by First Give
Thanks to you we raised over £30k during the Big Give Christmas Challenge!
First Give success story alert! We participated in the Big Give Christmas Challenge 2023 fundraising campaign to help us grow our impact and work. Our campaign was match funded meaning from the 28th of November to the 5th of December all donations made to us were doubled! We are excited to announce that we reached our target with flying colours! Find out what the funds will used for below.
Our participation in the Big Give Christmas Challenge has been a roaring success! Our generous supporters have donated over £15,000 to First Give through the campaign, and thanks to The Reed Foundation and Big Give, this amount has been match funded to a total of £30,245. These funds will enable us to deliver our programme to more than 1,350 students in low-income areas, and ultimately develop our work and grow our impact.
Last academic year was our biggest programme year yet. We delivered more programmes than ever before, a total of 196, and engaged 35,600 students in social action. We found in our 22/23 surveys that: 89% of students who presented at their Final reported improving awareness of social issues affecting their community, 80% of students who presented at their Final told us their ability to help others in their community had improved, and 94% of students who presented at their Final told us they may or will do more social action in the future. Furthermore, 94% of lead teachers said partnering with First Give helped their school to support and encourage students to tackle social issues and that they would recommend First Give to other teachers. For more insights, see our latest Impact Report 2023.
We participated in the Christmas Challenge because we believe there is a big need for our work, and we are ambitious to support even more young people. The latest NYSA Survey found that 82% of young people care about making the world a better place. Yet the number participating in social action is decreasing, with many citing a lack of access and opportunity. Furthermore, young people from lower socio-economic backgrounds are less likely to participate in social action. Closing the gap in participation will help to improve the likelihood of all people to take action to support causes that matter to them, improving society for all. This is why we aims to work with more schools that have a higher than average percentage of students eligible for free school meals; to grant more students in low-income areas the opportunity to participate in social action.
We believe all young people, no matter their background, should be able to access the tools and skills needed to make a difference in society. Now more than ever, with social issues on the rise, creating positive change and supporting local communities is important. First Give offers young people this opportunity and platform to make a real, tangible difference to their communities through social action and in doing so gain all the benefits of such work: a feeling of agency and usefulness, teamwork and collaborative skills, public speaking, project planning, leadership, empathy, and improved self-esteem. Through a structured programme delivered in schools, we help thousands of young people understand their potential to effect positive change in society.
Thank you to all your donations and support throughout the Christmas Challenge campaign. With over £30,000 funds raised, we will be able to work with more students in the years to come and continue to grow our impact!
