Suffolk Squares to support Suffolk Schools

Additional info

What is the Big Give?

Turn a donation of £10 into £20, or £500 into £1,000 through the power of the Big Give.

The Big Give is a national giving campaign which allows charities to build up pledge pots from corporate and individual donors through the summer, to then use to double (or match) donations during giving week 28 November to 5 December.  You might have heard of this as ‘matched giving’.

This is a great way to help every donation have a bigger impact and to also raise awareness of Suffolk Mind and the vital work we do.

Read more about The Big Give and how they help charities like ours.

What is this year’s campaign for?

This year we hope to raise a huge £16,000 to support children in Suffolk in 2024.

We aim to provide extensive and fully-funded bespoke mental health training and support to primary and secondary schools across Suffolk, reaching as many children and staff as possible.

The level of support provided and the schools which receive the support will be individually planned after careful discussions between our Children, Families & Young People team and school leaders, to ensure we have the maximum impact!

Read more about our campaign on the Big Give site

Have Suffolk Mind taken part in The Big Give before?

Yes, we have and thanks to your generosity we were able to:

• Smash our £9,000 target to raise money for GreenCare last Christmas, achieving over £13,000
• Exceed our £5,000 target to raise money to fully fund counselling sessions for men in May 2023, raising over £6,000

Thank you!

How can I support this campaign?

Donate a little… donate a lot… or run a fundraising event, collection or challenge during Big Give week, making sure you pay the proceeds onto our Big Give campaign page between midday on 28 November and midday on 5 December.

If you want to help and think your school, office or community group could fundraise, take a look at our ready-made fundraiser below.

A ready-made fundraiser: Suffolk Squares to support Suffolk Schools – simply order here!

We are making it easy for community groups, workplaces, schools, neighbourhoods, and even families to fundraise for our Christmas Campaign this year, with a quick, easy and box ready fundraiser, Suffolk Squares to support Suffolk Schools.

Our Fundraising Manager, Julie, explains how it works in our short video below:

Tannin, our red dragon, is hiding behind one of 500 squares on your individual squares board … can one of your colleagues, family, friends, or even customers find him and win a fabulous prize* (*individual board prize provided by the company/person ordering the board and not by Suffolk Mind).

All you have to do is:

1. Order your Suffolk Squares Board and set the price per square i.e. £1
   
   (Please note there is a nominal £7.99 charge for your wipe clean board, which is then yours to keep for future events – Suffolk Mind cover the balance of the costs including delivery provided you aim to raise a minimum of £40, paid onto The Big Give platform during ‘double donations’ week)
2. Decide on a prize – you can write this onto your board with a whiteboard board pen
   
   Prize ideas
   – Workplaces might want to offer a wellbeing day (extra day’s holiday) – what a great way to build some team excitement
   – Schools might offer golden time or extra play time with friends of the winner’s choice
   – Or perhaps you work in hospitality or retail and want to open this up to your customers offering a sample of your goods or services as a prize
3. Open the competition up in advance of the giving week to allow you time to sell as many squares as possible – but please don’t pay your donation onto the Big Give platform until double donations is open!
4. Don’t forget to mark off the squares that are chosen on your wipeable board, and to record the purchasers name and contact number (alongside their squares of choice) so that you have a means of contacting your winner
5. Choose your winner
   
   (You can use a number randomiser online to help select your winning square 1-500 – don’t worry if you draw a number which hasn’t been purchased, simply continue to select at random until you land on your winner)

Top tip: You shouldn’t offer squares for sale via online payment unless you hold a local lottery license

 

How and when are donations made?

If you would like to be involved during giving week midday on 28 November to midday on 5 December, simply watch out for our campaign page to open for donations.

Donations have to be made on the Big Give platform to qualify for match funding, and the platform will tell you at the point of donating whether match funds remain and are available to double your donation.  Don’t forget to add gift aid for maximum impact – £10 could turn into £22.50 if doubled and with Gift Aid.

 

Thanks to our 2023 pledgers

A huge thank you goes out to Amber River East Anglia and Barker Gotelee Solicitors, who have pledged money to our match pot this year.

 

About the product

1 x wipeable 500 square board £7.99 (including postage/delivery – your board will be dispatched or delivered prior to Friday 10 November. Last date for orders for delivery before The Big Give week is 6 November – otherwise, orders will close on 30 November.

Your wipeable Suffolk Squares competition board is yours to keep provided you aim to raise a minimum of £40 and pay this onto our Big Give platform 28 November to 5 December.

Otherwise, your board should be returned to Suffolk Mind, 26 High Road West, Felixstowe the week of 18 December so that we can use them again and again.

If you have any queries, please contact the Fundraising team.