This afternoon we hosted the 2024 St Columba’s final of YPI – the Youth and Philanthropy Initiative. Pupils in SII have been taking part in YPI as part of the PSE curriculum for more than a decade, raising thousands of pounds for local charities and engaging with a range of social issues affecting our community in the process.
The PSE classes have been working on their YPI projects in groups since January. Each group had to research and identify a charity that they wished to champion – for many this included engaging directly with their chosen charity. One group from each House was then selected to progress to the final to battle it out for a £3,000 donation to their charity.
Up for consideration this year were four very different charities, including two that had never been championed before in one of our YPI events.
In presentation order, our competitors were:
Craigmarloch: Neil’s Wheels
Represented by Lily F, Nina G, Finlay L, Finlay M and Austin L, Neil’s Wheels is a Glasgow-based charity which helps to provide wheelchairs, frame runners and other equipment that allows people with disabilities to participate in the sport of their choice.
Kilallan: Moving On Inverclyde
Team Kilallan – Emily B, Georgina R, Euan D and Ollie J – chose Moving On Inverclyde as their charity. Moving On Inverclyde helps to support people with alcohol and substance abuse issues within the local community. The group were compelled to chose Moving On when they discovered that Inverclyde has the highest rate of drug deaths in Scotland.
Strathgryffe: Man On! Inverclyde
Mairead A, Hamish G, Andrew T and Briony C were up next representing Man On! Inverclyde, a local mental health charity that, as well as providing mental health support in the community, also works in close partnership with St Columba’s.
Duchal: Rays of Hope
Last but not least, were the team from Duchal – Pippa R, Eilidh T, Taylor M, Louis O and Jamie G. The group chose to represent Rays of Hope, a cancer support charity based in Elderslie. In their presentation, they explained that they chose this charity because they all had experience of a family member being treated for cancer.After all four groups had presented, it was up to the judges to make the very difficult decision of which group (and their charity) would receive the £3,000 prize money. We were very fortunate to have an excellent judging panel join us for the occasion, made up Mr McLaughlin, Head Prefects Sophie H and Conrad C (both SVI), Depute Ewan S (SVI), School Governor Davida Cook, and Gary Taylor who was representing YPI.
After a lot of deliberation, the judges agreed that Neil’s Wheels would be receiving the donation.
