Priory School boys win £3,000 for KAB

On Tuesday 28th June four 15 year old boys from The Priory School in Orpington, were presented with a cheque for £3,000, which they had won on behalf of Kent Association for the Blind. The money was presented by the Youth & Philanthropy Initiative (YPI) at a celebration at The Royal Institution of Great Britain, Albemarle Street, London.

The boys, Dan Hose, Alex Coombs, Yusuf Ullah and Andrew Barnard, along with several other groups from the school, had been challenged by YPI to research the needs of their local area and identify the charity they believed best to support the community.

They visited Kent Association for the Blind's Sight Centre in Blyth Road, Bromley where they were able to question Team Leader Margaret Clements about the specialist equipment available, and how KAB performs its important rehabilitation functions.

 

The Priory School students were put under sight loss simulation conditions and experienced for a short time what it feels like to have impaired sight, which was important for the next stage in the competition. Following skills training in advocacy and public speaking from YPI, they had to present reasons why their proposed charity deserved the £3,000 award. The first thing Dan, Alex, Yusuf and Andrew did was to ask everyone in the audience to close their eyes and change places! Against stiff competition from their classmates supporting other local charities, the team's passion about KAB and advocacy of its cause won through. The team was invited to YPI's London presentation to receive the cheque, along with their charity's representative, KAB's Wendy Suffield, Community & Events Fundraising Manager.

The Youth and Philanthropy Initiative is a one-of-a-kind educational programme that gives young people hands-on experience of social change and aims to empower them to participate in the development of their communities.

Wendy Suffield says: "This performance shows what can be achieved with some thought, application and empathy. The boys worked really hard to get their facts right and to understand what it might be like to be visually impaired. Their understanding of KAB's work in its local community and how important KAB is to anyone who has sight loss, was presented magnificently. The money raised will go to supporting sight impaired people in the Bromley area to live independent lives."

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Emily Miller – YPI, Institute for Philanthropy: T: 0207 240 0262 W: instituteforphilanthropy.org