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A young black girl dressed in a red polo neck and a tartan dress receives a wrapped Christmas gift from a black Father Christmas at a party organised by the charity Cianna's Smile. The girl takes the gift and looks really happy.
Patchwork StorySchools and community

Cianna’s Smile – Sickle Cell Charity Fundraising

by Rosie Hurwitz
written by Rosie Hurwitz

Cianna’s Smile is a charity providing support and education for UK families affected by Sickle Cell Anaemia. Founder Hayley King set up the charity after her daughter Cianna, who has Sickle Cell Anaemia, experienced a traumatic admission at their local hospital. Hayley felt that there was a lack of awareness of the condition in the medical profession and no support locally for families affected by it. Cianna’s Smile exists to change that. The team at Cianna’s Smile organise a variety of activities and events throughout the year to support families. From awareness campaigns to carer’s lunches, wellness days to art therapy boxes. Hayley talks to us today about how Patchwork has helped bring their fundraising to life.

Cianna, daughter of Hayley King, Founder of Cianna's Smile - a Sickle Cell Anaemia charity

What kinds of fundraisers have you hosted on Patchwork?

We have used Patchwork several times to raise money. In 2020 we used the platform to fund 50 art therapy bags for children living with Sickle Cell and we recently held a raffle to raise money to fund a day out for families affected by Sickle Cell. We aimed to raise enough to cover the funds needed for our projects. We are currently using Patchwork to run our Christmas Fundraiser where people can choose to fund anything from a pack of colouring pencils or an ice-cream sundae to a horse-riding lesson or a virtual cooking class!

A group shot of parents carers and families of children with Sickle Cell Anaemia on a pleasure boat during a day out organised by charity Cianna's Smile

Why did using Patchwork to raise funds appeal to you?

Most other fundraising platforms limit the donor to just donate an amount of money. We love that when using Patchwork donors can choose what they are funding and also we have added the opportunity for people to donate their time which we absolutely love. It means that the campaign is accessible to everyone and also appealing for every budget.

A black woman, three young black girls and a young black boy take a selfie, on a beach day out organised by charity Cianna's Smile. They are standing close together and all smile at the camera.

How easy was it to set up your Patchwork fundraising page?

It is super easy. We love that you can add different images so that people can scroll through and check which is most appealing to them. 

A black man and two black children seated at a Christmas party event organised by charity Cianna's Smile. They are sitting a table covered in a red cloth, the man smiles at the boy sitting next to him.

How did Patchwork help your fundraising campaign?

It was great in achieving our goal as we could easily share the unique link with our supporters and the funds raised were sent to us directly via Stripe.

A teenage black girl sits next to a black Father Christmas at a Christmas party event organised by the charity Cianna's Smile. The girl holds a big fluffy tiger print coat and a wrapped gift from Father Christmas. She smiles at the camera.

How was your Patchwork page received by your supporters?

We received great feedback from supporters. We particularly loved how easy it was to use and that you could read the lovely messages left by supporters and donors. 

Would you recommend Patchwork to other small charities looking to fundraise?

Absolutely! It is a great platform that is user friendly and safe. We love the templates! It makes it really quick when setting up a campaign. 

Thank you so much Hayley for talking to us today about the brilliant work that you do supporting families living with Sickle Cell Anaemia. We’re so pleased that Patchwork could help with your fundraising!

If you’d like to contribute to Cianna’s Smile Christmas fundraiser please click here. If you’d like to set up your own fundraising page for a charity or project, we’ve made it super easy with our customisable templates. Or if you’re feeling creative you can start your own from scratch.

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Schools and community

How to use Patchwork for charity fundraising

by Rosie Hurwitz
written by Rosie Hurwitz

Have you got a community event or fundraiser coming up and need a bit of inspiration? Here are our top tips on how to raise the most money for your charity fundraising page. We have advice to get everyone involved and having a good time.

A Patchwork fundraising page for a Welcoming Refuge shown in an ipad
‘A Welcoming Refuge’ Patchwork shown in an iPad

Keep it simple, and be specific

We’ve had Patchwork fundraisers set up for everything from NHS food parcels, to art therapy boxes, from Christmas Dinners for care leavers to keeping a Choir singing… We’ve even had an alternative Royal Wedding list for Megan & Harry to support local homeless people in Windsor. So what do the best pages all have in common? They set out their goals clearly, and make their pages colourful and their message simple. In the introduction to your Patchwork page, state the aim of your charity fundraising and what you hope to achieve. Add patches to visually represent how people can support your cause. For example, if you are collecting funds to renovate a Night Shelter be specific about the things you need to fund and add patches for each type of item:

  • “New bedding for a good night’s sleep” – £20
  • “Tea and biscuits so we can always offer a welcoming cuppa” – £2
  • “A new sofa where visitors can relax” – £100
Image of a Patchwork fundraising page for a community garden shown in an ipad
‘Our Community Garden’ Patchwork shown in an iPad

Make it personal and get people involved in your community fundraiser

Talk to your audience, tell them about your project and what it means to the people you’re supporting. Inject some personality by sharing your feelings about the cause. Let people know how much their gift will mean. Don’t be afraid to use humour and warmth to engage people and let them feel really involved. Show people through the patches you add, what their donation will buy. When people can see where their money is going they are more likely to give generously. So, for example, if you’re asking for contributions towards a community garden project break it down in to lots of colourful patches. This way people can see the garden brought to life on your page. Then they can choose which part of the project to fund.

