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In my Chair's Chat today, I am talking to Firyal about her PTA experiences in a large primary school in London. Firyal is passionate about creating a sense of community at her school, especially when it comes to her volunteers. She talks about how supportive her school is and about the many events her PTA organises throughout the year.  Do you want to talk to me on the PTA Podcast about being a PTA Chair? Or a particular event that you have run? Drop me an email to [email protected] Please rate and review my podcast so other lovely PTA volunteers can find it too!  Check out my website and sign up to my mailing list to get notified when new episodes are released - www.ptapodcast.com Find me on Facebook. Support the show

In this episode, I share my PTA philosophy on why social events are crucial to the success of your fundraising overall. By social events, I mean any event which brings people together in a shared physical space. It reinforces the sense of community that you want your parents and children to feel at your school. If you want to fundraise from a community, you first need to create that community. So this episode focusses on why that is important, what happens when you do it, and how you can achieve it. How do you create a sense of community at your school? Please rate and review my podcast so other lovely PTA volunteers can find it too!  Check out my website and sign up to my mailing list to get notified when new episodes are released - www.ptapodcast.com Find me on Facebook. Support the show

In this second Chair's Chat, I discuss being a PTA Chair with Vikki who has been part of her PTA for a few years at a larger school in Northamptonshire.  Vikki generously shares her tips on creating a relationship with your local estate agent and how to ask them for sponsorship for your PTA. She also talks about how to manage logistics in such a large school, such as how to manage donations from parents and how she has learnt to run a successful tombola with such a large school population. Vikki explains how her PTA is structured and how she manages communications between all the groups and volunteers that she has - her experience as a volunteer really shows! Do you want to talk to me on the PTA Podcast about being a PTA Chair? Or a particular event that you have run? Drop me an email to [email protected] Please rate and review my podcast so other lovely PTA volunteers can find it too!  Check out my website and sign up to my mailing list to get notified when new episodes are released - www.ptapodcast.com Find me on Facebook. Support the show

Wow -  this is my 50th episode! :0) Thank you so much to everyone who listens to my podcast - drop me a line to tell me what you have found interesting or useful, and if you want any topics to be covered in future episodes - [email protected] In this episode, I share a few ideas that you could use if your PTA or school does not want to link any fundraising with Halloween - they are my non-Halloween fundraising ideas! I also mention options for Bonfire Night and just general autumn fundraisers as it's such a busy time of year with options for themes. Most of these ideas are pretty simple and some can be run straight after school for an hour or so.  Let me know if you try any! Please rate and review my podcast so other lovely PTA volunteers can find it too!  Check out my website and sign up to my mailing list to get notified when new episodes are released - www.ptapodcast.com Find me on Facebook and Instagram. Support the show

Welcome to this episode where we review the first book from the PTA Podcast Virtual book Club - The Hive! Warning - there are spoilers in this episode as I discuss the whole book without reservation! I did enjoy this book and my listeners have voted it 7.5 stars out of 10 so quite a good rating for our first book. Come and see what other listeners thought of the story - did they agree with your views on the characters and the plot? Stay tuned to the end where I reveal our next book, and sign up to my mailing list to get notified on any Book Club news. Please rate and review my podcast so other lovely PTA volunteers can find it too!  Check out my website and sign up to my mailing list to get notified when new episodes are released - www.ptapodcast.com Find me on Facebook and Instagram. Support the show

This is the first in a new series for my podcast called Chair's Chat! In this first Chair's Chat, I discuss PTA life with Richard, who has been a PTA Chair for 4 years up in the north-west at a large primary school. Richard has so many gems of wisdom that he has generously shared with me about how he has tried to overcome lack of volunteers and how he has tried to create a community at a school with 640 pupils. He talks about many different fundraising events, including what he did during the Covid years as well as how he changed this school's Christmas Fair into one which was much more successful. Richard also talks about using assets for school already has to work for you during fundraising and he describes how his PTA was structured and run whilst he was the Chair. Do stick around till the end as there are some lovely comments from his headteacher which Richard shares which really demonstrate the value of a PTA. Do you want to talk to me on the PTA Podcast about being a PTA Chair? Or a particular event that you have run? Drop me an email to [email protected] Please rate and review my podcast so other lovely PTA volunteers can find it too!  Check out my website and sign up to my mailing list to get notified when new episodes are released - www.ptapodcast.com Find me on Facebook. Support the show

Welcome to another new school year! What goals do you want to have for your PTA this year? I have some ideas for you on how you could bring a focus to your year. Maybe this is the year when you finally achieve that fundraising event you have always wanted to try, perhaps you might choose to improve your PTA communications or maybe this is the year that you finally clean out the PTA cupboard! Whatever you decide, don't forget to also think about what you want to get out of your PTA volunteering for yourself. Please rate and review my podcast so other lovely PTA volunteers can find it too!  Check out my website and sign up to my mailing list to get notified when new episodes are released - www.ptapodcast.com And find me on Facebook and Instagram. Support the show

