Woodlands Students to Raise Festive Funds for NOAH
NOAH are delighted to be supported by the Woodlands School, Luton as part of their Social Enterprise studies.
The 6th Form students have created a small local business called ‘The Better Lives Task Force’ and will be making festive products to sell to raise vital funds for NOAH. The Woodlands School works to provide education for students with a range of learning difficulties.
Lisa, Head of Fundraising at NOAH has supported the students in their project delivery and discussed how their efforts can make a big difference to those facing severe poverty and homelessness.
The students voted to make mini Christmas wreaths, hot chocolate kits and a lucky dip, which will be sold on a community stall in The Mall Shopping Centre, Luton.
We are inviting all NOAH staff, friends and supporters to visit the stall, which will be placed outside H.Samuels in The Mall, Luton on Tuesday 7th December between 10am – 2pm.
The students will write a blog (with the help of NOAH), every week leading up to the event. You can follow their progress below.
The Better Lives Taskforce Blog
10 weeks to go
The Students were informed about the project by their lead Tutor Lee. They also met Lisa from NOAH and heard lots about the charity and how their help would make a big difference to those facing severe poverty and homelessness in Luton.
The Students created ideas for a project group name, they wrote all their notes on a huge sheet of paper, and discussed ideas for what to make and sell. The group talked about cookies, cupcakes, calendars, burgers, cards and all sorts.
The energy levels were high and everyone was really buzzing and excited for the project to begin!
9 weeks to go
The students chose the name, ‘The Better Lives Task Force’, for the project group. They also decided they needed to create a Senior Management style team, with roles such as CEO, Marketing Team, Resources Team and Sales Team.
The next task was to allocate who would be doing what. The students trialled a taster of various roles and seemed to be settling into roles that matched their interests and skills sets best. Their homework this week was to choose what role they wanted to apply for.
Press releases were written and project timelines were created. It was a busy session as the team also created lots of ideas for what the students would create to sell.
8 weeks to go
The votes came in for the available roles this week and all students were allocated one. They all managed to get the roles they were hoping for, so we very happy.
We also saw the creation of the logo for the group, and voted on the smart screen for what colour background it would have. We also chose what we would be selling which was hot chocolate kits, mini wreaths and a lucky dip.
Lisa (Head of Fundraising at NOAH), was tasked with homework this week – sourcing 50 mugs and cups for the stall for the hot chocolate kits.
7 weeks to go
The student CEO of the group created a project plan with his team and the Resources Team took a full stock take of all raw materials. This was so they could monitor if items were running out or needed to be replenished during production.
The Marketing Team made a marketing plan which was very in depth! It detailed press releases and digital campaigns to promote the event.
Lisa arrived with the mugs and cups and the students were particularly pleased with how they were all so different. We had cups galore – Disney characters, comic books, floral, funny and plain too! The most striking one was a Yoda!
Lisa also bought in a large bag of pompoms which had been hand made by a local supporter.
6 weeks to go
The Better Lives Taskforce were busy this week as the group student CEO supervised the group session. He updated the project plan, making sure the group were all on target.
The Marketing Team completed the marketing plan timeline and the Sales Team designed price labels, which looked very professional. The Sales Team made price labels ready to be used the following week, and the Resources Team updated the stock list and liaised with the teams that were creating the items.
Things are really taking shape.
5 weeks to go
The team and tutors took a well-deserved break as it was half term.
4 weeks to go
The group student CEO once again supervised the group session with great success. He updated the project plan, making sure the group were all on target.
The Marketing Team collated samples of the products created, and photographed them – this was going to be used on NOAH’s website. They also created this blog!
The Sales Team made price labels ready to be used the following week and the Resources Team updated the stock list and liaised with the teams that were creating the projects.
Things are really starting to gather momentum, but there is still much to do!
Check back next week for more updates!