  • “Buy us some bulbs” – £10
  • “Chip in for some gardening tools” – £20
  • “Fund some mature plants” – £40
‘Virtual Christmas Fair’ Patchwork shown in an iPad

Make it FUN to increase your FUNDS

One of the best things about Patchwork is not just how easy it is to set your page up, but how creative and colourful your page can be! So, let your imagination run and fill your page with colour, fun and activity and really bring your event to life. Even a virtual event can feel engaging and exciting when you invite people in and encourage them to get involved in the ways that work for them. For example, if you’re setting up a Virtual Christmas Fair fundraiser, make sure you include a range of differently priced patches so that even those on low budgets can get involved in the fun too. Add some festive imagery, sparkle and glitter so your event looks enticing and people really enjoy the whole experience. Here are some examples of easy fundraising ideas for a school Christmas fair:

  • “Take part in school Christmas Jumper Day” – £1
  • “Enter a virtual Christmas bake-off” – £3
  • “Buy a pack of Christmas cards” – £10
  • “Book a festive family photoshoot” – £40
Community Christmas Lunch Patchwork fund in an ipad
‘Community Christmas Lunch’ Patchwork shown in an iPad

Let people choose how to support you

Patchwork is unique as a fundraising platform because as well as having patches where people can donate money or buy items, you can add non-monetary patches too. So people can always choose if they want to “fund” “make” or “do” something to help make your event or project a success. With a page that combines all of these elements everyone can get involved, even those on a low budget. It’s a brilliant and efficient way to best use the resources and skills of your network and create a truly inclusive event that brings the community together!

We’ve been proud to have supported Christmas Dinners for Care Leavers over the last few years and they are perfect examples of a type of Patchwork fundraiser that works really well. The events lend themselves perfectly to the “fund” “make” and “do” options that Patchwork allows. Here are some examples of patches you could add to a community Christmas lunch:

“Fund some festive food” £20 – FUND

“Make some sweet treats to bring on the day” – MAKE

“Help set up the venue” – DO

“Buy a Christmas gift for a guest” £50 – FUND

“Knit a pair of socks for a guest” – MAKE

“Donate some of your decorations” – DO

Ready to start your Patchwork charity fundraiser?

We’ve got loads of exciting and colourful community fundraising templates and school fundraising templates (all inspired by our brilliant Patchwork fundraisers!) so it’s super easy for you to get a page set up in minutes. Simply click ‘use template’ on the readymade that most closely matches your event and then edit the words, images and prices to suit. Or you can set up a page from scratch if you want to get really creative! We’re always happy to add new ideas to our collections so do get in touch at hello@patchworkit.com if an idea you have isn’t already on our site.

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Graphic from VOW for Girls campaign with text reading "Stop the clock. Start a new future for girls." On red background with image of teenage black girl on left hand side
Patchwork Perspective

Support VOW for Girls to end child marriage

by Rosie Hurwitz
written by Rosie Hurwitz

Every 3 seconds, a child becomes a bride. Stop the clock. Start a new future for girls. Patchwork are proud to be supporting VOW for Girls, a growing global movement that partners with brands, individuals, and the wedding industry to end the international child marriage crisis. Read on to find out how you can help.

Graphic from VOW for Girls campaign with text reading "every three seconds a child becomes a bride." On green background

Every Three Seconds

This year, International Day Of the Girl on October 11th is more important than ever. Child marriage is still a crisis, with girls as young as 8 being married every 3 seconds. Join us for International Day of the Girl as we raise funds and awareness to ensure no child is ever a bride.

“Every girl should be able to choose love on her own terms. VOW for Girls was inspired by love and working together. We can create a world in which no child is ever a bride.” Mabel van Oranje. Board Chair and VOW Co-Founder.

Graphic from VOW for Girls campaign with text reading "Girls everywhere deserve to dream." On pink background with two images of girls to either side

Girls Everywhere Deserve to Dream

We dream of a future where girls everywhere have a chance to choose the life they want. Let’s end the child marriage crisis and give girls around the world the support they need to succeed. By funding education so girls can stay in school is just one way WOW for Girls is helping end the child marriage crisis. Whatever the amount, your gift makes a direct impact on the lives of girls across the globe. £35 can pay the enrolment fees for a girl to attend school for one year.

Graphic from VOW for Girls campaign with text reading "A girl who gets an education can live her life easily everywhere and can make her future bright." On pink background with image of girl on left hand side

Mina

For International Day of the Girl, VOW for Girls asked girls from countries where child marriage is prevalent, “What makes a girl successful?” Mina from Nepal told them, “Education is a must. “VOW for Girls works with girls like Mina in communities around the world through education initiatives and other efforts that help girls realise their dreams. Together we can stop the clock on child marriage.

