I think a cake sale is one of the foundations of fundraising - a very simple, straightforward event which keeps the money ticking in to your PTA. In this episode, I share my experiences of cake sales over the years I have been organising them. So whether you haven't run one before or are a seasoned pro, hopefully there is something here for you. Look out for my Cake sales Part 2 episode coming soon in which I share ideas on how to elevate your cake sales and share some ideas for home-ba...

Have you heard about a Progressive Supper before? This is a brilliant evening event which is perfect for the winter or spring months, and combines fundraising with a way of strengthening your parent community at school. In this episode, I chat to my friends Susan and Lyn who have organised many of these evenings and have very generously shared all their top tips so you can hit the ground running if you want to try this event at your school. Do let me know if you give it a go. I'm still lookin...

Welcome back to a new school year! In this episode, we have a little catch up about summer holidays and what my PTA is working on at the moment. A new edition of the School Fundraising magazine has just come out, packed full of ideas and advice so I talk through some of the articles I found interesting. Read the latest version here: https://www.pta.co.uk/ And I have started a PTA Podcast Playlist on Spotify - see what my first 8 song choices are to get us started. I would love to hear any son...

Please note, I can't reply to texts, but I can to emails - hello@ptapodcast.com In this episode, I give you a little catch-up on recent events with me, and announce that my son Patrick and I have published the first PTA Podcast computer game! We have made a text-based game where you can organise a summer fête for a primary school in just 10 minutes from the comfort of your own sofa! Put your PTA skills up to the test! Can you negotiate the headache of finding enough volunteers? What stalls wi...

Please note, I can't reply to texts, but I can to emails - hello@ptapodcast.com In this episode, I share my tips on how to get through the organisation of a big event like a summer or winter fête. I talk about things you could try during the planing stages to make things easier, what you can do on the day of the event and crucially, how to cope when it's all feeling too much. I hope my experiences are helpful to you if you are feeling a bit overwhelmed with organising your summer or winter fa...

Please note, I can't reply to texts, but I can to emails - hello@ptapodcast.com In this episode, I chat to Carol Rogerson about the PTA+ website which is a unique resource for all things related to PTAs in the UK - do go and have a browse of the website if you haven't already found it - www.pta.co.uk Carol is also the editor of School Fundraising magazine and we talk about how she finds articles for the magazine, how PTA fundraising has changed over the past few years and what an amazing cont...

Thank you for your message! Please note, if you text me I cannot reply directly to you, but I can if you use my email address below. In this episode, we have a look at the concept of marginal gains - a way of making tiny changes to various aspects of your events organisation and planning which can add up to big improvements overall. I give some suggestions from my own time as a PTA Chair on some of the things that I have tried over the years to improve how I organised events. And I encourage ...

Thank you for your message! Please note, if you text me I cannot reply directly to you, but I can if you use my email address below. In this episode, I give you all the details about my proudest and biggest achievement when I was Chair of my PTA - fundraising for a new library at my school. It was a full-on year of fundraising and fun, and it changed the way my PTA approached projects and how we worked with the school. I learnt so much from taking on the challenge and I share my ten top tips ...

Thank you for your message! Please note, if you text me I cannot reply directly to you, but I can if you use my email address below. In this episode, I reply to Evie who texted me and asked about Instagram. That made me think about the different ways my PTA communicates with parents and I thought I would share the different methods and my experience of them with you. Do you use similar methods - which are most effective for you? Have you tried anything different to me - please let me know.&nb...

In this episode, I chat to Keren Mitchell about his website called Superkind (https://superkind.org/) which PTAs can use to gather sponsorship money and really put the children at the heart of fundraising. I also suggest that you add "Gift Aid reference number" to your PTA to-do list if you are a charity in the UK but haven't registered for Gift Aid yet. Do you use an online platform for gathering sponsorship donations? Which one did you go for and how was your experience? Have you tried Supe...

