Fundraising Directory

Volunteer Stories – Hobby Horse Fundraiser

This ‘Hobby Horse Steeplechase’ idea was submitted by Mary from St Pius X Primary School as a part of our ‘Volunteer Stories’ Series.  We are committed to saving school and club volunteers from having to “reinvent the wheel” all of the time and this series aims to do that by sharing real life stories from other volunteers. If you have an idea to share (good or bad, small or huge), we would be most grateful if you would submit it here.

Organisation: St Pius X Primary

Submitted by: Mary

Summary

At our school’s Country Fair we wanted to have some interactive challenges on the day that was in keeping with our country theme. We ran a gumboot throw competition for the children but also wanted something that was a bit of a spectator drawcard for the school parents and local community members who attended.

We saw a post on facebook about hobby horse show jumping and put it out there as a suggestion on our facebook group.  Somewhat surprisingly, there were lots of positive comments – including from the activities co-ordinator (who would end up running it) and those who would be potential victims, um I mean participants.

To make money from the race we auctioned off the jockeys on the stage prior to the race. “Form Guides” were distributed on our facebook page in the days prior to the event. The participants weren’t the usual volunteers that you might get, we had the Principal, P&F President, Treasurer and Secretary, Year 3 Teacher, Year 4 Teacher and a local (very supportive and community focussed) Real Estate Agent.

The winner of the race received a portion of the total auction profits and all successful bidders got to keep the hobby horse (for a bit of a laugh).

With a little bit of creative rule following, our local real estate agent won and was kind enough to donate his winnings back to the school.

The top 3 things about this idea or event

1. Inexpensive to run (hobby horses were from K-mart, hurdles from the sports shed, hay bales were part of our theming on the day, one of the parents was the race caller and auctioneer)
2. The course was placed around the spectator area so everyone got to see part of the race.
3. Fantastic community builder
   (Cheating was encouraged – there were jockeys subbing out part way through the race for a jockey in better condition, a few well timed nudges, it was all in good fun)

The one thing you would have done differently

Get the race ‘officially’ sponsored next time eg. ABC Realty Handicap and maybe look at doing it as a relay to get more people involved.

Additional Comments

St Pius Primary School | Fact File

Number of students/members:
150

Age range of students/members:
Prep – Year 6

Number of active committee members:
20

Total fundraising income for the year:
$45,000