A Patchwork "Give List" wedding registry displayed in an ipad

Your wedding day can make a big difference

1 in 5 girls in the world is married as a child. VOW was founded on the idea that celebrations of love can help make real change in the lives of girls around the world. If you’re planning a wedding you’ll probably have friends and family who want to gift you.

With Patchwork you can collect money for anything you’re dreaming of, including donations to good causes such as VOW. First, simply add a “fund” patch to your gift registry. Second, after all contributions have been collected, make your donation to VOW. This will help change girls’ lives in the most meaningful way. See our Wedding Give List template to set up your own unique wedding “give” list.

How to participate in the social media photo campaign

Between 4th – 11th October 2021 we’re asking you to join us and take part in the International Day of the Girl Campaign with VOW for Girls.

Step 1: Post a single Instagram post with a 2 photo carousel

  • Photo 1 – Post a photo of yourself as a child (or short video response to the prompt below)
  • Photo 2 – A “stop” hand selfie (see posing guide below)

Step 2: Respond to the prompt either in the caption or as a short video: What was your dream for your future when you were a child? Feel free to mention the age you are in the photo you are posting!

Step 3: Include this caption:

‘Every 3 seconds a child becomes a bride, but all girls deserve the chance to dream’. For #DayOfTheGirl, let’s stop the clock and start a new future for girls. I nominate [@instagramhandle] to #StopTheClock. For every like, comment, and share, you will unlock $1 from @justinalexander, @theknot, and a generous donor (up to $100K) to help start a new future for girls everywhere. #VOWForGirls #StopTheClock #EndChildMarriage’

(Make sure to use the hashtags #VOWForGirls, #DayOfTheGirl, and #StopTheClock and to tag @vowforgirls across social media channels.)

Justin Alexander, The Knot (a generous donor up to $100K), will unlock $1 for every like, comment and share. This makes your participation is even more meaningful. In addition, 100% of all funds raised go directly to underfunded but effective community-driven efforts to end child marriage.

Guide to posting selfies on VOW social media campaign

Thank you. Through your participation and advocacy, you’ll help us “Stop the Clock” on child marriage and ensure that every girl can choose love on her own terms and follow her dreams.

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young white girl with long brown hair hugs a huge grey teddy smiling and with her eyes closed
Schools and community

Fundraising to transform a CancerCare centre

by Rosie Hurwitz
written by Rosie Hurwitz

CancerCare is a charity supporting people across North Lancashire & South Cumbria affected by cancer or bereavement. They help people discover their capacity for life when times are tough; with the professional help, emotional support and collective strength to face whatever’s next. Anna Webster works as part of CancerCare’s Fundraising Team. Her role involves helping to raise the funds needed to ensure the service is free to access for all those in the community who turn to the charity for help. She chats to us below about how Patchwork helped create a visual and exciting fundraising campaign to bring their new CancerCare centre to life!

two women standing talking in a communal indoor space, one pouring tea for them both

What were you fundraising for and what did you hope to achieve with your Patchwork page?

Demand for CancerCare’s support has been extremely high during the pandemic. To add to our existing centres in Lancaster, Kendal and Barrow, we opened a new centre in Morecambe so that we didn’t have to keep anyone waiting for the help they needed. It also made our services more accessible to people living in the Morecambe centre, who would previously have had to travel to our centre in Lancaster for support. The thought of having to travel to a session – particularly for someone who is feeling poorly – can be a huge barrier to someone needing support. Being able to pop into a CancerCare centre in the heart of Morecambe will hopefully make it easier for them to access help.

We wanted to get the centre open as quickly as possible to help meet demand, but we needed help to transform the building into welcoming & relaxing space for those in our community affected by cancer or bereavement.

CancerCare fundraising campaign Patchwork page in an ipad showing various options of items to fund
CancerCare Patchwork fundraising page

Why did using Patchwork to raise funds appeal to you?

We needed to raise funds for furniture and decorating costs, as well as for simple things that make all the difference to our clients. Little things like mugs so that we can welcome them with a warming cup of tea or coffee. We loved that Patchwork gave us the option to add pictures of the items we needed to fund so that our supporters could clearly see the impact their gift could have. Even though social-distancing meant they couldn’t physically come and help us to decorate or move in, they could still feel part of getting the centre ready.

Childrens' service room at new Morecambe CancerCare centre

How easy was it to set up your page?

Setting up the page was really straightforward and actually quite exciting! We chose bright, colourful images that illustrated our vision for the new centre – almost like a mood board! It was easy to change the position of the images and buttons by dragging them around the page. We could also enter our own text to elaborate on the difference each item could make to the local people who would be using the centre. It looked really professional and was really easy to edit during the campaign when there was another item that we needed to fund.

Cancer Care support worker - a white man with glasses and short greyish hair, talking to someone who is front of image but blurred

How did Patchwork help your fundraising campaign?

When the pandemic hit, much of our traditional fundraising became impossible at a time when demand for our support was higher than ever. Patchwork allowed us to create a visually-exciting fundraising campaign and collect donations digitally. The funds came into our account quickly so that we could put them to use straight away and the support we received from the team at Patchwork was so helpful! We got the feeling that they were as excited about our project as we were!

New aromatherapy room at Morecambe CancerCare centre funded by a Patchwork fundraising campaign

How was your fundraising page received by your supporters?

