FOP - Friends of Poplar

Friends of Poplar (FOP)

At Poplar Farm School, we are fortunate to have a PTFA that is and has been an integral part of the school community. Created in 2019, in this time the PTFA has raised thousands of pounds, which has been spent on equipment, resources, fun activities and events to enhance our children’s education experience and the school’s facilities.

Our PTFA is about much more than simply fundraising. Friends of Poplar exists to provide closer links between home and school, and it is an excellent way to bring staff, parents and friends together socially in support of the school, working towards a common goal. It is fun too - just ask any of the Committee members or PTFA volunteers, members and helpers.

Friends of Poplar is open to everyone with an association with our school - parents, teachers, friends, guardians, carers, grandparents, governors etc. It is an important part of school life. We work on a volunteer basis, giving up our time to help to benefit our children. We are a small but very active and enthusiastic group of mums, dads, teachers and friends who meet each half term to support the school and our children.

The group is quite small and friendly and always welcomes new members. It gives an opportunity to meet other parents and have a ‘say’ into how the money raised is spent. It also allows parents an opportunity to have a say about what events we should organise in the future.

We hold regular meetings to plan our events for the year and hold our annual AGM at the start of each academic year, watch out via Class Dojo and the school notice boards/ newsletters for information about our events and meetings.

What do we do?

The PTFA has two main roles:

Fundraising: we raise money to buy additional resources and equipment needed by the school. All the monies raised are used to provide our children with these extras. To date, our children have benefited from fundraising by FOP by supplying cash injections to the outdoor classroom and book vending machine project. These extras make such a difference to our school.

Fun Activities & Events: we organise events for our children outside the school curriculum, e.g., Easter Egg Hunts and Sponsored Bunny Hops, Halloween Pumpkin Parade, Summer Fayre, Christmas Fayre/ Market, Discos, Magic Shows, End of year ice creams, Colour runs and much more. The main purpose of these events is to provide pleasure to all.

Every year as the festive season approaches children are given the opportunity to design their own artwork, which are printed as high-quality cards (Christmas and non-religious options) to buy and give to friends and relatives.

We always try and respond to the children’s requests and encourage their ideas and involvement; it is great to see them contributing to/ having fun at the events or enjoying using a piece of new equipment that the PTFA has contributed to.

We operate in line with Parentkind’s constitution, which we are also a member of. This states the purpose of the association, and rules and regulations that the committee members should be following. It also provides structure for committee members, giving clear guidance on how the association should be run.

What are our goals for this academic year?

Our goals for the 2023/24 academic year are:

• Continue to provide fun events that are inclusive and benefit all children at Poplar
• Raise money to assist the school in the PopBus project
• Achieve registered charity status

Who are the current committee?

Each year we elect our committee, and anyone with a connection to the school can express their interest in standing for a role by contacting us - without your help we wouldn’t be able to achieve so much.

Our current committee is made up of 7 individuals:

Chair - Gemma Bryant

Treasurer - Areti Sakellariou

Secretary - Kelly Blake

Projects & Relationships Lead - Liz Weatherill

Research & Grants Application Coordinator - Gemma Dixon

Ordinary Committee Members - Kerri Marjoribanks & Tina Evans

We also have a wonderful group of volunteers and active members, who support the above by contributing their time, enthusiasm, and skills to our cause. 

So how can you support us right now?

Friends of Poplar relies on volunteers and contributors to have a fun, successful year of events and fundraising for our school.

Please take some time to consider if you could contribute your money, time, talent or support and please do get in touch! It can be little or a lot but all contributions are very much appreciated!

Ways you can support are:

• Use the below when you buy school essentials and raise money for FOP without costing you more.  order your child's name labels through www.stikins.co.uk quoting our school fundraising code – 36205.
• Sourcing great Raffle Prizes or by donating goods for activities/ stalls/ raffles.
• Bring your unwanted clothing items to our biannual https://bag2school.com/ collections (usually held in February & November), for every kilo of weight collected we receive funds to our PTFA.
• Make a donation at our various events throughout the year – every little helps and goes a long way towards us achieving our fundraising goals.
• Make a regular or one-off donation using our online shop - Friends of Poplar Farm School (sumupstore.com) or faster payment bank details shown below:

o   Account Name: Friends of Poplar Farm School

o   Account number: 74489368

o   Sort code: 30-99-50

If you work, please ask your company if they would consider:

• Match-funding a particular sponsored event or stall at one of our events
• Donating to FOP through your payroll
• Buying an item from the PTFA wish list or donating a prize or service
• Gathering a team of volunteers to help at the school e.g. Community Support day
• Volunteer at future events or attend our regular planning meetings - It’s a great way of getting involved.

Want to know more or get involved?

Follow our Facebook page - www.facebook.com/FriendsofPoplarFarmSchool , send an email to FOP@poplarfarmsch-cit.co.uk or please leave a message at the school office, we can’t wait to hear from you!