A high school is letting the students take charge of a fundraising drive.

Next week, Waimate High School is running a new student-led initiative in support of Daffodil Day.

Among other things, the school will be hosting speed cake decorating, guess the jelly beans and find the daffodil.

There was another new concept which aimed to raise much-needed funds for the Cancer Society.

Fundraising milestones would unlock student and staff head shaves.

The teacher overseeing the event, Thomas Atwill, said he had been approached by the school’s head boy at a football practice with a proposal to fundraise by getting “heaps of people to shave their head”. 

“And it slowly moved, from heaps of people, down to this select group.”

"If we sell 300 daffodils, I’ll be having my head shaved as well.”

He said he had not been bald “since I was born”.

And in the middle of winter, he said it would be a “hell of an experience”.

“After the Relay For Life we saw just how impactful the school can be for the community, and meeting with the Cancer Companions was just so powerful.

"So yeah, I didn’t think twice."

The four students who had taken the lead in organising the week of fundraising and awareness activities were Aiden Morrison, Sophie Hargreaves, Chev James and Joe Coyle.

Joe was the “visionary” behind the Daffodil drive.

The Year 13 student said he came up with the idea to “draw awareness to a challenge many New Zealanders face each year”.

"Personally, cancer has affected my family hugely, as both of my granddads died from cancer.”

The students were working alongside the local Cancer Companions group, adding a strong community connection to the initiative.

shelley.inon@alliedmedia.co.nz