After having to postpone in June, we were able to go ahead with our YPI final this month.  YPI stands for Youth and Philanthropy Initiative.  The Initiative, which was started in Canada by the Toskan Casele Foundation in 2011, encourages pupils in a whole year group to research social problems in their community.  They then identify a local charity that is working to tackle their chosen issue.  Contact is made with the charity either by the pupils visiting the charity or a representative coming into school to talk about their work.  Pupils then work on a presentation informing their audience about the work of the charity and advocating for it to receive a grant of £3000 which, in Scotland, is funded by the Wood Family Trust.

Wednesday’s final marked the end of this process for the S4 RME class.  Three groups of pupils pitched for three local charities: Ability Shetland, Clan Cancer Support Shetland and Shetland Women’s Aid.

The Final was attended by Stephanie Bain from Ability Shetland while apologies and best wishes were sent by Dorothy Jamieson from Clan Cancer Support Shetland and Laura Stronach from Shetland Women’s Aid.  The three judges were Odette Anderson (Outgoing Chair of the Parent Council), Moira Dally (former school DSMO and current SQA invigilator), and Eyvor Irvine (CDT teacher).  Garry Spence (Head Teacher) welcomed the audience which consisted of the aforementioned guests, parents and pupils.

The pupils in the three groups conquered their nerves and ably delivered their informative presentations about the work of their chosen charities.  The pupils advocating for Clan spoke knowledgably about the work of the organisation and their visit to the shop and offices in Lerwick.  The pupils speaking for Shetland Women’s Aid began with an informative and thought-provoking Kahoot quiz and moved on to share how they had been surprised at the extent and impact of domestic abuse.  The Ability Shetland group had been involved in volunteering at the recently organised Parasport festival.  This experience had given them a real insight into how the charity functions as a supportive community for the people and families it serves.

During the interval the S4 pupils served refreshments to the guests which gave the judges time to complete the unenviable task of choosing the group which would win the £3000 grant for their charity.

Mr Spence thanked all those involved in the Final and the YPI process.  Eyvor Irvine gave feedback to both groups, commenting on how well informed they had been and the creativity in their presentations.  She then announced that the winners of the £3000 cheque were Cara, Connor, Jenny and Mackie who were advocating on behalf of Ability Shetland.

As part of the YPI project, pupils do some fundraising to raise a proportion of the £3000 grant.  Mrs Hughson will be organising a Community Cafe on Friday 30th September which S4 pupils will help to run.  We would like to invite parents and friends of the school community to attend the cafe and support the YPI programme with a donation.  Please look out for our publicity on this in the next few days.