Based in Risley, Treetops provides nursing care and emotional support for adults and their families in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. Their services include a Day Care unit where nurses and volunteers support people with progressive life-limiting illnesses.

Teams of pupils were awarded prizes at a special evening on Thursday 14 July held at the Day Care unit and given a tour of the hospice facilities. Pupils from William Allit School won the overall competition having raised almost £800 in total.

Charlotte Land, Raising Aspirations coordinator, explained how proud she was of their achievements:

“The pupils involved have been amazing and incredibly enterprising. They have organised car washes, held ice-cream sales and cake stalls, organised non-uniform days and football tournaments and lots of other fundraising games such as throwing pies at teachers!

“With all these ideas, they have had to organise everything from promoting the event, to deciding what to buy and how much to sell things for in order to make a profit, through to phoning up and asking businesses for prize donations. They’ve been a real driving force and picked up some really good skills along the way.”

Kathryn Box, Treetops corporate fundraiser, thanked everyone who had been involved:

“I want to say a massive thank you for all your hard work with all the activities and events you’ve put on in your schools. You should be really proud of yourselves and your commitment to the project.

“The money you’ve raised is so important to the hospice and helps us continue to offer all our services for free to local people.”

Raising Aspirations is a Derbyshire Education Business Partnership programme and runs in ten schools across the city and county.