Computing students raise £700 for charity in three weeks

Computing students have had their most successful Christmas fundraising project yet, raising more than £700 for a children’s charity in just three weeks.

The Level 1 students made Christmas cards by hand and held a raffle for a festive hamper, as well as selling bags of sweets.

They are donating the money to Tadworth-based charity The Children’s Trust, which supports young people with brain injury.

“The students are absolutely determined to raise as much money as possible, so they’ve thrown themselves into the project,” said tutor Denise Portman, who runs the Christmas task each year.

“It’s a great way for the students to end their first term – they learn a lot about running an organisation, and they also know they’re supporting a local charity.

“The qualification they gain this year is a great stepping stone to further study and careers in lots of different areas, from business to marketing.”

The Christmas fundraising project is an important part of the Level 1 Computing task, and every year it raises hundreds of pounds for The Children’s Trust.

The project is part of the Business Enterprise unit, and helps the students learn skills ranging from budgeting, handling money and sales techniques to teamwork and attention to detail.

The students did market research to understand their customer base, planned their costs, created a pricing strategy, set a fundraising goal and made an ambitious target of making 600 cards themselves.

They pitched for investment, bought supplies, created their products, promoted their planned sales, and then spent two days selling cards, raffle tickets and sweets around the college.

Adam Beral, Director of Professional and Service Industries at Nescot, watched the students’ presentation and praised their professionalism.

“I’m impressed with how much the students have raised for charity, and also how much they’ve learnt in such a short space of time,” he added.

“They’ve taken the project seriously and they’ve already developed skills that will stand them in good stead in their future careers.”

Last year, Level 1 Computing students raised £793.25 for The Children’s Trust, with £685 collected through their Christmas campaign and a further £108.25 from a cake sale held the following June.

The Children’s Trust provides expert nursing care and rehabilitation for children and support for their families, as well as working in research and policy development.