School & College Partnerships

Partnership Opportunities

We can work with schools, colleges and other insitutions in a multitude of ways but currently focus on the following options:

• Help 6th-forms and other institutions run their own Sleep Easy event
  
• Hold Tri-Challenge sports events for younger children
• Support primary schools in creating activities for World Homeless Day

Why not hold your own Sleep Easy!

A number of schools, colleges and other organisations have held Sleep Easy fundraising events on our behalf. Sixth-form students seek sponsorship and then build shelters out of cardboard boxes before spending a cold night (in a safe environment) ‘sleeping rough so others don’t have to’.

This year’s schools have included Ferndown Upper, St Edwards, St Peters, Poole High and Lychett Minster.

We provide guidance, set up the fundraising mechanism and provide all the materials and presentations the institution needs to make the event a success.

Students welcome the opportunity to raise awareness of homelessness and the funds to combat it; staff appreciate the team-building, social-good and educational aspects; and everyone enjoys the fun!

Find out more about Sleep Easys here.

Tri-Challenge Days – Education, Inspiration and Fun!

As operators of The Junction Sports and Leisure Centre in Broadstone and Lifewise Gym and Sports Hall in Westover Road, YMCA Bournemouth are fortunate enough to have access to a great deal of sports equipment and expertise.

We’ve taken advantage of this to create an event for local schools called the YMCA Tri-Challenge Day.

Arranged in advance, our professional trainers visit your school from 10am to 3pm (or to suit the school) and then introduce up to 600 children, split into groups, to three amazing sports:

• Basketball
• Archery
• Golf

All activities include essential coaching advice plus plenty of ‘have-a-go’ time in a fun-based, encouraging atmosphere. A ‘Thank-You Certificate of Attendance’ will be awarded to each participant.

All we ask is for each child to bring in a single £1 coin to go towards our work in the local community.

Numerous Schools have taken part in a Tri-Challenge Day. Get in touch if you’d like us to come and visit you!

World Homeless Day – Den Days & More

Many local primary schools have chosen to support our work by holding events marking World Homeless Day on October 10th.

Following discussions with us as to what they might need, schools such as Bishop Aldhelms’s CE Primary School in Branksome have requested classroom activity packs, fundraising suggestions, assembly presentations and a visit from our in-house superhero, Y-Man.

They’ve then organised a ‘Den Day’, in which pupils build dens out of cardboard and materials, or themed fundraising collections with a particular aim, such as spelling out the letters ‘YMCA’ in coins on the playground.

World Homeless Day activities are both educational and fun, but we are  hugely grateful to any school that would like to help us in this way.

Other Opportunities

There’s plenty of scope for collaborations between ourselves and educational institutions, including us being selected as ‘charity of the year’, exploring volunteering opportunities or conducting joint projects.

If you are interested in working with us in this way, please get in touch and we can give you plenty of ideas and all the materials and support you need to make it happen.

Thank you

Where school and college partnerships are concerned, we believe in the power of publicity, both to raise awareness of issues such as homelessness and as an example to encourage other institutions to get involved.

For that reason, unless we’re asked not to we will tell our supporters and the local community about the support we receive – because we believe in saying ‘thank you’.

Get in Touch

If you would like to explore how your organisation could support our work, please contact our Head Of Fundraising, Christopher Wakefield on the form below or call him directly on 07871 855184.