We launched our fundraising page with posts on our social media pages and with an email campaign. It was amazing to see the donations start to come in almost immediately. On the first day of the campaign, our amazing supporters had funded clocks for our therapy rooms, a fresh coat of paint for the walls and even a brand-new washing machine to wash the towels used every day in our therapeutic massage appointments! It was lovely to see the kind messages that our supporters left when making their donations too. We really felt that our supporters were behind us as we worked to get the centre ready.

mature white woman wearing glasses and with short dark blonde hair, laughing with someone off camera

Would you recommend Patchwork to other small charities?

We would definitely use Patchwork again. It was brilliant for putting a fundraising together quickly when there was a real urgency for us to raise funds and get our centre open as soon as possible. I would recommend that other charities consider it for a fundraising campaign, particularly where they are looking to fund a specific project. It was great to be able to use images to demonstrate to our supporters the impact their gift would have and for them to be able to give quickly and easily by clicking on the item or amount they wanted to fund.

New counselling room at Morecambe CancerCare centre funded by a Patchwork fundraising campaign

And the end result? Are you pleased with your new space?

Thanks to the incredible support from our donors, we were able to open the doors to our new Morecambe centre in May 2021. Donations from our Patchwork campaign meant we could transform the space from a grey, empty building into a bright, welcoming hub. People in our community facing cancer or loss can now access counselling, therapy, group sessions and activities, or just pop in for a friendly chat and some moral support. We are so grateful to everyone who has helped to make this possible, during such difficult times. Thanks to them, CancerCare can be here for anyone in the Morecambe community affected by cancer or bereavement, now and long after the pandemic.

Thanks so much Anna for taking the time to tell us all about your new space, brought to life by your community and Patchwork! We are thrilled to have been able to support you. If you’d like to read more about the work that CancerCare do click here. If you’ve been inspired to set up your own fundraising page for a cause close to your heart you can take a look at our easy to customise templates or simply start a Patchwork page from scratch!

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children holding canyfloss in front of faces at a school summer fair
Schools and community

The schools inspiring virtual events and fundraising trends

by Rosie Hurwitz
written by Rosie Hurwitz

With Covid-19 continuing to make real life school events pretty impossible this year, it’s not just kids that will miss out on the fun. Cancelled events mean already cash-strapped schools will also miss out on the biggest fund-raising events of the year. The solution? Virtual school events!

Never-to-be-defeated Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs) across the country began using Patchwork last summer to organise their virtual school fairs. They included games, activities, competitions and donations. Their imagination and creativity means families can take part at home and donate much-needed funds online at the same time. Here at Patchwork we love seeing how people use the site in different ways. We’ve listened and responded by creating some easy to customise templates so that other schools can set up virtual events super easily too!

children and adults at school summer fair

Kate Frood, Head Teacher at Eleanor Palmer School in North London told us “Covid 19 has meant a loss of about £10,000 of fund-raising from our usual array of PTA events, from weekly cake sales to our Summer Festival. This at a time when we have additional expenditures such as the installation of outdoor hand-washing troughs and buying new IT equipment. It was so easy to build the Patchwork page and our virtual school fair looks instantly engaging and attractive. We’ve been able to put together a fun mix of real events and ways of simply donating. It has really captured all our imaginations and we’ve managed to re-create that wonderful community spirit.”

Patchwork allows you to share the plan for a virtual school event and parents and children can choose the things they’d like to fund, make and do. Fundraising activities could include £3 to enter a virtual pet show, £10 for a strip of raffle tickets or £1.50 to name the teddy!

Virtual School Summer Fair Patchwork in iPad

Why host a virtual school event?

  • A safe way to connect online – to have fun and bring the school community together
  • Not limited by location or logistics – easy and affordable for schools to host digital events
  • No mess for PTAs to clean up – families partake in activities in their own homes/gardens
  • No hassle or infection risk collecting cash – schools receive funds securely via Paypal or into a bank
  • Fundraising not limited to one day – digital event means donations can keep rolling in!

Jennie Potts of Tufnell Park School PTA says “The pandemic halted our fundraising in its tracks. We were due to hold a bingo night and an annual fun run in the school that we were unable to hold, along with the school summer fair. As well as not feeling we wanted to ask parents for money in the current climate, we have felt we should not be approaching local businesses for donations of raffle prizes, as they are struggling to keep afloat too. The setting up of the virtual fair allows those parents who have remained in work to donate if they feel this is something they would like to do. The feedback we’ve had about our virtual summer fair has been really positive. We’re making money for the school again when we’d assumed it wouldn’t be possible this summer. Patchwork was so easy to use and there was even a school fair template.”

Cakes for sale on stall at school summer fair

Patchwork Founder Olivia Knight says “Patchwork has always been a brilliant tool to help people organize and fund gifts and events, but it’s really come into its own in the past year, as virtual events have become the norm. We’re really pleased and proud to be able to support our brilliant schools as they adapt and show such amazing resilience in these tough and testing times.”

If you’d like to learn more about how Patchwork can help your school raise funds safely, contact us at hello@patchworkit.com. Check out our selection of readymade fundraising templates and ask us about our schools affiliate partner programme to earn extra funds for your PTA when you and your school community use Patchwork!

