Quarriers Dumfries and Galloway Family Support Service is in awe of the S2 pupils of Dumfries High School who have secured the service a £3000 grant through the Youth and Philanthropy Initiative (YPI) that will go directly towards helping the families that access the service.
Second year pupils, Heather Hornby, Verity Lee, Chloe Brown, Lily Cowan and Lia Dymkovska contacted the Quarriers service, based in both Dumfries and Stranraer, to understand more about local social issues. As part of the YPI Initiative, they had to choose one charity to research, contact and make a presentation about.
Heather Hornby said: “The aim was for us to find out about the important social issues Quarriers addresses and how they help people in our community so that we could create a video pitch to try and win the £3000 grant.”
The girls extensively interviewed Martin Gordon, who is Operational Manager of the Quarriers service, and created a presentation that they performed live to a huge audience and the judge panel at The Grand Final held at Dumfries High School on Wednesday, May 8.
In total 29 young people from Dumfries High School participated in the Grand Final, made up of seven groups, who all passionately pitched their business cases for a range of charities.
Martin Gordon said: “There were initially 21 charities in the running with seven being selected for the Grand Final. Even getting to the last seven is a major achievement. I am delighted that the girls chose Quarriers as their chosen charity.
“We want to thank the girls and the school very much for their support and for inviting us to the YPI Grand Final. The money will make such a difference to the children and young people we support, offering new exciting activities and opportunities”.
“You should all be very proud of yourselves, what a brilliant presentation and what an amazing achievement!”
Quarriers Dumfries Family Support Service provides services to children, young people and families affected by disability throughout Dumfries and Galloway. The service offers family-based short breaks for children with significant disabilities. Support families affected by disability, providing help to parents, children and young people at home or in their local communities, and also offers a Father’s Project for dads and male carers of disabled children at the service.
The girls collectively said: “YPI has made us more aware of what people are going through and how some of these social issues are affecting our community. It has also given us an opportunity to help and support those that need it. We are so happy that we won the money for our chosen charity, Quarriers. We know the money will be well spent and put to good use to help others.”
Mr Gordon concluded: “The service will use the money for planning activities that the children and young people have suggested they would like, such as horse riding, swimming, bowling and outdoor sports equipment. We will also use the money to purchase outdoor play/sports equipment.”
