TONYREFAIL Community School in Rhondda Cynon Taf has chosen Platfform to receive a £1,000 grant, won at a competition organised by London-based charity First Give, set up to inspire young people to learn about social issues in their community.
The ‘First Give Final’ took place on 14 February at Tonyrefail Community School where a group of children from Year 8 (8ESK) presented examples of the vital work that Platfform carries out in the area around homelessness and mental health. The judging panel, made up of three members of the school’s Senior Leadership Team, a School Governor and a First Give representative, were so impressed with the 8ESK students, and the knowledge they had gained during their research, that they awarded the prize fund of £1k to the class.
Platfform’s Service Manager, Andrew Evans, and Senior Case Worker, Olivia Morris, were in talks with the school before Christmas following an email received from school teacher, Miss Emily Kinsey.
Miss Kinsey commented: “My Year 8 students were undertaking First Give’s programme during their wellbeing lessons and had chosen to support Platfform if they won the top prize.
“They are so passionate about the brilliant work that the charity does in the Rhondda Cynon Taf area and were keen to raise awareness of mental health, and at the same time, support their local community.”
To improve their chance of winning the prize, the students asked to meet the local Platfform team in person during one of their wellbeing lessons. Andrew and Olivia visited the Year 8 class in January and spent time talking to the children to explain the different types of work that the Platfform teams deliver, and organised group exercises with the students to explain their approach to mental health.
Andrew commented: “It was an amazing morning, and the enthusiasm the class had engaging with us was quite emotional, but in a really positive way.
“We’re so very grateful and in awe of their enthusiasm in choosing us for the prize, wanting to not only win the prize money, but to promote awareness of what we all do in RCT. We cannot thank 8ESK enough!”
As part of their project to win the grant, the 8ESK students also carried out a social action plan including drop-in wellbeing sessions in school called ‘8ESK Cares Every Day’, a sponsored walk, bake sale and raffle, adding to the final donation to Platfform, which totalled £1375. Andrew, Olivia and the wider team at Platfform are already deciding which of their projects should benefit from this generous donation. They also plan to continue to build on their relationship with the students at Tonyrefail Community School to strengthen their connections locally and raise further awareness of their work in the area.