In this episode, I chat to my friend Liz about her experience with our village celebrations in 2012 for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. Liz volunteered to lead the team despite having no prior experience and ran a year-long programme of fundraising activities culminating in a day of celebration on the Jubilee itself. There are many crossovers with PTA life here as Liz talks about finding volunteers, creating a community spirit, and how they tackled the huge fundraising mountain by bringing different generations and groups together. There are many gems of wisdom here so I hope you are able to listen to the end. Please rate and review my podcast so other lovely PTA volunteers can find it too!  Check out my website and sign up to my mailing list to get notified when new episodes are released - www.ptapodcast.com And find me on Facebook. Support the show Support the show

Hi PTA Podcast listeners, I wanted to let you know about a new series of episodes coming this September (2026). I have spent the summer talking to other PTA Chairs about their experiences and they have been fascinating conversations. It's been so interesting to hear how PTAs manage in larger and smaller schools, what events they run, how they plan their year and what their relationship is like with their schools. I also ask them about life as a volunteer, what's been tricky and what they are enjoying about the role. Come and join us! Support the show

In this episode, I chat to Elliot from the National Festival Circus who explains everything you ever needed to know about having a circus as a fundraiser at your school. With over 40 years experience of helping schools and PTAs, this circus team has really thought carefully about how to make things easy - no large vehicles, on and off your school field the same day, and they don't even need PTA volunteers to help set up all the chairs! It is even a weather-proof event so no need to watch the weather forecast and worry every hour in the run up to the event! Elliot and I chat through all the details, including the role that the PTA needs to play  and options for increasing your fundraising on the day. Find out more here: https://www.nationalfestivalcircus.co.uk/ And if you are interested in making a booking or chatting through the details, drop Elliot an email: [email protected] Do drop me an email to tell me what your PTA is up to - [email protected] Please rate and review my podcast so other lovely PTA volunteers can find it too!  Check out my website and sign up to my mailing list to get notified when new episodes are released - www.ptapodcast.com Find me on Facebook. Support the show

In this episode, I talk about the dreaded subject of the weather and how weather-anxiety is a real thing if you are part of a PTA volunteer team! I acknowledge that we have no control over the weather so focus on things PTAs can control. I talk you through formulating a weather plan in advance and how helpful this can be. Then we look at 4 weather types (rain, sun, snow and wind) and how they can impact attendance and the actual day of the event itself. Do drop me an email to tell me what your PTA is up to - [email protected] Please rate and review my podcast so other lovely PTA volunteers can find it too!  Check out my website and sign up to my mailing list to get notified when new episodes are released - www.ptapodcast.com Find me on Facebook. Support the show

In this episode, I share some ideas about stalls you could use as part of an event which generate 100% profit for your PTA. I have grouped them into 3 loose categories - donation stalls, existing equipment stalls and home-made stalls. I have a few recommendations based on stalls I have organised before, and some tips for you. Some of these are also easy to set up at short notice, so if you have some gaps in your plan, then perhaps there is something here that you could slot in quickly. And all of these stalls are suitable for any time of year, not just the summer! Do drop me an email to tell me what your PTA is up to - [email protected] Please rate and review my podcast so other lovely PTA volunteers can find it too!  Check out my website and sign up to my mailing list to get notified when new episodes are released - www.ptapodcast.com Find me on Facebook. Support the show

In this episode, I talk about why secondhand books sales are a great addition to your PTA funding, whether you have them as a standalone event or as a stall at a larger event. I have a few creative ideas for you about how to lay out your display and how to arrange the books to try and maximise the profits and freshen up your sale. A secondhand book sale is such an easy stall to run and as most books are donated from parents, it is 100% profit for your PTA! I included a couple of photos of a sample book display on my website. Do drop me an email to tell me what your PTA is up to - [email protected] Please rate and review my podcast so other lovely PTA volunteers can find it too!  Check out my website and sign up to my mailing list to get notified when new episodes are released - www.ptapodcast.com Find me on Facebook. Support the show

In this episode, I share my experience of attending two quizzes each run by a different PTA. I talk through how the evenings were organised and highlight the similarities and difference between the two events. Then, I chat through some top tips taken from the quiz nights I attended with some extra ideas.  Do drop me an email to tell me what your PTA is up to - [email protected] Please rate and review my podcast so other lovely PTA volunteers can find it too!  Check out my website and sign up to my mailing list to get notified when new episodes are released - www.ptapodcast.com Find me on Facebook. Support the show Support the show

I'm talking to you from my car this episode as a shout out to other parents who have to wait for their child to finish a club! This episode is a catch-up about my World Book Day plus the announcement that our PTA Podcast virtual Book Club has now started! Our first book is The Hive by Gill Hornby. Sign up to my mailing list on my website to keep up to date with the Book Club, as I will let you know how to send me your reviews and then when we are reading the next books. All details about the Book Club are on Ep 36 of my podcast if you want to find out more. Please rate and review my podcast so other lovely PTA volunteers can find it too!  Check out my website and sign up to my mailing list to get notified when new episodes are released - www.ptapodcast.com And find me on Facebook. Support the show