Looking back at her own childhood, Jess admits that she was probably “in a bit of a bubble” when it came to working with charities: “I would do fundraising in my school for the NSPCC, but I never truly understood the impact of what we were doing and why we were doing it.” Jess believes that the First Give programme offers a contrast to this in the best possible way, granting students a good deal of autonomy when it comes to choosing which charities they would like to support through their social action.
Having previously worked for Starlight Children’s Foundation, a charity that uses the power of play to make the experience of illness and treatment better for children and their families, it was during her time there that Jess first learned of the First Give programme. A few years ago, students at Sacred Heart High School in Hammersmith chose to focus their efforts on raising awareness of Starlight Children’s Foundation, and in doing so they arranged to meet up with Jess, then the charity’s Community Fundraising Manager, as a way of finding out what the charity’s priorities were and how it supported children who were unwell. This proved to be an educational experience for Jess as well as the students: “I found that the students involved in the programme would think about their social action in a very mature way for their age. They would look at complex information and statistics before deciding for themselves how they could best support the charity, as well as presenting on it for their First Give Final.” Jess was also conscious of approaching the students involved in an age-appropriate way, such as in the questions she would ask; she would try to help them relate their own feelings and experiences to the charity, asking questions like, “How do you feel when having to get a needle?” and “Have you ever had to stay overnight in hospital?” This sort of approach ensured that the young people completing the programme were engaged throughout, and it lit a spark of social conscience within them when it came to this cause.
Although Jess could see how switched on the various groups of students that chose to support Starlight Children’s Foundation were throughout their time on the First Give programme, she was still consistently blown away by how much knowledge they had gained by the time of their First Give Finals, during which they would present on the charity’s background and aims, as well as what they had personally done in terms of social action to benefit the foundation: “The students really knew a lot by the end – I saw them create some amazing presentations!”
Jess couldn’t help but notice some of the longer-term impacts beyond each groups initial First Give experience: “I remember that one girl in particular said that she wanted to become a charity worker thanks to her experience on the programme. That was very special, being able to have a positive influence on a young person in that way.” Furthermore, she recalls how several schools continued to lend their support to Starlight Children’s Foundation in some way for months, if not years, after the programme had finished: “I would receive emails from schools’ headteachers and be invited to various end of year performances. There was now a long-lasting relationship between the charity and the schools involved.”
No longer working with Starlight Children’s Foundation, Jess is now the Corporate and Community Fundraiser for Tom’s Trust, a charity that provides mental healthcare to children diagnosed with brain tumours and their families across the East and North East of England, supporting those in Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge and the Great North Children’s Hospital in Newcastle. Jess is hopeful that in the years to come, students completing the First Give programme will choose Tom’s Trust as their cause so that she can recreate some of the wonderful experiences that she and her previous charity have had through First Give.