Meadows gets funky for school fundraiser

Meadows Primary School is hoping to have great sock-cess with its latest fundraiser to raise money for the sole purpose of purchasing new play equipment for students and families.

Jolly Soles is a simple, fun and affordable fundraising initiative that helps groups promote their cause by providing funky socks to sell at schools, clubs and workplaces.

The school’s parent club knew from other’s success using the fundraiser that it was the perfect, most convenient way to raise money to replace the school’s outdated play equipment while also providing families with a useful product.

“We’ve got a few other fundraisers happening this year, so we wanted something that was less involved and easier that we didn’t all need to set up a stall for or (spend) a whole day (doing),” parent club member, Bronny Ryan, explained.

“A friend of mine’s kids had done it before for their sporting club and I had bought a couple of socks, so I was rummaging through trying to find the name of (the organisation), then just looked them up online.

“We wanted to choose something fun, and who doesn’t need cozy socks in the Hills in winter?”

The fundraiser will run over four weeks, finishing in the first week of the third term.

Once families and community members have scanned the QR code and ordered online, the socks will be delivered to the school for collection in week five.

It’s only in the beginning stages, but students are already getting excited.

“My kids are excited because I’ve obviously been talking about it, but I did hear a couple of kids who were bringing the flyer home be like ‘what socks are you going to get?’ which is fun,” Mrs Ryan said.

“They do have really cute patterns and designs.”

The school hopes to raise at least $2000 from the fundraiser, and asked families and the wider community to support the cause however they can.

“School fees are quite low – they just cover the running costs at the school – so all these types of incentives are what we rely on to be able to do the extra things like play equipment, buying new shelving or subsidising buses for swimming that wouldn’t be available without parents paying extra for it,” Mrs Ryan added.

“We’re all aware some families don’t have the money to do extra things, so it’s just asking (to support) where you can, but at the same time, we desperately need new play equipment.

“Hopefully, we will have enough to get great play equipment because (the current) one has been there for a very long time… like when parents of the school were here.”