IT’S a win, win situation for pupils in the Examiner’s popular Schools – Collect for Cash campaign.

As we enter the fifth week of the challenge, classrooms, staff rooms and communities are busily collecting as many tokens as they can to try and win a share of the £10,000 donated by Barclays.

Among last year’s winners were the Ethos pupil referral unit in Rawthorpe, which gained £2,500 after winning second place.

The cash helped to fund a residential experience at the Kingswood activities centre, a trip to the Imperial War Museum, a theatre visit and a special prom-style leavers event for year 11 pupils.

The unit is for pupils of all ages who are not attending mainstream school for a variety of reasons.

Headteacher Ritch Barras said: “Winning the cash helped to fund educational experiences, which many students would otherwise not have benefited from.”

Your school could also benefit by collecting bonus online tokens with the next being available online next Tuesday (October 13). The last token will be published on Saturday October 17 and the final date for submitting tokens is 5pm on Monday October 26.

Barclays have again sponsored the challenge this year.

Marie Morris, community investment manager for Barclays in the North East said: “By encouraging Barclays employees to volunteer and make use of their unique banking skills, we aim to make a tangible and positive difference, helping young people manage their money better.”

“The Barclays Community Investment programme offers employees the opportunity to volunteer and share their skills and business knowledge with young people and delivers a serious subject in a practical and fun way.

“We believe that our expertise and the skills of our employees, as well as our money, can make a huge difference to the communities we live and work in.’’

The £10,000 donation will be split into five prizes: 1st = £3,000; 2nd = £2,500; 3rd = £2,000; 4th = £1,500; 5th = £1,000.

The winners are the schools which collect the most tokens per pupil so small schools have just as much chance of winning as larger ones.