Who are we?
St Mary’s Primary School Parent Teachers & Friends is a constituted, not for profit organisation run entirely by volunteers. We are also a registered charity and as such are registered with The Charity Commission for Northern Ireland. We are fully accountable, have robust financial measures in place and have appointed an independent financial examiner. We fundraise for the benefit of the children who attend St Mary’s Primary School. We do this to give the children greater experiences, to assist with the advancement of education and it also brings our community together. Our fundraising efforts have a direct and positive impact on the children’s education and well-being. With our funds we can provide the children with additional resources, events and access to activities which are not available through direct school funding. St Mary’s Primary School is the largest primary school in Strabane. It is split across three sites and has over 700 boys and girls attending between the ages of 4 and 11.
Community Impact
Sport has a massive impact for our school community as it helps improve the children’s physical, mental and social well-being. It is also important for our wider community and helps us bring people together through the various activities that we organise. We will see an increase in participation in sport, there will be opportunities to experience a wide variety of sporting activity and introduce new sports. Participation in sport will help the children develop physical skills, make new friends and improve self-esteem. They will develop various life skills including working as part of a team, discipline, and responsibility. With support from Sports NI we will be able to provide qualified and experienced coaches, suitable equipment and help with the cost of transport to sporting events.
Why are we crowdfunding?
We are crowdfunding so that we can provide the children from St Mary’s Primary School with new and additional extracurricular sporting activities, sports equipment, professional coaches and help towards the cost of transport for sporting events. Unfortunately, due to covid 19 all of the extracurricular activities at St Mary’s Primary School were suspended. As we learn to live with covid 19, St Mary’s Primary School have plans to re-introduce their usual extracurricular activities. Activities include swimming, football, netball, cross country, yoga and hurling. There will also be an introduction of new activities including GAA handball, badminton, basketball, cricket, table tennis and dance. These activities will be hugely beneficial to the children’s physical and mental well-being. We aim to promote health and fitness within the school community and the wider community. Our aim is to offer children and their families opportunities to become more active. Taking part in a wide range of sport as a child helps prepare for being able to continue participating through adulthood. Sport at an early age helps develop a number of skills including catching, throwing, running, and jumping. Being able to do these skills well is essential to being able to play and enjoy a lifelong involvement in sport. These skills are also important for long-term health and well-being, and are helpful for thinking, learning and social interaction.
How will the money be spent?
- Coaching costs
- Transport costs to sporting events
- Sports equipment
- Team gear
How you can help us reach our target?
- Make a pledge. Don’t delay if you’re going to support us because momentum is key to our success!
- Sign up for one of our fundraising activities e.g. St Mary’s PS 5k on Saturday 26th November. Fun Run - 9.30am - leaving from Junior School. 5k - 10am - leaving from Dublin Road Industrial Estate. To register go to https://www.stmaryspsmelmount.com
- Spread the word. Share our project on your social media pages and tell the world to get behind us! The more people we reach, the more support we will get.
- Offer rewards. Get involved if you are a local business by donating things we can offer to our supporters. We will give you a shout out!
- If you want to run your own fundraiser to support us, maybe a sponsored activity or similar, use the 'contact project' button at the top of our page to let us know. Setting up your own page only takes a few minutes and you won’t need any bank details. Just a fun idea!