A LITTLE SUPPORT for a big difference

Discover the project making a difference in schools with a funding pot to offer support

In 2022, the team at Twinklproviders of teaching and highquality learning materials - were inspired to make a difference in the communities they work with, helping schools to kick start their projects. The Twinkl Prize Draw and Community Collection was launched in September: a funding pot where one lucky applicant receives a cash injection to help their school.

“We spent a lot of the last year trying to figure out how this would work and how we could support educators with something that was really accessible,” highlights Hannah Corrigan, the Community Collection manager at Twinkl.

The first round opened in September 2022 and the applications came flooding in, but the requests exceeded the team’s expectations.

Response

“We were pretty blown away with the response and the need, we originally thought it was this lovely thing where we would support a single school or one applicant each time,” reveals Hannah.

The winner would receive £500 towards the project they wanted to launch, helping to create new opportunities for young people. The first round of applications revealed the true scope of need, along with the passion of educators around the UK.

“We had so many more applications than we expected and the need was very different than we initially thought,” explains Hannah. “We had schools asking for community support because they needed to set up a warm room for families, we’ve had schools asking for help to buy washing machines because people in their community don’t always have them at home, schools asking for help with breakfast clubs.

“We realised that actually, we needed and wanted to do more than award one winner with £500.”

During this first round, the team made the decision to offer more support, whilst still giving one school this funding.

Meaningful

Since Twinkl received the first cohort of applications, they have been able to give support to 193 applicants, and the impact has been incredibly meaningful.

“A lot of schools are asking for support with their library and reading whether they need more books or one school wanted their books to better reflect the diversity in their community, so we have sent boxes of books and money towards those,” remembers Hannah. “One school wanted to teach their pupils about growing and so we sent them a box of seeds to get started with a school garden, we sent another school Lego and board games for their after-school club.

“Others have received food vouchers and supermarket vouchers to help breakfast clubs, and support with the running of things like washing machines.”

The effect that the Community Collection is having is wide-ranging, and this support isn’t just to help young people, but also to celebrate education staff.

“These applications have been really indicative of how passionate educators are, not just in helping their school, but really everyone across their community,” emphasises Hannah. “We had one school say their staff room is really plain and they wanted their staff to feel really valued, so we sent them a bundle of goodies for the staff room.

“It’s not just necessarily about the school setting up a project, sometimes its recognising that these teachers are working so hard and showing them it’s appreciated.”

The fund helps cut through the metaphorical red tape that often surrounds other applications and simplifies the process, making a difference to school communities quickly.

Apply

“Funding is often a bit of a maze, trying to figure out the right wording and what information you need to fill in big forms,” offers Hannah. “We’ve made it as simple as we can and the form takes about 15 minutes to complete.”

The next round of the Community Collection is open for applications on 24 April 2023 for two weeks, but Twinkl have already planned for it to open every half term this year and people can apply as many times as they want to.

“All we are asking for is the applicant’s name, their school, address and contact information, and then there’s a box where they can type 100 words about what they would spend the money on and the impact it will have on the school,” says Hannah. “It’s really open, educators from pre-school through to secondary school and special education settings can apply. We’re keen to encourage anyone to apply –those working in educational settings, community groups and more.”

In just 15 minutes, your school and the young people you teach could be in the running for essential funding to add more opportunities to your school community, or to brighten the day of the fellow educators around you.

Find out everything you need to know to apply at www.twinkl.co.uk/ communitycollection or email communitycollection@twinkl.co.uk