A children’s charity has thanked the generosity of the public and its partners as they got behind its first ever Christmas appeal to support frontline school staff.

Following the Youth Sport Trust’s appeal through the Big Give Christmas Challenge to help stress-ridden school workers, £25,451 worth of donations including Gift Aid has flooded in as people were keen to show their support of teaching heroes.

The money raised will support the staff of 25 schools around the country with the full list of recipients being announced in January 2021. The Youth Sport Trust will work with schools in some of the most disadvantaged communities who have committed to becoming a Well School: putting wellbeing at the heart of teaching and learning. The schools identified will receive support for staff wellbeing issues exacerbated through COVID starting from April 2021. 

Ali Oliver MBE, Chief Executive of the Youth Sport Trust, said: 

We are so thankful to everyone who donated to our campaign and especially to our match funders the Monday Charitable Trust and Sky Sports. Thanks to all of you, we will now be able to improve the health and wellbeing of more than 500 teachers - who in turn could have a positive influence on 15,000 young people through the Well School movement. 

School staff often don’t get the recognition that they deserve or are too modest to receive it. In 2020, our campaign and the amount that has been raised recognises the work done by frontline school staff who ensured this generation of children had a safe place to learn and grow throughout a pandemic.

Recent research from Bupa Foundation revealed nearly half of teachers found the past half-term was the most stressful time they have known, with just 4% saying that they were able to prioritise their wellbeing daily over the past few months. 

The Well School movement is powered by the Youth Sport Trust and Bupa Foundation. It is supporting schools across the country to put wellbeing at the heart of teaching and learning and place more value on the outcomes schools achieve beyond academic attainment alone.  
  
The Youth Sport Trust took part in the annual match funding campaign between 1 and 8 December. All donations the Youth Sport Trust’s campaign raised were matched by Monday Charitable Trust and Sky Sports. 

To find out how you can continue to support the Youth Sport Trust and its work please visit www.youthsporttrust.org/fundraising