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NHS Xmas Card
Patchwork StorySchools and community

We Won’t Forget You – NHS Frontline Festive Thank You

by Rosie Hurwitz
written by Rosie Hurwitz

As we turn our thoughts to thinking of others and sending gifts at Christmas time, there is a group of people who we all want to thank and show our appreciation of once again. Our NHS staff, our frontline workers who have put themselves in harms way to protect and serve us over the last 9 months. Together with our local businesses, friends and neighbours, Patchwork is supporting the Frontline Festive Thank You with the aim of delivering 100 festive gift bags to Lewisham hospital staff – can you chip in?

Lewisham hospital staff receiving their food packages during pandemic
Itohan, Ward Manager, receiving her food package back in the Spring

At the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic and during the first national lockdown, Patchwork were approached by local businesses who wanted to do something practical and positive to look after those who were looking after us. So a Patchwork page was set up and within a week, local residents had generously donated over £5,000 to deliver food parcels to staff at Lewisham hospital. All items were sourced at cost by local businesses and packaged with love, then sent with messages of thanks to staff for all they have done to look after us all.

No words or thanks or front door step clapping will ever be enough to show our collective appreciation – but sometimes in small gestures that are local and direct, we can have a meaningful impact on the lives of those who might sometimes feel unnoticed, or unappreciated.

Frontline food packages being delivered to Lewisham hospital NHS staff
Gamal – the first recipient of a food parcel during the first lockdown in the Spring

Giving together means giving more

As we approach Christmas, the second appeal is underway, this time delivering gift bags to staff, with a few treats to say thank you – including a hand cream, panettone, Christmas decorations and chocolate.

The appeal has been hosted by Patchwork and we have happily donated our fee back to Frontline so that the gifts received go even further. All donations made via the Patchwork fundraising page go directly to Frontline Festive Thank You so that they can make sure they get as many gifts as possible to such deserving staff as those working at Lewisham hospital.

No-one is overlooked, everyone’s role is important

What’s special about this initiative is that each recipient is nominated by their managers and colleagues and even those whose jobs might usually be unnoticed and whose work often goes “unsung” get the appreciation they deserve. It’s really heartwarming to see the reactions of members of staff who are nominated to receive a gift bag. It means so much to them to know they are thought of by the people in their community who they serve daily.

The first recipient of a food package back in the Spring was Gamal who works to keep the hospital clean (now more important than ever!) and the second to Geraldine, a single mum who had just come off a 12 shift stint in ITU. You can hear from Rita, one of the Matrons what these gifts meant:

How you can help support our frontline workers this Christmas

Every small action, every person, and every group of committed volunteers will help. Over and over again at Patchwork, we see amazing people coming together to show that our community is our strength. The Frontline Festive Thank You page is now open for contributions. Whether it’s £3 for some chocolate, £15 for a whole box, or even just a note of support – everyone can chip in and together we will make a real difference to the nurses, doctors and all the other NHS support staff keeping us all safe over the Christmas period and always.

NHS staff outside Lewisham hospital receiving Festive Thank you gift bags for Christmas
Festive thank you gift bags - panettone, Christmas cracker, coffee and chocolate

If you have any other questions about the project you can contact us at hello@patchworkit.com. If you’d like to set up a Patchwork page to support a community project in your local area browse our easy to customise templates.

Finally, special thanks goes to all who have kindly donated and to the local businesses and volunteers who have worked so hard to bring the Frontline Festive Thank You project to life. You have brought much needed smiles, joy and some little luxuries to our wonderful NHS staff. Thanks especially to:

Tony at Provender Delicatessen

Shai at Mont58Coffee

Nilou at Jumping Bean London

Nena at Nena Foster Foods

Vicky at Fitness for Mummies

Heather at Heather Victoria Design

Thanks as well to Robert and Daniel at Sebastian Roche, the guys at Babur Restaurant, all at Two Spoons restaurant, and the lovely Dr Mayoni for their very generous donations to this project.

And of course to local resident extraordinaire (who is not on social media!) – Julia.

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Child hanging decorations for virtual school Christmas fair
Patchwork KidsSchools and community

How to organise the best ever virtual school Christmas fair!

by Rosie Hurwitz
written by Rosie Hurwitz

It’s that time of year when Christmas fair planning and fundraising for schools is in full swing. And whether that means getting together irl or setting something up online, we can help you out. We’ve been thrilled to see so many creative school communities and PTAs use Patchwork to set up brilliant virtual Christmas fairs. You can join them and bring a bit of sparkle and fun to families for Christmas. And raise money for your school too – of course!

Savvy schools and PTAs began using our site over the summer to set up virtual events, and now with winter around the corner, they’ve discovered a virtual school Christmas fair works brilliantly too.

Why organise a virtual school Christmas fair?

It’s a really easy, colourful and engaging way to celebrate the Christmas season safely; in a way that’s fun for families and raises essential funds for your school too. With Patchwork, you can set up a virtual fair – where each “patch” represents a stall or activity. Whether it’s a competition or a game, items to purchase, a request for donations, or just some fun ideas for the kids to do at home, everyone can take part – no matter how much or little they have to contribute.

