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Pupils at Paisley Grammar put their heads together to win a fantastic £3,000 funding for Renfrewshire Women’s Aid.

The group of five third year pupils took part in the Youth and Philanthropy Initiative alongside four other teams.

Each team is challenged to ‘adopt’ a local charity, visit them and find out more about the work they do. They then put together a business case, which they present in front of the rest of the school and a panel of judges.

The judges then pick the group with the best argument to win a £2,500 donation, courtesy of the Wood Family Trust.

The remaining £500 is raised by the school.

Debbie Galasso, acting principal teacher for raising attainment, is in charge of the school’s YPI challenge.

She said: “It’s all about raising awareness and raising funds.

“Of the five groups, three of them picked Women’s Aid. One of them was an all-boys group, which I thought was really insightful of them.”

The judging panel was made up of the school’s head boy and head girl, headteacher and a student English teacher.

Debbie added: “We’ve been doing this in the school for about seven years and we always get positive feedback.

“It’s a great thing, the pupils really enjoy it. It’s a bit different to the work they normally do in class and it helps them pick up skills they need in life, like working as a group, phoning people and arranging meetings.

“The kids really engage with it.”

The winning pupils – Lorian Woodland, Jennifer Gracie, Mya Connor, Emily Luck and Maryan Waheed – are organising a dress as you please day at the school to help raise the final £500.

Rae Gilbert ,from Renfrewshire Women’s Aid, was delighted to receive the money. She said it would go towards activities for children and essentials for women.

She said: “It’s amazing to receive this amount of money.

“ The pupils choose the charity themselves, go and visit it and then do a presentation to be judged.

“It’s wonderful to have been chosen and I’m delighted the pupils won this money for Renfrewshire Women’s Aid.”

The students said the experience has earned them new skills and new friends.

A statement from the teenagers said: “We decided, after a long discussion, that we were going to choose Women’s Aid.

“It was a charity that was close to our hearts and made our presentation that much more passionate.

“We scheduled an interview with the representatives of Women’s Aid. They were very polite and calming and they answered our questions carefully and told us about some women’s past experiences.

“These stories inspired us when we made our presentation.

“After presenting to the class, we didn’t think we would make it through to the finals. So we were surprised when people were moved by our presentation and voted for us for the final.

“Presenting it to our peers was nerve-racking.

“We were practising for the finals and we felt quite self-conscious. But after a few changes our presentation was finally up to our standards.

“After presenting it, we thought we had lost and we were extremely shocked to know we won. We were overwhelmed and didn’t know what to say.

“YPI has changed us for the better. We have developed new skills and new friendships.”