By Miss Dawson, Charities and CAS Co-ordinator

The first annual First Give final for Bedford Girls’ School Year 10 students took place last night (Thursday 8th December). 

The seven teams selected to go through to the final to compete for the £1500 grant money on offer were the King’s Arms Project, ARAS, BeCHAR, Mind BLMK, SANDS, Stepping Stones and Carers in Bedfordshire.

The judging panel was made up of Counsellor Luigi Reale (Bedford Council), Mr Montell Neufville (MF Youth Consultants), Lucy Bardner (Director of Community Programmes for the Harpur Trust), Miss Mackenzie and Amber Joe (Service Captain). 

Despite a lot of nerves, the presentations were of a very high standard, and the level of creativity was excellent. After much discussion and deliberation, the judges awarded the £1000 grant money to SANDS. The teams representing Mind BLMK and Stepping Stones were each awarded £250 for their charities.1

The whole programme has been a fantastic opportunity for our Year 10 students to interact with charities in our local community, and despite not winning, several of the groups have been inspired to continue to raise awareness and, hopefully, some money for their charities, with potential long lasting relationships having begun because of their First Give experience.