Payments are collected securely through the site via Stripe and go direct to your PTA or school account. Also, because this is a virtual event, the Christmas fair isn’t just limited to one day – you can keep the page open for a few weeks to maximise donations and give everyone a chance to join in the fun.

Oh and maybe the best news of all – there’s no need to rope parent volunteers in to get up early on a Saturday to set up, or stay behind to clear up all that cake and glitter! A virtual fair means no mess, so you can put your feet up and enjoy a mince pie and a mulled wine and watch the funds roll in.

How will my virtual fair look?

Virtual school Christmas fair displayed in ipad

A Patchwork virtual fair works so well because the page is extremely visual, inviting and easy to use. The only limit is your imagination, so you can really make it look and feel festive with Christmassy images and plenty of colour, glitter and sparkle.

How does a virtual fair work?

As visitors scroll over the virtual fair patches, they will see how much each activity or item costs, and they can add patches to their basket, adjusting quantities if necessary, leave a message if they need to communicate any information to you, and then pay securely via credit / debit card.

How do I set up a virtual Christmas event page?

It takes just minutes to setup your school’s virtual Christmas Fair page, and we even have a readymade template that you can easily customise and edit to suit your event. Visitors don’t need a password or an account to visit your page – you just send them your unique URL and they’ll arrive directly at your virtual fair, ready to start taking part!

We recommend including a variety of patches, so some might be games or activities that the kids can take part in – (perhaps you can offer the winner a small prize or certificate). Some patches represent items that you are selling. You could see if any parents make Christmas wreaths or facemasks for example, or you might have some stock of school water bottles to sell. It’s also good to include things that don’t cost money – for some this has been an especially tough year, and Christmas puts an extra strain on budgets. Perhaps you can run a Christmas art competition, or ask the kids to send in pics of their festively decorated homes or gardens? Conversely, there are also some families who do want to donate but don’t have much spare time. So, it’s a good idea to include a patch or two that are straightforward donations – you can be quite specific about what the fundraising is for – maybe the Head has requested funds for new books for the library, or some new laptops or other tech.

Children playing on laptop on virtual Christmas fair page
Christmas stollen loaf on a baking tray with knife placed on side

What kinds of activities can I have at our virtual Christmas Fair?

It’s been really fun to see the kinds of things schools have been adding to their virtual Christmas Fair pages – some of our favourite easy-to-organise ideas are here:

  • Festive pet show – Kids pay a small fee via the page to enter and email entries to the PTA team for judging!
  • Christmas bake-off – For a small entry fee via the page, kids can cook up some Christmas themed cakes or biscuits and send photos to the PTA team who will award the bake off crown!
  • Guess the name of the reindeer – (or the number of decorations on the tree) – upload a photo of a Christmas stuffed toy, or a decorated tree and ask the children to play guess – for a small fee of course!
  • Dare a teacher – get the children to pay to vote for the teacher they’d like to see do something silly – maybe get dressed up as an elf or try and eat three mince pies in under a minute. The teacher with the most votes (or highest donations!) has to do the dare.
  • Win a mystery prize / enter the bottle tombola – for a small entry fee, children are entered in to a mystery prize draw or the bottle tombola.
  • Deck the halls – perhaps this could be a free of charge activity, to make sure everyone can take part. Ask children to click this patch to say they’ll decorate a corner of their home and make it look really festive – then they can send their entries via email for judging.
  • Sell items from local businesses or crafty parents – if you have parents who can sew, bake or make something, or know a local business happy to supply, you can sell items via the page for a bit of variety and great fund raising potential!
  • Ask for cash donations for your school’s wish list – for parents who want to donate but don’t have much time, add a patch that’s purely monetary. Maybe £5 towards some new books, or £20 towards some new tech equipment. Don’t forget all cash goes direct to the PTA to spend as you need!
  • Christmas doorstep portaits – Families can book and pay via the site and then you’ll need to recruit a willing photographer parent to donate their time to do doorstep portraits – Christmas themed ones can be really fun!
  • Make your own jolly jar – this is possibly the most popular stall at the traditional Christmas fair! Of course this year it has a twist. For a small fee, get the kids to enter a competition to make their own magnificent jolly jar at home, decorate it and then send in a pic so the winner can be chosen! Then they get to eat their own jolly jar treats, making it a risk free, easy and very popular fundraiser that the kids will love!
Editing item on a virtual school Christmas fair patchwork
Mother and daughter on laptop setting up virtual school Christmas fair

How much work is it to set up?

Setting up a page is simple and you don’t need any tech know how – anyone can do it! The Patchwork platform is very intuitive so it’s unlikely you’ll need assistance, but if you do we are a friendly team and are always on hand to help. You’ll need to sign up with a few details to create an account, once you’re happy with your page you can link it with Stripe, create your own URL to share and then it’s ready to go live! If you want to add or delete patches, change the text or images, or indeed make any other changes to the page you can continue to edit it even after publishing. You can also add a collaborator if other PTA members would like to get involved too. One thing’s for sure – a virtual Christmas Fair is a whole lot less work than a real one – and yet still a great way to raise money, and get a bit of that school community feeling back – albeit digitally for the time being!

