Russell had a grand night at awards bash – three times over

Jun 22 2012 by Jeff Holmes, Paisley Daily Express

PUPILS at an all-girls school did their homework – and a hard-working charity was quids in as a result.

East Renfrewshire Good Causes (ERGC), was awarded £3,000 at a Youth and Philanthropy Initiative (YPI) evening in Craigholme School.

ERGC founder Russell Macmillan had a beaming smile across his face as he was presented with a monster cheque by the girls who put forward the case for his charity to win the competition.

All S3 pupils at Craigholme took part in the eight-week scheme, with six local charities represented at the final presentation evening.

As well as East Renfrewshire Good Causes, the Scottish Kidney Federation, Sri Lankan Children’s Shelter, UmojaInc, Women against Violent Environments (WAVES) and Sexual Assault Victims Initiative (SAVI) were selected by pupils as worthy, local charities.

However, it was hard-working duo Zoe Balfour and Jade Stern’s very personal and professional presentation on ERGC which the judges decided was the best overall.

Russell and his wife Yvonne were in the audience and were completely moved by the amount of preparatory work the girls put in.

Russell told the Paisley Daily Express: “They were so enthusiastic and professional, even when they visited us to carry out their research.

“We were just so impressed with how motivated Jade and Zoe were.

“The detective work the girls carried out has been first class, and we are delighted that we now have an extra £3,000 to put towards helping more good causes in the East Renfrewshire area.”

Zoe and Jade were also overjoyed that their chosen charity, which takes in Barrhead and Neilston, was successful in receiving the donation.

They said: “We chose this charity for very personal reasons, and are so happy that East Renfrewshire Good Causes will benefit from us taking part in the YPI scheme.”

YPI is an active citizenship programme which works in partnership with the Bank of Scotland to raise awareness in young people about the importance of philanthropy.

It challenges school pupils to research local and grassroots charities with low annual turnovers, and to present a case for the charities to win £3,000.

This is the first time that Craigholme School has participated in the YPI scheme, and is one of only 60 schools which currently run the programme.

The school has already announced that they are to continue to run the scheme next year.

Russell Macmillan inaugurated East Renfrewshire Good Causes in 2007 after undergoing life-saving double transplant surgery.

The operation cost £70,000 and Russell vowed, there and then, to repay society.

Since starting the charity, Russell and his team have handed out more than £100,000 in donations to the needy.