Five-Minute Marvels: You’ve been flocked by Friends of St Mary’s!

Fundraising Primary Community Engagement England
13 October 2020
Cast your mind back to a pre-lockdown, wet and windy February half term. In a small corner of South Gloucestershire, things were brightening up. People woke up, only to open the curtains… and find a flock of flamingos in the garden…

Who are they?

St Mary’s Primary School in Yate, Gloucestershire. They’re supported by the Friends of St Mary’s Yate, who have had an excellent track record for fundraising over the last few years, with a regular community 5K run (this year’s has gone virtual), a scarecrow trail and a break the rules day to name a few. The innovative, fun and memorable events that the team have put on means they’ve raised £15–18,000 per year, and they’ve raised roughly £5,000 so far this year. This means that the Friends have been able to fund initiatives such as friendship benches in the school playground, IT equipment, school trips, a sheltered bike area and outdoor learning spaces.

What did they do?

We caught up with Sarah and Ellen from the Friends of St Mary’s Yate to tell us about their most unique fundraising activity – Flocking.’

It all started as a madcap idea by our then Vice Chair, Jenny,” says Ellen. It developed into a group of us driving around our town late at night, scooping up flamingos and then flocking’ local residents, so that they’d wake up with a flock of 10 pink plastic flamingos adorning their front garden.” Jenny had helped to organise several fantastic events for the Friends recently, so Ellen and the team knew that Yate would be in for a treat!

How did it go?

Signing up to be flocked’ was an entirely opt-in activity. Ellen adds, We also approached local businesses to sponsor the flocks and we included their logos on each of the eight separate flocks, meaning that the idea made money straight away.”

Yate local residents signed up and paid £5 to be flocked’, and as the flamingos were in town for two weeks, it was a surprise when the flamingos were going to land! Ellen’s son William, who helped install the flamingos, explain how lovely it was to see other people’s smiles, and bring some happiness to the community.

Knowing they would wake up in the morning and get a big surprise made me feel really happy, and knowing we were making money for school made going out in the wind and rain worthwhile! Doing the birthday flock was great as we got to see our friend be surprised, we also flocked my friend’s Nan, she was so happy.”

You can see more of what The Friends of St Mary’s got up to in this video from BBC Bristol. This has really helped to raise the profile of the school, which is in one of the lowest funded school areas in the country. We’re excited to see what the Friends get up to next!

With thanks to Sarah and Ellen of the Friends of St Mary’s School


Want to make your own marvel? Inspired by the Friends’ Flocking’ fundraising?

  • Spreading the word about your event through local press and social media is a great way to encourage more sign-ups
  • When dealing with people’s personal details such as addresses and contact details, make sure you’re aware of GDPR regulations
  • Having a glue gun to fix wonky flamingo legs is always a bonus!