Editing the virtual Christmas fair patchwork

How will I keep track of activity on my virtual fair page?

In your Patchwork account you’ll be able to view and edit your page, and also see who has contributed to what. So you can manage payments in, see how many orders there are against each patch, and send messages or thanks to parents for their help in making the event a success. You can easily export all data from your account in to an excel spreadsheet to make post event admin manageable.

How does Patchwork make money?

We usually charge a 3.6% commission for our service, but we have made a commitment to support support schools and families, especially during this difficult time. When a school signs up to be a Patchwork School Partner you’ll receive not only a 50% reductio in our usual fee, but the chance to earn commission throughout the year by referring parents to us for their own gifts and occasions. Read more here about the Patchwork School affiliate programme and join hundreds of other happy schools using Patchwork for their PTA and fundraising events. Please note that Stripe charge their own small commissions to process your payments. You can read more about how these charges are calculated here.

three tiny snow covered fir tree decorations

We hope this has helped inspire you to set up your own virtual Christmas fair page! Don’t forget to check out our win-win School Partner offer, and let us know how your event goes by following and tagging us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter! If you need to get in touch please do drop us a line at hello@patchworkit.com

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virtual summer fair
Patchwork KidsSchools and community

Organise the Best Virtual School Summer Fair

by Rosie Hurwitz
written by Rosie Hurwitz

Not to be defeated by lockdown, PTAs are using Patchwork to organise brilliant virtual school fairs. The kids can still join in the fun and raise vital funds for their schools. You can too! It’s super easy and you can have a brilliant virtual summer fair page set up in minutes. With competitions to enter, cakes to be made, Pimms to be drunk and games to be played. It’s guaranteed to be lots of fun (at home) this year, You can also raise lots of funds for your amazing school!
The best news? There’s no setting up or sweeping up mountains of cake crumbs and glitter afterwards.. WINNER!!!!

fairy cakes for school summer fair

How can I organise a virtual school summer fair?

It’s that time of year – the kids are usually gearing themselves up for the overdose of sugar, sunshine and excitement that always comes in the form of the summer school fair. It’s also the biggest fundraising event for most schools across the country.
This year is a bit different of course with Covid-19 dashing hopes of putting on the usual crowd-drawing events. However, Patchwork can help! You can organise a brilliant, fun, and most of all profitable school fair. This will also be a lot less work than usual!
Yes, that’s right, you can organise your school fair virtually. In reality, this means families can host their own “school fair” in their homes or back gardens. They can donate funds to your school via your online Patchwork page.

It’s super simple. Here’s how:

Virtual School Summer Fair Patchwork in iPad

How can I set up a virtual school fair Patchwork page?

Set up your virtual summer fair Patchwork page in minutes by using our readymade template. Next edit the template with your school details and date.
You can add or delete patches, add your own images or use our gorgeous photo gallery. It’s easy to edit prices, and add patches so that people can “fund” “make” or “do” things that will make the fair a huge success. Patches can be rearranged and resized, and it’s so easy even a technophobe can do it. You can be as creative as you want – so have a play!

hand holding pocket money coins

How to raise funds at a virtual school fair

Fundraising is super simple with a Patchwork virtual summer fair page. Just link your page with your school’s bank account via Stripe, our card processing partner. Stripe allows parents to donate easily and securely via a debit or credit card.
Details of all contributions are stored in your account. You can see who’s doing what, generate post-fair reports and calculate revenue.

People can also leave messages on the page sharing what they are doing to support the fair or just letting you know they will take part! It’s a great way to build that community spirit again and get everyone together, albeit virtually for now!

multicoloured bunting against sky

Ideas for a virtual school fair

A virtual bake off: Charge a small entry fee, ask entrants to bake their masterpiece on or before the day of the fair, then email photos of their cake, and a description of it for a virtual bake off competition!

A pet show: Get the pet owning families to send in pics of their furry friends for a small entry fee and judge the cutest / fluffiest entrants!

A doorstep family photo competition – keep it simple with some rules or themes. “Dress as your superheroes”, or “wear your school colours” are easy ways to do this, and it’s one the whole family can join in.

Name the teddy: Ask the children to guess the name of a soft toy for a small charge (put a photo of the toy on one of the patches) and pick the winner after the fair. The winner gets the teddy!

child playing summer fair games in garden

Games to play at a virtual school fair

Encourage parents and carers to get involved by setting up a hot dog or pizza stall at home, or a lemonade and Pimms bar. They can get the kids to design posters, decorate the space indoors or out, and play some summer party tunes to get in the mood.

If they have paddling pools or a trampoline, make these part of the fair too. Face painting, jolly jars, a make your own burger stall, tin can alley, egg and spoon race, beat the goalie, guess the name of the teddy, soak the teacher (or this year, soak the grown-up!) are all great ideas for summer fair games. Then give the kids some pocket money so they can recreate that summer fair experience at home, have lots of fun and raise money for your school at the same time!!

summer drinks stall

If you’ve been inspired to set up a page for your school check out our easy to customise template. Next, link your payment details and share the URL of your page direct with your school families so that they can start preparing and donating! Then sit back, enjoy a Pimms and watch the funds roll in! Let us know how your goes by sharing pics with us on Twitter – using #virtualsummerfair and don’t forget to follow us on FB and Insta too.

