By Transform Our World Youth Engagement Officer, Leah 

Year 5 students from Glenfrome Primary School in Bristol formed a group called EcoVengers and have been working hard fundraising for compassionate causes and improving their local community. 

The first project the group chose to work on together was a particularly unique spin on the classic fundraising bake sale – they decided almost unanimously that they wanted to learn how to make yoghurt from scratch, and sell their creations with various fruits and honey.  

They decided to raise money for both the RSPCA and the NSPCC, as they wanted to help both animals and children in need of protection around the world.  

The group worked really well as a team to find yoghurt recipes, make the yoghurt, and design colourful posters to advertise their yoghurt sale.  

As a result, they managed to raise over £100, which was split between the two charities. Some quotes, gathered by student reporters in the group, emphasize how positive everyone felt about raising money for charity in this way; “When you are making yoghurt, it makes you really proud of yourself.” & “I felt amazing about how much we made from the yoghurt sale!”. 

The second project the EcoVengers chose to work on was based on their common belief that homeless people in their hometown of Bristol needed more help and support.  

To this end, they decided to buy good quality reusable metal water bottles to donate to the homelessness charity Help Bristol’s Homeless, who took charge of distributing these to those in need.  

Furthermore, the group decided that while water bottles were a very necessary item to promote the physical wellbeing of people experiencing homelessness, they also wanted to support their mental wellbeing.  

In order to do this, they decided to write and decorate some beautiful messages of kindness and hope, which were attached to each bottle before they were taken to the charity.  

Help Bristol’s Homeless representatives were over the moon to receive this donation, especially as the summer heat was just beginning, and said, “The bottles are fabulous and the messages too! Thank you! We will giving them to BOSH who we work alongside with and they do street outreach work. These bottles are just what are needed with this (hot) weather!”.  

Likewise, students in the group found helping the homeless in their community very rewarding, saying “I feel joy because we are helping the homeless”, and “I feel happy because we are helping the homeless and they need it.” 

The final project the group chose was a litter pick, as they recognised that their area needed clearing up, and that litter was a major problem for wildlife, both in Bristol and the wider world. As such, the group stated that their main motivation for organising a litter pick was to prevent more plastic pollution from harming wildlife, both on land and at sea.  

To further this aim, the group opted to buy litter pickers from the company Waterhaul, who turn plastic collected from the oceans (mostly discarded fishing nets) into useful items, including litter pickers.

By buying these, they could reduce the plastic already in the ocean, while also reducing the amount that could eventually reach it. 

The litter pick took place in our final session, and was an amazing way to round off our time together. One student summed up the experience wonderfully by saying, “I think we’ve gone so far, and it’s gone brilliantly!” 

Glenfrome Primary is supported by Transform Our World Youth Engagement Officer Leah, funded by #iWill.