Childcare students at Bath College have collected £650 in just one week for Time is Precious – a charity set up to help families facing a long stay in local hospitals.
The Level One childcare students brought a smile to peoples’ faces by dressing up as Mickey and Minnie Mouse for a street collection in the centre of Bath. They also completed a four-hour sponsored onesie walk from Bath College’s Somer Valley Campus in Westfield to its City Centre campus in Bath.
Students planned their fundraising week as part of a college assessment, working as a team to delegate tasks, design posters and raise awareness. As part of this, they made cakes and sweets to sell outside the Students’ Union during lunchbreaks at the college’s City Centre campus.
Time is Precious was set up by Coleford couple, Nicky and Neil Halford, in memory of their son, Ben, to help make time spent in hospital a little easier for local families, patients and siblings.
The charity funds improvements to hospitals for families and in September it opened a new sensory room and teenage chill-out room at Bath’s Royal United Hospital.
Students at Bath College chose Time is Precious as their charity of the year for 2016 and collected over £2,000 for the teenage chill-out room, with activities including a sponsored abseil. They have just voted to continue fundraising for the charity throughout 2017 and will be organising fundraising activities via the Students’ Union.
The Childcare students would like to thank Special Occasion Mascots, based in Bristol, for the loan of the Mickey and Minnie Mouse costumes.
Lecturer in Early Years, Sarah Demirci, said: “The students have worked so hard to make their fundraising activities successful.
“They have demonstrated excellent organisational skills, professionalism and teamwork, all of which are important life skills that will support their future studies and employment.
“They chose a local and worthwhile charity to support and raised a great deal of money – I am very proud of them all.”