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12 PTA fundraising ideas for playground equipment: A guide for UK schools

Every school has a vision for what their outdoor spaces could be.

Purposeful, engaging outdoor play equipment that supports development, encourages active play and gives children somewhere they want to be.

Sometimes school budgets can make it work, sometimes it takes a dedicated fundraising campaign to make it happen.

Whether your PTA is just getting started or already mid-campaign, here are the best school fundraising ideas we’ve seen work, alongside some fresh ideas worth trying.

Jump ahead to:

One-off events that make a real difference

Smaller fundraisers that add up

Low-cost and no-cost ideas

Quirky and community fundraisers

How Fawns works with your PTA

So, you want to fundraise for a school project?

PTAs work alongside school leaders and governors, aligning their efforts with the school’s priorities, to fund the things that budget alone can’t always stretch to.

PTA fundraising might be used for experiences that stay with children for life, a resource that transforms inclusion, or new outdoor play equipment that reflects changing the school dynamics.

School fundraising has a new look…

Traditionally, school fundraising has leaned on non-uniform days, sponsored events and summer fairs.

These still have a place, but the best PTA groups are increasingly aware that the aim is to enhance children’s experiences, not to create financial pressure on the very families they’re trying to support.

Several traditional approaches to school fundraising can unintentionally do exactly that.

Involving the wider community in fundraising

The ideas in this guide lean into the wider community: local businesses, organisations and the goodwill that surrounds most schools.

Alongside fundraising, it’s also worth knowing that external funding routes exist:

• Sports and activity grant bodies
• Lottery-linked community funds
• Local council awards
• Supermarket loyalty schemes

What’s available shifts and change each year, so a search specific to your area and project is always worthwhile.

One-off fundraising event ideas for schools

Summer and Christmas fairs

Open the gates to the whole community, not just school families.

Charging local businesses and organisations for a stall table brings in income that doesn’t depend on parent spend.

“Piece of the playground” pledge wall

Inspired by the “buy a brick” campaigns run by sports clubs and community projects, a pledge wall gives donors a named stake in your playground.

A visual display in reception (and on the school website) maps each pledge onto an illustrated design. From £5 for a post to £500 for a named bench, local businesses, organisations and families can all contribute at whatever level works for them.

Visible, meaningful and can be a good reason for a news article in your local paper.

Colour run

Children (and parents) run laps while teachers and PTA members throw coloured powder or water. It’s a fundraising event best in the warmer weather!

Sponsorship is collected in advance, it’s inclusive for every age and ability, costs very little to run and brings families out as spectators.

The photos do the social media work for you and keep the fundraising story moving. There’s also plenty of charity events past and future that use this fundraising idea, so there’s plenty of opportunity to tailor the event to fit your school grounds.

Community raffle with donated prizes

This is a school fundraising idea that’s often missed by many PTAS.

Approach local clubs, businesses and organisations to ask for a donation towards a raffle, the raffle can be seasonal or mid-year.

Schools that have raised significant funds have been donated match tickets from a local (or premiership) rugby or football club, a driving range session, a restaurant voucher, or beauty treatments for free to use as raffle prizes.

Parents who run their own businesses can donate their services. It has a broad reach across the community and comes at almost no-cost (excluding the organisational time cost of the PTA members who kindly reach out to the businesses).

Smaller PTA fundraisers that add up

Own-clothes days

Own-clothes days are easy to organise, but for families with multiple children the contributions add up quickly, and for some it can feel isolating if they’re not in a position to give.

Making any donation optional and removing any visible difference between those who contributed and those who didn’t is good practice.

Digital cashback shopping

Several platforms let parents and supporters shop with their usual online retailers and generate a small donation to the school at no extra cost to themselves.

Once it’s set up, it runs passively in the background. Share it with families once per term and let it work quietly alongside everything else, it’s a fundraising effort used commonly in community sports clubs.

Clothing collections and book sales

Textile recycling services often pay schools per kilo of donated clothing. Twice-yearly collections can be low-effort and generate consistent income towards school projects like playground equipment.

Skills and achievement challenge

Here’s a creative fundraising idea you’ve likely not heard of before, inspired by the badge and achievement systems used by youth organisations, children work towards a set of achievable challenges over a term or academic year. They achieve badges for mastering a new skill, a personal best, a community contribution, to name a few!

Sponsorship is collected per challenge completed. For families who can’t contribute financially, the challenge itself still holds real value.

Schools in areas of higher disadvantage should consider whether pupil premium or free school meal budgets can subsidise participation, so every child is fully included.

Low-cost and creative school fundraising ideas

School calendar project

Each class can be photographed with a theme for their given month, they might have winter clothing on for November, or hold images of flowers they have drawn for April.

With the collection of whole-class photographs, your PTA can create a school calendar to sell to parents and grandparents.

Access to free editing software, like Canva, makes production simple.

Photography competition

One of our favourite school fundraising ideas that’s open to the whole school community and local area, is the photography competition.

Partner with a local photography club or community magazine to feature the winning image and challenge the children to submit an image around a specific theme: seasonal, sporting, scenery, animals, the list is endless.

Each entry can be submitted with a fee, fees can be reduced or waived for those children who are eligible for pupil premium or are classed as vulnerable.

The connection to the local magazine gives the competition some publicity and importance, whilst interesting the wider community without any extra cost to the PTA.

Quirky fundraising ideas for schools and the community

Sponsored dog walk afternoon

Burrowmoor Primary Academy raised over £3,000 in a single afternoon running a sponsored dog walk on school grounds.

To run the event, risk assessments and clear rules communicated to families well in advance are a must.

Some ‘rules’ to consider:

• Dogs must be on a secure lead, collar or harness at all times
• They must be comfortable around children and other dogs in a busy environment
• Adults hold the lead at all times
• Any dog ‘business’ is cleaned up immediately by the accompanying adult
• Families confirm they’ve read and will follow the guidance before the day

It sounds like a lot of organising, but with a school having raised over £3,000 in one afternoon, there’s a case for PTAs take to leadership and governors. Especially as the guidance and groundwork are there to find, you don’t have to start from scratch.

“Guess the design” playground reveal evening

When your design is in hand, a reveal evening is one of the most impactful events a PTA can organise to get an excited buzz to kick-start a fundraising project.

When schools work with Playtime by Fawns for their play equipment project, the first step is a free design consultation visit. After your playground consultant has all of the measurements, wants and needs for your new play space, a CAD design mock-up and itinerary quote is created.

Inviting parents and governors for a ‘reveal’ evening paired with some easy fundraising ideas like light refreshments to purchase can be an excellent way to start your campaign (it will also give you plenty of content ideas for your school website, social media and school newsletter).

How Fawns works with your PTA from the very beginning

With over 35 years working alongside UK schools, Fawns understands what children want from their outdoor play equipment, what school leaders need and what a purposeful, inclusive design looks like in practice.

It starts with a free design consultation: your local Fawns consultant visits site, listens to the school, the PTA, the governors and the children, and takes that back to the in-house design team. What comes back is a free 3D CAD design and a detailed, itemised no-obligation quote.

Your playground design supports your fundraising efforts, giving your project a direction and momentum to get parents, local businesses and organisations involved.

If your school has a playground project in mind, the free design consultation is the next step. Contact our friendly team at Fawns to get more information.

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Using Your Playground as Evidence for Ofsted Inspections In 2026