Subsidising School Trips

Even within state education there can be a financial burden on families as extra costs such as school trips and residentials appear on notes home in school bags. Why not demonstrate the practical compassion of your congregation by trying to alleviate this stress for families facing hardship so that their children are not excluded from school excursions on the basis of finances? Could your church form a pot of money that the school can use discretely where needed? Or is this a general issue throughout the school, in which case, making arrangements for contributing towards coach costs or providing a gift that will subsidise all places could mean a lot to the Head Teacher.

How could you start this yourself?

• Is a financial gift to the school possible? Meet with the appropriate people in your church to see if there are funds available already that can be used or whether a little fundraising would be needed.

• Contact the Head Teacher to discuss whether such a move would be helpful and if there are particular classes/projects that could benefit. Is this something best dealt with discreetly by the school or to be handled by the church? It is best to take the Head Teacher's advice on this as they will be in the best position to judge the needs of the families concerned and their likely reaction to any gift being offered.

• Could the church and school work together on running an event to bring in the money? This would be a great chance to further relationships with the school. Pray the money is used well and that it serves to demonstrate the love of God to local families.