Friends Of Chesham Bois School (FOCBS)

Welcome to FOCBS (formerly the PTA), registered charity number 291486.

We are a parent-led committee that focuses on supporting the school to build a strong, inclusive community for our families and staff. We work closely with the school to organise and run events (quiz nights, race nights, school discos, movie nights to name but a few) which raise funds for new equipment and resources for the school; most recently our newly renovated woodland area and in the past things like the outdoor classroom.

In addition to fundraising events, we aim to create positive experiences and events for our children and encourage building friendships and support between families.  We do this by also running events we think the children will enjoy, but that don’t necessarily add to our fundraising totals (such as meet Father Christmas and the Colour Run and others) .

All parents and carers automatically become ‘members of the FOCBS’ when their children join the school. But you can also volunteer to help, becoming a Class Rep, or a Committee Member.  It is a great way to meet new friends, learn more about your child’s school and make a fantastic contribution to enhance our children’s school experience.

Don’t worry if becoming overly directly involved isn’t for you, there are lots of other ways you can help make a big difference more passively.

The FOCBS Committee meet regularly, dates are published in the newsletter and all are welcome. It’s very informal, we chat and plan the upcoming events and review those that have recently passed. Feel free to come along and see what it’s all about. Catch one of the existing members in the playground for an informal chat or email focbs1@gmail.com for more info or to join. It can take as much of or as little of the time you have available. It’s certainly not all consuming and we welcome new members.

Follow us on Instagram or Facebook

 Or search ‘Friends of Chesham Bois School’ on either

The FOCBS Committee

The FOCBS Committee consists of elected members, made up from current parents at the school. The Committee is elected at the annual AGM (held at the beginning of each academic year).

All parents are invited to attend the AGM and hear in more detail how events are run, what money has been raised and how the funds have been spent.

Current committee members

Katie Winstanley & Nikki Hendley (Joint Chairs)        

Jess Jones (Treasurer)

Lucy Hussey (Trustee)

Jane Lowe (Trustee and Schools of Chesham Carnival Committee member)

Smita Elmore (Trustee)

Zoe Ruff (Trustee and Schools of Chesham Carnival Committee member)

Esther Faller (Trustee)

Jodie Owen-Rosenthal (Trustee)

Trudy Pringle (Trustee)

Kalpesh Patel (Trustee)

Class Reps

In addition to the Committee, each year group has class representatives, which provide a link between parents, FOCBS and the school. They also organise parent socials for their classes and help coordinate volunteers for events. The Class Reps are invaluable to the success of our big events.

If you are interested in becoming a committee member or a class rep, please speak to any member of the Committee, email us at focbs1@gmail.com or speak to the school office.

We are always interested and welcome new ideas for fundraisers or fun experiences for our children to enjoy.

Welcome to Friends of Chesham Bois School and please do get in touch! 😊

HOW YOU CAN HELP

There are many ways to help FOCBS and in turn our children of CBS.

• If you have time, please join our committee or volunteer to help at events throughout the year (even a couple of hours at one event annually is a massive help-we are often short on volunteers!). Catch any of us in the playground or email focbs1@gmail.com for more info.
• Please put us in touch with useful contacts or volunteer some time utilising your own skillset. (Are you a plumber, a website designer, an artist or have an idea of a fundraising event you would like to hold?)
• We would also love you to source or donate raffle prizes-anything big or small welcome-get inventive! Day trips/experiences, gift vouchers, books, tea sets; anything welcome! Is there something you do, or your company does, that could be donated?

All of this helps boost our fundraising capabilities, which in turn benefits all of our children!

OTHER WAYS TO HELP

(that take no time or effort once set up)

SHOP FOR CBS

Use SHOP4CBS for your weekly supermarket shop, or one off big spend, and raise money without it costing you a penny! (further details on how to sign up below).

SHOPPING ONLINE WITH EASYFUNDRAISING

Thousands of big brands and websites are signed up to this scheme (Amazon, Asda, Shein, Pets at Home, Tui, Very, A.O., Deliveroo, JustEat to name but a few!) and it costs you nothing.

• Sign up and enable the Easy Fundraising notification on your browser search bar and you will be instantly and consistently raising money for CBS-the pennies add up quickly!

SET UP A STANDING ORDER to make regular donations

GIFT AID any donations you make throughout the year

CHARITY MATCHED GIVING

Contact your employer to support CBS through charity matched giving

ATTENDING EVENTS Book all FOCBS events on FoCBS.sumupstore.com

VOLUNTEERING YOUR TIME

Volunteer your time to help any event throughout the year. Let us know via class reps, the committee members or email focbs1@gmail.com

SHOP for CBS sign up instructions

This amazing scheme means we can all generate donations for our school simply by doing our usual shopping using the preloaded cards. Its so simple yet has the potential to raise hundreds monthly!

How it works:

• Pick a monthly amount (min £10)
• Choose your shop (John Lewis & Waitrose, Tesco, Sainsburys) or more than one shop.
• Set up a standing order - you will receive a gift card or a card that is topped up automatically each month (dependent on which shop you choose).

Example:

For every £100 of Sainsburys vouchers used, the school gets £2.50 donated directly from Sainsburys.

(Sainsurys donate 2.5% of your spend from THEIR MONEY-NOT YOURS-directly to the school)

If every family in school spent this amount monthly, we would raise upwards of £425 EVERY MONTH!

HOW TO JOIN:

• Set up a standing order SHOP4CBS (cancel or change the amount at any time)

• Pick up your cards and start generating money for FOCBS

It’s that simple!

For a one-off order, or you want to ask a question, or need help to set it up. E-mail focbs1@gmail.com and we will be delighted to help you!

Standing orders made to account details:

Shopping Vouchers Reg Charity No 291486

60-01-15

44578849