In this episode, I share my experience of doing a handover to the next PTA Chair. It was all very straightforward in the end, as most of it is electronic now! Are you doing a handover, or will you have one coming up in the future? Have you had a similar experience to me? I'd love to hear from you - contact me using hello@ptapodcast.com. I would love to hear from you. Please rate and review my podcast so other lovely PTA volunteers can find it too! Why not email me about an event you've...

In this episode, I update you on what happened as I tried to step down as Chair of my PTA. As you know from Episode 19, I was dreading my AGM with no one wanting to step up to the role. So this is my story about what happened and how it went. I also list a few places you can go for help if you are dealing with a tricky situation in your PTA at the moment. Have you had a similar experience to me? Do let me know - hello@ptapodcast.com. Please rate and review my podcast so other lovely PTA volu...

In this episode, I chat to my friend Eve about her gift-wrapping business and an idea about a festive fundraiser with a difference. Why not give a gift-wrapping evening a try to get parents together for a social occasion? We talk through how this could work and explore how you can make any gift-wrapping you do as a PTA more eco-friendly. If you don't have anyone in your area who could help with hosting a gift-wrapping event, Eve has many online courses where you could learn some of her techni...

In this episode, I welcome you back to my podcast after I had a break over the summer. I'm juggling a few things already, including organising the AGM in the next few weeks. I'm wanting to step down as Chair at the AGM but no one so far wants to step up so I'm feeling rather unsure about how to handle it all. Do you have any tips or advice for me?! Please rate and review my podcast so other lovely PTA volunteers can find it too! Why not email me about an event you've taken part in? Contact m...

In this episode, I share 10 easy ideas to create a stall at a fair, using only A4 paper - something everyone has access to. These ideas can mostly be created the day before and might help to cut down on a bit of the stressful planning associated with a big event, or are easy last-minute additions if you have a gap to fill. If you are looking for the Fortune Teller book then here is a link so you can see what it looks like: https://usborne.com/gb/origami-fortune-tellers-9781474927994 P...

In this episode, I share my experiences of fundraising in a small school, looking at the pros and cons of being in a smaller community. I also talk about how my PTA tries to overcome the challenges, although it's not always possible! Please rate and review my podcast so other lovely PTA volunteers can find it too! Why not email me about an event you've taken part in? Contact me using hello@ptapodcast.com. I would love to hear from you. Check out my website - www.ptapodcast.com And find me on...

This episode is a little review of my own recent Easter fundraising as well as a catch up with Emilia about her Easter fun day and how it all went. Please rate and review my podcast so other lovely PTA volunteers can find it too! Why not email me about an event you've taken part in? Contact me using hello@ptapodcast.com. I would love to hear from you. Check out my website - www.ptapodcast.com And find me on Facebook.

In this episode, I chat to Emilia about her fundraising plans for her daughter's school in Sweden. She explains how school fundraising works in the Swedish school system and how she has placed the children at the centre of her plans. I also give you a little update on my PTA's Easter fundraiser. Please rate and review my podcast so other lovely PTA volunteers can find it too! Why not email me about an event you've taken part in? Contact me using hello@ptapodcast.com. I would love to hear fro...

In this episode, I share my experience of running my first Colour Run (yes, the one that had to be postponed 3 times!). I also touch on what fundraising we tried at our annual Sports Day. Please rate and review my podcast so other lovely PTA volunteers can find it too! Why not email me about an event you've taken part in? Contact me using hello@ptapodcast.com. I would love to hear from you. Check out my website - www.ptapodcast.com And find me on Facebook.

In this episode, I share the low effort and low cost fundraisers which have worked well for my PTA. Perhaps there are some new ideas in here for your PTA to try? I mention cake sales, non-uniform days, secondhand uniform sales, sponsored events, online game, external vendors and book sales. Please rate and review my podcast so other lovely PTA volunteers can find it too! Why not email me about an event you've taken part in? Contact me using hello@ptapodcast.com. I would love to hear from you...