Schools

The school band entertain at St Catherines Care

We have always worked closely with primary and secondary schools to raise awareness of the breath of poverty and need in our region. Many schools regularly raise funds to help our charitable work, and the initiative and hard work of the children in this endeavour is particularly admirable.

Primary Schools

Within Primary Schools, participation in fundraising activities is encouraged during Lent through our annual Good Shepherd Appeal; followed by our Good Shepherd Mass which celebrates the schools' achievements. Last year, 90 schools across the region took part in the appeal, raising enough money to keep the 5p Bus service running this year.

The focus of this year's Good Shepherd Appeal, is again the 5p Bus, this time so that it can continue to increase the number of locations it visits around the North East.

Young Social Entrepreneur

Similarly, we have regular contact with Secondary Schools throughout the year, and recently expanded our contact with sixth form students through our annual Young Social Entrepreneur Competition. An exciting new initiative which has already proven to be highly competitive.

Last year 14 teams raised money by hosting fashion shows and tuck shops and by offering to pack bags. The competition generated enough profit to host 150 free nights of respite care at the Alan Shearer Short Break Centre.

This year's competition is even more popular, with 21 teams from 14 regional schools set to raise money for Side By Side, our free respite service for disabled children and older people. The competition runs from September to March, and awards three prizes:

Get involved

If you would like to get involved with our Good Shepherd Appeal, Young Social Entrepreneur Competition or find out more about our work in schools contact Nicola Milne: