FOSSA

Friends of Sparhawk School Association

Registered Charity No. 1096703

FOSSA is a small group of parents, who offer their time to raise as much money as possible for the school, by organising events and activities for Sparhawk children and their families.

Sparhawk has joined the Broadland Community Lottery!

The lottery raises money for good causes (including Sparhawk) in the Broadland area. Tickets cost just £1 a week and with each ticket there is a 1 in 50 chance to win a prize, with the top prize of a fabulous £25,000! From every ticket sold 60p (50p to Sparhawk with the remaining 10p being distributed to local causes) will go to good causes in the Broadland area.

The draw takes place every Saturday night and you only need two numbers to win a prize!

Please see the flyer attached to head over to the lottery page or follow the link below, the first draw takes place on 27th February with an additional prize to be won!!

https://www.communityatheartlottery.com/support/friends-of-sparhawk-school-association 

Good Luck!!

FOSSA Update 2020/2021

The last year has been somewhat tricky for FOSSA in terms of fundraising, however, before COVID struck in March 2020 we did manage some activities to raise funds for the school such as, ice pop sales (in September 2019), bake sales, a disco tuck shop and the very much-loved Christmas Workshop. The Christmas Fair organised by the school raised an additional £610.

In addition to these events, there are ongoing fund-raising activities that tick over in the background, these include ‘Just Giving’ (for school sponsorship activities), Salvation Army Clothes Bank (outside the front the school) and Amazon Smile which enables FOSSA to collect cashback on all Amazon purchases made by parents that are signed up to the scheme.

We were also lucky enough to have our BBQ fundraiser (from the end of the 2019/20 summer term) charity cash matched by Barclays Bank raising another £1000! A big thank you from all of FOSSA and Sparhawk School! You may not be aware, but some organisations and businesses will match the funds raised by a charity if one (or more) of their staff members is involved in the event… If you work for an organisation that will cash match a charity event, please let the school know – it really makes a big difference 😊

All in all, £6,487.16 was made – Thank you Sparhawk!

What did FOSSA pay for?

The following was purchased for the children, totaling £3,217.50:

• Welly Racks (outside each classroom).
• Math packs – given to each child.
• Ducklings (easter hatchings).
• School sign – Sparhawk is Outstanding!
• Various Nursery resources.
• Chocolates bought for the children at Christmas

There are ongoing costs for FOSSA too such as lottery licenses, PTA membership and small expenses to buy resources to put on events (total expenses including donations to the school was £4,498.140

This year we also signed up to the Broadland ‘Community at Heart Lottery’.  This generates a nice sum of money for us, but we could do with a few more sign ups! At present 38 people purchase tickets on behalf of Sparhawk but we need to get to 50!  Tickets cost £1 and when supporters buy a ticket they will be able to choose where they want their money to go – 50% of ticket sales will go to the person’s nominated good cause and 10% will go into a community fund run by Broadland District Council to benefit local good causes. The remaining 40% will go towards the prize money.  There is a weekly draw with a jackpot of £25,000 for a matching sequence of six numbers. The other prizes available are £2,000, £250, £25 or three free tickets.

The FOSSA AGM was held on Monday 28^th June.  All 2020/2021 members of FOSSA stood down at the meeting.  The meeting was light on attendance, and it was agreed that greater involvement from parents is required to make FOSSA a success going forward.  Come September 2021, Tanya and Karyn will leave Sparhawk School as their children move on.  Tanya and Karyn agreed to remain in their current capacities until September 2021 when a further AGM will be called and a big push for new parents to take part in FOSSA will be made.  Staff will work with current parents and the new intake to drive up membership.

The next AGM will take place in October 2021.