The Youth and Philanthropy Initiative (YPI) is in its eleventh year in Orkney’s secondary schools. Run by The Wood Foundation and delivery supported locally by VAO, YPI sees pupils work in teams to research social issues affecting their communities. They identify and connect with a local charity, create a presentation, and compete for a £3,000 grant for their chosen organisation.

Stromness Academy began their YPI programme in August, and in September hosted their YPI charity fair. This event gives pupils the opportunity to directly engage with charities, asking questions that will help support their projects, and making contacts for future engagement. Sixteen charities were represented at the Academy’s fair this year, all of whom are active within Orkney and support the local community.

Karen Farquar from Clan Cancer Support has attended several YPI charity fairs since she began working with the organisation.

Karen said: “We are always delighted to attend the YPI fairs. This gives us a good opportunity to engage with students, teachers and other community organisations. It also allows us to raise awareness of our charity and the vital service we can provide our community and gain information on all the other services here in Orkney. We thoroughly enjoy being part of the YPI fairs and are looking forward to continuing to attend many more in the future where we can support the young people in developing their ideas and creating meaningful change.”

In recent years, the programme at Stromness Academy has been led by social subjects teacher Aline Lidwell. Aline’s enthusiasm for YPI contributes greatly to the success of the programme, and helps the pupils and charities to get the best value, from project launch to the final presentations when the prize money is awarded.

Aline said: “The charity fair is a highlight of our YPI programme at the Academy, and this year was no exception. Our pupils were highly engaged, fully utilising the opportunity to develop their talking and listening skills with staff and volunteers to learn about the wide range of organisations and charities working in Orkney. We are always very proud of our pupils and incredibly thankful for the volunteers who set up stands and make such a huge effort to engage with them.”

For schools delivering YPI, a charity fair is not an essential element of the programme. They can provide young people with the opportunity to meet local charities they might otherwise not be aware of as part of the initial research phase. See our YPI Charity Fair Guide for Schools for more information if this is of interest to you.