Teri Greenhouse, Jo Hannaford, Jo Lancashire, Lucy Lilley, Monica Panzaru, Heather Reid, Gemma Skinner, Siobhan Skinner, Tracey Webb.
There are also many non-committee members whose help is invaluable, from those who volunteer, advise or help out behind the scenes.
We are always grateful for the parents who give up their time, donate and bring their children to our events. We try to have a full and varied calendar of activities across the school year, so hopefully there is something for everyone to enjoy. The money raised is all used to benefit our children with the majority being given towards the enrichment activities, which we believe truly do enhance school life. Without the funds we continue to raise, some of these wonderful experiences would not be possible.
In the Autumn term we kicked off our year of events with the annual Friends of Ferncumbe BBQ, which came with a twist this year; having Dough and Brew providing pizza instead. This was combined with a Ferncumbe bake-off. There were some very creative entries and the team bravely endured the chore of tasting all the delicious cakes, eventually managing to choose the winners! Well done and thank you to all the children who brought in cakes.
The Christmas Fayre was a new event where we ran some stalls ourselves (such as reindeer food, hair tinsel and preloved decorations) and invited outside companies too. Thank you to Prasanna, Jaya and all the staff at The Falcon for their generosity in working with us to host this event at their pub. We had some great feedback from parents, who enjoyed buying Christmas crafts, watching Miss Forbes’s school choir singing beautiful carols and of course taking their children to meet Father Christmas. At this fayre we also launched our new ‘100 Club’ giving participants the opportunity to win money in the monthly prize draw.
Our other Christmas fundraiser was selling cards that the children designed in school with the help of their class teachers. We know parents love buying these every year to send to friends and family. Many parents also opted to buy a Christmas gift for the school using our Amazon Prime wishlist and we were overwhelmed by the generosity shown, which resulted in children benefiting from many new books, games and stationary items in the new year.
In the Spring term our first event was the annual Parents Quiz, which this year, was kindly sponsored by Hatton Heating. Our usual quiz master Mike challenged us with another tough selection of rounds and competition was fierce as ever, but for the second year running the teachers table took first place. We’ll hopefully see them there again next year, fighting to retain their crown.
Over half term we had another virtual balloon race, won this year by Rowington Class. Then our final event of the Spring term was the sell out Easter bingo. Parents and children alike socialised, played bingo, ate Fish and Chips and had plenty of Easter eggs too. Thank you to everyone who donated an easter egg or prize on the non-uniform day. All the leftover eggs were taken to school, where they played more bingo, so all the children were given a chance to win prizes. Thanks to Tim Finerty, our bingo caller and his helpers too.
‘Break the rules’ day was the first event of the summer term. Yet again with many children eagerly awaiting this event since the start of the school year, they loved coming in wearing a variety of outfits, reflective of their unique identities!
A new event for us this year was hosting tea and cake at Wren Hall. This weekly event is run by a different charity each week and we were lucky enough to be chosen for a Sunday in June. Parents and staff baked hard over the preceding days and many Ferncumbe families came along to support, as well as the Wren Hall regulars. Special commendation to the volunteer kitchen staff who worked non-stop throughout the event. We were thrilled to make an exceptional profit of over £1000 and hope to be given this opportunity again.
This year’s summer fete took on an enchanting ‘Midsummer Magic’ theme for midsummer’s eve. The fete committee worked hard to design wonderful stalls along this theme and each class ran at least one stall, with many children and parents helping out on the day. It was well attended by staff, pupils and their families who played many games, ate, drank and enjoyed the long, summer evening. The planning and hard work paid off, with much enjoyment had by all, in addition to another impressive profit.
At the end of the summer term we joined the Rags 2 Riches scheme and clothes donations from families were exchanged for profit. As we ended the school year estate agent boards were being put up at houses across the local area, with Mr & Mrs Clarke promising to donate £25 for each board that was installed. Over the summer a team from JLR volunteers came and refreshed a few areas of fencing and repainted our sheds. We think they look lovely and are very grateful.
Some companies offer match funding which can really boost what we earn for each event, so please could all parents, especially those new to the school, check if the company you work for may offer this. This year match funding has significantly added to our profits, a huge thank you to Handelsbanken who have been able to match fund the Christmas fayre and Wren Hall teas.
Other money has come in the form of generous sponsorships, corporate donations and charitable trusts donations. Some of the committee have spent hours instigating this and we are very grateful for the success they have had. Much of this money has been set aside for our next big project which is developing the school playground. Plans are well underway for this and we hope to make a start in the next few months. If anyone does know of any local businesses that may be able to support us in some way then please get in touch.
As well as the huge undertaking of funding playground development, we plan to continue to donate to school enrichment activities and other opportunities such as science week sessions and Christmas presents to the classes.
Full details of our fundraising and spending is available on the annual Treasurer’s report.
If you would like any more details or would like to find out more about what we do or how to get involved please email: thefriendsofferncumbe@gmail.com
This was our second year chairing the committee and we are grateful for the support and advice from school, especially Tamson, in planning and running the events. The new committee members who joined this year have been a joy to work with. They are enthusiastic and dedicated. We could not have had such a successful year without them and look forward to many future ventures.
Thank you
Ellen Reid and Sarah Hoskin
