But when Denison College Bathurst High Campus Principal Ken Barwick puts his mind to something, you can be sure he'll be able to 'cheque' off his goals with a big red tick.

This year, Bathurst High, with support from the local community, managed to raise $60,090.85 to be donated to the school's primary charity, Ronald McDonald House Central West.

This donation will keep one room open, free of charge, for a whole year.

And Mr Barwick believes that they were able to hit this target all thanks to the implementation of some new strategies.

"We set a target of trying to raise $60,000 which was quite ambitious to be honest because this year, we tried to do something completely different," he said.

"We tried to reach out to the younger generation and the electronic people out there in the world who do stuff online, and we've never done it online before.

"But this time we put up an auction site which was highly successful, the auction raised about $12,000, and the online donations seemed to just grow and grow as time went on."

ALSO MAKING NEWS:

The addition of an online donation portal also meant that Mr Barwick could take a step back from the forefront of fundraising efforts, and leave things in the trusty hands of his students.

To make things a little bit more interesting, there was even some friendly competition between the year groups, with the year raising the most funds being treated to a special surprise.

"Year 11 are awaiting their prize of being able to go and have breakfast at Maccas one morning or something like that," Mr Barwick said.

"I really just want it to be about the kids, for the kids and for other kids, so that's the special thing about it."

And, after having the opportunity to meet some children in families from the Central West Ronald McDonald House recently, the impact on the children in need left Mr Barwick feeling quite emotional.

"A family stopped me and realised who I was ... they stopped me on the way out and really thanked me for the work that we do as a school and a community," he said.

"It brought a tear to my eye knowing that there are people out there who we are helping."

Mr Barwick said that he is hoping to continue this help for many years to come.

He started the charity in 2018, with Wear it Red Day, which raised $4000, and has been looking to trump that tally ever since, and is already pioneering to raise more in 2024.

"I like to break records, so I don't care if we raise $60,091 and beat it by 15 cents, as long as we beat it, and I think that's the goal every year to just continue growing every year," Mr Barwick said.

For 2024, Mr Barwick said that he is hoping for other communities to get involved, as the Central West House services all those in need in Western NSW.

Reading this on mobile web? Download our news app. It's faster, easier to read and we'll send you alerts for breaking news as it happens. Download in the Apple Store or Google Play.