A national campaign by Scottish fintech Miconex is asking families in Scotland to nominate their school superheroes who have made a positive contribution to their school community. One school superhero will receive a £50 Town and City Gift Card for their choice of the 60 schemes around the UK and Ireland, including 17 schemes in Scotland, with their school or class receiving a cash prize of £250.
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
Town and City Gift Cards can be spent with a variety of businesses in a particular town or city, making local shopping easy and providing much needed support for local traders. The local gift cards can be spent with shops, restaurants, cafés, and in salons, leisure venues and more.
The 17 Town and City Gift Cards programmes in Scotland are: Aberdeen, Arran, Crieff, East Ayrshire, East Lothian, Edinburgh, Elgin, Falkirk, Glasgow, Glasgow’s West End, Kirkcaldy, Kirkwall, Milngavie, Perth, rural Scotland, Shawlands and St Andrews.
With most schools in Scotland closing for the end of the summer term at the end of June, 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.
Miconex introduced a partnership with Collection Pot in 2020, enabling families to easily collect for school staff digitally, with the recipient able to redeem the amount collected with a local Town and City Gift Card. Multi-store gift cards like Town and City Gift Cards 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.
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:
“There are so many people that contribute to a school community, who go above and beyond to make a difference in the lives of young people. When we think back to our own school days, it is the people we remember. The teachers who encouraged us and gave us confidence, the school cook who made sure we had something we liked to eat for lunch, the midday assistant who mopped up our tears when we hurt ourselves on the playground. What may seem like a small kindness can feel huge to a child.
“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 from Scotland for this campaign and rewarding one school or class with a cash prize of £250, and one person with a £50 Town and City Gift Card to spend as they choose.”
