Archive for the Fundraising Category

Generosity

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After doing the latest fundraising event it has definitely shown me what community really means, everyone in my village of Cilgerran and surroundings areas seem to be getting more and more generous! I’ve had some astounding donations, including people I have only met once! But most importantly to me , my family who have all worked hard for me (especially my poor Mum and Dad! So I would like to give a big shout out to every one that came on Saturday 7th April, to everyone that donated raffle prizes and money, I appreciate everything and I understand how tight everything is. With the Sponsored Charity Coracle Run we managed to raise over £700 pounds, I have also had a day out of school uniform, and we sold cakes, £60 split between me and another charity, all together with all the sponsors I’ve managed nearly £2,900! But I can’t stress enough, how grateful I am to everyone! I couldn’t ask for a better community! It most definately hasn’t come without its stresses though, but I know it will all be worth it in the end.

For the Coracle Run we arranged for 10 men to go down in their coracles down the river for 8-9 miles which took about 5 hours. I made sure we advertised heavily, with posters, Facebook and word of mouth. Before they set off in Cenarth to start the run I went round with buckets explaining what I will be doing and all about Lattitude, if you want the donations and sponsorship, you need to be prepared to go out there and talk to people. We then held a raffle, barbecue and disco in the local pub The Cardiff Arms (Thankyou Lucy and Rich!).

I also want to give the Lattitude team in Reading a big thankyou for the fantastic opportunity of being the 40,000th volunteer and for having me for those two days. Thankyou Clare, Nick & Sergio

Currently another fundraising night in the pipelines and another Tesco bucket collection on the 4th of June!

Sorry for the delay on this blog!

Becki x

Busy, Stressful and Exciting!

It’s about time I wrote another entry into my blog, it seems slightly neglected!

It’s been two months since my last entry and a lot has happened!
We’re well on track for hitting our target where around the £2,000 mark at the moment!
There has been so much to do!
I have sorted out a non uniform day with my school, where I’m hoping to get £200, but I’ve had some fantastic dontations, £90 donated from some very generous people. The most successful thing so far has definately been the sponsorship forms me and my dad have managed to raise £620!

Today we have finally organised our most exciting fundraiser yet, Coracle Run ( a little fishing boat that you paddle with one hand!) going for a bout 12 miles and will take around 4 hours

A Coracle

! We’re going to hold a raffle, BBQ and “Guess the Length of Time the Journey Took” that will be on the 7th April. Cannot wait to start work again, time to make some money for myself!

I haven’t just been concentrating on fundraising, I have joined the Lattitude online community where I have been able to talk online with some of the volunteers I will be going with, which is so exciting!
Last week I went to sort out my vaccinations, Ahh! Lots of scary jabs I have to have!
Every little thing now is getting closer, my 6 month pack from Lattitude has given me action points of everything I need to do before I depart.

I’m so excited, slightly anxious and stressed, but at the end of the day, you don’t get something for nothing, with great experiences comes hard work and preseverance!

I find that looking at quotes always helps with the motivation, but also reading all the other stories from ex volunteers help, not forgetting my co-volunteers, who are going through the same as me!
The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.” – Saint Augustine

The fundraising so far!

The fundraising so far has been hard work, the whole thing has been hard!
It has been almost 6 months since the interview with Lattitude Global Volunteering and about 5 months siince I was accepted into the programme.
I’m hoping in August of this year to go out to Ecuador to teach, I’ll be in Quito for the first week for the orientation and then off to meet the host family! Don’t know when in August, don’t know where in Ecuador I will be placed or the type of school and age I will be teaching.

To date there has been 3 main fundraising event, two cake stalls and one bucket collection in Tesco. The first cake stall was held on the 23rd of October at The Welsh Wildlife Centre, Cilgerran, really got us going, we did really well and a very generous gift of £50 from a relative

The stall in The Welsh Wildlife Centre, Cilgerran

! A big thankyou for Llinos for letting us have a stall in the Autumn Fayre!

