Testimonials
Schools / Nurseries
Heather Tomlinson, Director of Education
"2008 was another great year for schools selling Invitation Books. After 5 years it has become well established as an efficient and easy way for schools to fundraise. Parents buy the book because they are helping their children's school, but ultimately knowing they will also really benefit from the savings on offer. The success of Invitation is no surprise really - as everyone wins!"
Balsall Common Primary School
Kirsty Hughes is just one of our satisfied school partners. Kirsty originally bought the book from her son's nursery in the Midlands because it was 'for charity' but without really taking much notice! However, she soon saw the potential and spotted more and different offers each time she flicked through. She approached the PTA of her other son's school, Balsall Common Primary School, near Coventry.
"Once I had shown the book to the Committee, I was given the go ahead to arrange a sale," explained Kirsty. "The deciding factor, as it was an unknown quantity, was the lack of risk to the school. The team at Invitation was very helpful and supported us every step of the way. They even approached more local businesses at our request and persuaded them to join in the offers!
"The sale itself was very straightforward. We decided to send out a PTA letter explaining the book to parents. We explained the great offers in the book and emphasised the ones we thought parents would respond to. A few days later we sent the book to every parent in the book bags. Parents then had to return the book or a cheque. Simple!" said a delighted Kirsty. "All we had to do was chase up some stragglers, pay in the cheques and send the balance to Invitation.
"We have 450 families in the school. We sold nearly 300 books and made £1400. It was phenomenal and so easy. Parents who bought the books asked for extra copies for friends and relatives. And the best thing is that parents love it because the book raises money for the school but actually saves them money."
Joelle Williams from Rhiwbeina Primary School in Cardiff
"This was the first year we used The Invitation Book to raise funds for the school and we sold 157 books which raised over £700 for the school. The best thing about The Invitation Book is everyone benefits. The school raises money and the parents save money! We are hoping to sell even more next year."
Eimar Fossey from Our lady of the Wayside Roman Catholic School in Birmingham
"We are delighted to be part of the Invitation Book Fundraiser. It's easy to manage and a 'win-win' situation. Our PTA earned almost £1000 this year and the parents get something that saves them £'s. We recommend this scheme as an easy way to earn lots of money for your school. It's also great to do business with helpful and friendly people..."
Enid Scattergood from Noahs Ark Toddlers Group in Coventry
"Selling the Invitation Books at our Parent and Toddler Group proved to be a great success- we sold over ¾ of our books. The book contains something for the whole family and it is not very long before they get their money back. It is a brilliant way to raise funds and with the money raised we bought a lot of new equipment and toys for the group. This included a new wooden cooker, sink, and fridge and rocking"
Jenny Larkin East Park Junior School - Wolverhampton
They raised £256.50 selling 57 books
"We found the scheme easy to run, and the parents really liked the content of the book as it helps them save money on loads of kids' activities and days out. We sold over 55 books and would recommend the scheme to other schools as an excellent fundraiser."
Banks Road Infant School in Nottingham needed to raise money for a new stage for their assemblies. Luckily for them, last year saw the launch of a new edition of the Invitation book for the Nottingham and Derby area. As we were new to the region we suggested that our schools liaison officer paid the school a visit to help explain how the fundraising scheme worked.
"The visit from Invitation's liaison officer was definitely useful, and it worked well with him bringing the books are the same time, rather than a separate visit… we were then able to get straight on with running the campaign. It was easy to do and the support from the Invitation staff was great. With a bit of forward planning and monitoring, the sales trickled in. We sold 46 books and raised nearly £200, which was brilliant."
Julie Gibbs from Pucklechurch Primary School PFA in Bristol first discovered the Invitation book at her son's playgroup when they used it to raise much needed funds.
So, when her son progressed up to the local Primary school and they needed to raise funds, Julie knew she was on to a winner with the book. She suggested using it at her son's new school PSA and they haven't looked back since...
The first year they raised money to buy some digital cameras for the school and this year they are putting the £500 raised towards the construction of a 'garden of reflection' for the pupils to go to for some quiet time (not to mention the staff!).
"I already knew the scheme would work, so I had no hesitation in recommending it to my son's new school two years ago. It has been a great success with over 2/3 of our families buying a copy. This year, we also had online sales from parents who bought last year but whose children had left the school. What's great is that even though we didn't actively sell to these families this time, Invitation still gave us our commission for the sales."
Churchill Pre-School
"The sale of the books was so easy from beginning to end, especially as we had the support of the parents and friends from the community. Knowing that some of the purchase price was going directly to the pre-school was a great help."
Mel Probert, PTA
St John's Church of England Primary School in Bristol
"Once the PTA Committee were shown the book we all agreed to arrange a sale," says PTA member Tanya Hawkins. "The books were sent home with a PTA letter allowing parents time to see the fantastic offers available to them. We sold 100 books and raised £450 to use towards playground equipment. We are looking forward to seeing how many books we can sell this year!"
Langley Primary School in Birmingham
It's not only the schools who benefit from the Invitation Book. "Everyone who bought one has been amazed at the savings," says Tracey Lake, bursar of Langley Primary School. As a result of the £333 it raised from the initiative, the school was able to boost its appeal fund for a wind turbine. "We will definitely be selling the books again next year."
Howell's School in Cardiff
Nancy Caltabiano, a member of Howell's School PTA, has tried a number of fundraising methods and says, "The Invitation Book has been one of the most successful schemes. We are planning to increase our involvement and take part in its 'Gift Wrap' initiative next year."
West Town Lane School, Bristol
“Selling The Invitation Book was really easy. We have a fairly large community
here and we spoke about the benefits of the book at our meetings. Once the rest
of the community saw the book, the advantages were obvious. We divided the books
up between us and sold them to friends and family as well as parents. I would
recommend showing the books to people as this lets them see the amount of saving
they can make for themselves. We were able to put the money towards interactive
white boards for each classroom and our end of term carnival, where we get people
to come and teach the pupils Caribbean music and dance. We will definitely get
involved with The Invitation Book next year as we think the book really does
sell itself!”
Ty Gwyn Special School, Cardiff
“Selling The Invitation Book enabled us to generate funds quickly and with
little effort. We simply took advantage of the free leaflets, which we placed
in our pupil’s book bags and waited for orders. Our parents were delighted
at the amount of savings they made whilst being able to support the work that
our school does!”
Friends of West Town Lane Infant School
“The response to the books has been great with some people buying two
books each. Parents have even been planning their weekends and school holidays
around the book because there is so much choice” Lisa Fisher, PTA Member
Four Oaks Infant School, Sutton Coldfield
“It is a great way of raising money with very little work and it has been
a great way of raising money for our new classroom area. I have used just 2
vouchers and got my money back already. The Days Out section is my favourite”
Penelope Lane
Chew Magna Primary School
“Invitation has been very popular with our parents as there are
so many vouchers for local attractions for children. As a small village primary
school that values music and drama this is a great opportunity for us to raise
funds for our new school piano!” Claire Galliers, Head of School
The Paint Pot Nursery School, Birmingham
“Invitation offered us an easy and effective way of raising funds.
When we showed the books to both our parents and staff they were immediately
interested and impressed by the financial savings, they were so impressed that
they recommended them to friends and family as well! From the money we raised
we were able to extend our special needs resources” LM Smith, Head of
Nursery
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