Families in Leicester are being asked to nominate their school superheroes who have made a positive contribution to their school community.
BID Leicester is behind the drive to see school superheroes in the city rewarded for their efforts, as part of a national campaign by fintech Miconex.
One school superhero will receive a £50 Town and City Gift Card for their choice of over 60 schemes around the UK and Ireland, including the Leicester Gift Card, with their school or class receiving a £250 cash prize.
All school superheroes are eligible to be nominated for an award, including teachers, teaching assistants, catering/lunchtime staff, administration teams, caretakers, coaches and volunteers. Families can nominate a school superhero by visiting https://townandcitygiftcards.com/schoolsuperhero
The Leicester Gift Card launched in 2020 and can be spent with around 100 businesses in Leicester, such as Cocoa Amore, Manhattan 34, Divine Boutique, St Martins Lodge and the Van Gogh Immersive Experience, making local shopping, dining and leisure time easy and providing much needed support for local traders.
With schools in Leicester closing for summer at the end of July, the School Superheroes campaign comes at a time when many families will be considering how best to say thank you to school staff.
A Mumsnet survey asked 1220 teachers and teaching assistants what they would like to receive as a gift. A heartfelt note from the child was popular for 64% of respondents, as were gift vouchers for retail outlets (32%), a handmade item from the pupil (31%) and gift vouchers for restaurants/theatres (22%). 90% of teachers/teaching assistants in the survey had received sweet treats as a gift, 71% wine and spirits and 63% had received flowers.
The Leicester Gift Card has a partnership with Collection Pot, enabling families to easily collect for school staff digitally, with the collector or recipient able to redeem the amount collected with a Leicester Gift Card, offering a covid-secure way to collect money, and offering the teacher choice in their gift.
Multi-store gift cards like the Leicester Gift Card have grown in popularity over recent years, representing 36.3% of gift cards purchased in January 2021. Consumer desire to support local businesses has also impacted the industry, with 41.6% buying gift cards to support companies they like.
James Dunham from the Leicester Gift Card is urging families in Leicester to nominate their school superheroes:
“It takes 5 minutes to nominate someone in a Leicester school, whether that’s a headteacher or teacher, a sports coach, a teaching assistant or school office staff. The difference these people make in our children’s lives shouldn’t be underestimated, supporting families, keeping school safe and making school a positive place to be.
“The prize on offer is fantastic. The School Superhero could choose a £50 Leicester Gift Card to treat themselves to a meal out, a haircut, or whatever they fancy, and there is so much a school could do with the £250 cash prize, from new books for the library to sports kit. I would love to see a School Superhero from Leicester being recognised and rewarded for their efforts.”
Colin Munro is the managing director of Miconex and said the School Superheroes campaign is a chance to thank school staff and be in with a chance of winning a local prize that supports the community:
“During the pandemic we’ve seen even more examples of school staff showing extraordinary support to families, from making home learning fun to taking the time to pick up the phone to see how a child is getting on at home. The School Superheroes campaign is about saying thank you to people who work in our schools. We look forward to seeing lots of deserving entries for this campaign from Leicester.”