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Food packages being delivered to Lewisham hospital NHS staff
Patchwork Story

Frontline Food Boxes for NHS Heroes

by Rosie Hurwitz
written by Rosie Hurwitz

We were so happy to receive a call from a group of local business owners in Brockley and hear about their brilliant idea to support NHS staff at our local hospital. Patchwork is always about bringing people together to make something amazing happen and this project really is that. Read on to find out about the Frontline Food Box project to raise funds for our NHS heroes and how a small group of lovely people had a very big impact!

Lewisham Hospital Food Box Project Patchwork

How did the Frontline Food Box project come about?

Frontline Food Boxes was set up by a small group of local business owners. They had all seen the news story of a distressed critical care nurse asking people to stop panic buying and emptying supermarket shelves of essentials. So they came together to pool resources and contacts and take practical action to help our hospital in Lewisham. The aim was to raise enough money for 100 food boxes, which would include items such as: pasta, rice, eggs, butter, fruit, vegetables and tinned goods. The parcels are being beautifully put together by the fundraising team and local businesses including Tony, the owner of the Provender delicatessen in Honor Oak. They are then being delivered by the hospital to staff they have nominated and who need some extra support at the moment.

Fruit and vegetable boxes being packed for Lewisham hospital workers

What was the initial response like?

The Frontline Food Boxes patchwork page was initially shared with friends on WhatsApp and then on local FB community pages. People visiting the fund raising page can choose to chip in £2 for some fresh veggies or a packet of biscuits, or to fund a whole food box for £25. Within 24 hours they had their first 100 boxes funded!

Julia Glyn-Pickett, one of the fundraising leads said: “The initial idea was about convenience, but also community – we know that for many reasons it hasn’t been easy for staff at the hospital, and the NHS more widely, to get regular, basic supplies. At the same time local businesses wanted to help, and we knew people would want to show their thanks individually. The support we have received, with people donating just over £5000 in a week, is amazing – by pulling together as a community we are showing our huge appreciation in a way that the hospital says makes a real difference.”

Girl putting letter in to envelope

How else can people help?

The group also had another lovely idea to get even the youngest supporters involved by asking them to write a letter (or draw a picture) of support to send by post. These notes will then be added to the food boxes to let our NHS workers know how much they are valued by us all – young and old. Julia says: “we thought it would be nice to get the kids and teens focussed on something – there’s a lot of anxiety out there and this is somewhere to channel it positively.” The team of volunteers are also printing out all the messages of support from the page, so that the staff can see all the lovely things people have said, as well as adding recipe cards and a hand cream or scented candle to the boxes, all provided at no cost by local businesses.

Owner of Provender Deli packing up food parcels for NHS staff at Lewisham Hospital
First recipient of Frontline food packages at Lewisham NHS Hospital
Food packages being delivered to staff at Lewisham NHS hospital

Who are the food boxes going to and when?

The team at Frontline delivered the first 20 boxes to Lewisham hospital on Friday 3rd April. The hospital wants to spread the support across what is likely to be a long-running period of need, to lift morale. The recipient of the first package was Gamal, who works in soft services (that means keeping the hospital clean!) and has been at the hospital for 20 years. The second package went to Geraldine who had just done 12 shifts on ITU, and the third to Robert, who heads up the stores! The packages will be delivered on a weekly basis, and handed to nominated staff as they come off their shift, allowing them go straight home to eat good food, rather than facing the supermarkets. It’s a way of rewarding staff that may have had an especially tough week, a way of making them feel really valued and special. Updates on the project are going out regularly to all those that have already donated (£5,300 raised at time of typing!) – so if that’s you – look out for those and a huge THANK YOU from all of us! We’ll be updating regularly on our own Patchwork Facebook page, Twitter and Instagram page too.

Messages of thanks tied to food packages distributed to NHS staff by Frontline food project
Readymade Patchwork template community food fund

Like to set up something similar in your community?

We’ve made an easy-to-customise template that’s ready to go when you are. Just add the details of your project and share with your local network so that everyone can do a little bit to help support our amazing key workers. Whether they are NHS staff, refuse collection workers or any of the other dedicated people who are serving their communities at this time. Every small action, every person, and every group of committed volunteers will help. At this time more than ever, our community is our strength.

If you have any other questions about the project you can contact us at hello@patchworkit.com and of course the Frontline Food Boxes page is still open for contributions. Whether it’s £2 for some eggs, or £25 for a whole box, or even just a note of support – everyone can chip in and together we will make a real difference to the nurses, doctors and all the other NHS support staff keeping us all safe at this most difficult time.

A special thanks to all the local businesses and volunteers who have worked so hard to bring this idea to life. You have brought much needed smiles, joy and good food to our wonderful NHS staff. Thanks especially to:

Tony at Provender Delicatessen

Shai at Mont58Coffee

Nilou at Jumping Bean London

Nena at Nena Foster Foods

Vicky at Fitness for Mummies

And of course to Julia! x

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