The second fundraising event was another cake stall, which was in Cilgerran village hall, which was on 6th of November, which was a bit of a flop, even though we did manage to raise around £40!

And then the latest one was on the 30th of December 2011, where me and my dad got our buckets ready to stand by the entrance of the supermarket – Tesco to collect. It was a tough day, as the day went along, the buckets gradually got heavier and heavier and so the aches began! We managed to do 6 hours with half an hour break! Over all we raised £428.59, which is astounding!

As well as baking gingerbread men non stop over the festive period! Just before Christmas I recieved another very generous gift of a £100 from a great Aunt. Also in work on the 5th of December there was an event on and managed to collect around £40! My Grandmother has been very busy making hand made cushions, which alone have raised £80, thankyou Mamgu (and Mum for selling them!) I have also been put in the local paper and also in another paper on the 19th of January, so get buying (Cambrian news), I have sent off letters to 25 local companies, I have had one reply so far which was from the Cambrian news

Yum!!

Plenty more fundraisers to come a non uniform day in school in February and a big coracle race planned on the Easter weekend!

Well between all of the planning for the fundraising, exams and coursework and getting two conditional offers from two universities! I’m hoping it will be all worth it! I know all this will be worth every second and every penny for what I’m hoping to be a totally life changing experience!

It’s all coming together slowly, edging closer and closer, next month I’m hoping to get the 6 month pack from Lattitude, when the ball will really start rolling I can’t wait!

‘Til next time!

Becki xx

Get on your running shoes, Marathon tips

By Roberta Geraci

With the London Marathon coming up in just over a month’s time, the time to train and fundraise is right upon us. Lattitude Global Volunteering has been participating in the London Marathon for several years now and this year has runners raising money for our youth development projects around the world. For those participating in a Marathon or Half-Marathon here are some tips to help you run faster and raise more money for your cause.

Training tips

Traditionally marathon training programmes have recommended three to five training sessions a week with ever increasing mileage. However , it is important not to wear yourself out immediately before a Marathon, as the body needs time to rest. Life’s fitness expert, Tony Gallagher told the Daily Telegraph “if you’re planning on a marathon, then you must get your long runs in. If you arrive at the start line and suddenly ask your body to run a third more miles than ever before, you’ll struggle.”

Nutrition & hydration

Eating well and making sure you are well hydrated are absolutely vital as you prepare for a Marathon. There are some excellent meal plans available for your training online and as nutritionist Karen Reid points out, it is especially important in the build up to the race to build glycogen (muscle carbohydrates) reserves. Reid states “more compact sources of carbohydrate – which you can get from sugary foods such as jelly sweets, Jaffa cakes and soft drinks – are a useful addition” in the days before a race.

Trainer George Anderson told the Daily Telegraph of the importance of rest and nutrition and highlighted that “running doesn’t make you fitter, or faster. It’s the body’s adaptation after the stresses of training that works this magic, and for this to happen well, you need the right nutrition and the right rest.”

Fundraising

Marathons can be a great way to raise funding for a charitable cause and at the same time raise awareness. There are lots of great ways to fundraise in the build up to a marathon to increase your donations but undoubtedly the best way is to ask as many people to donate as much as possible!

Using pages like Just Giving you can easily build a profile and show how much money you have raised against your target. Just Giving suggests some handy tips to raise your profiles popularity and in turn your donations. For example try adding the link to your page to your email signature or sharing your page on social networks like Facebook and Twitter. We advise giving as much detail about why you are running and what people’s money will go towards if they donate. Using specific amounts and examples of where donors’ money goes may encourage people to donate more towards your cause.

Equipment

There are hundreds of running gadgets, gear and clothing, which claim to help you maximise your performance. For example using running apps on your smartphone may help you track your progress, share your times with friends and even track your routes using GPS. While gadgets like these may help, nothing is more important than a good pair of running shoes and comfortable clothing. Make sure your shoes and clothing fit and are comfortable before the day of the race. The website Marathon Training Tips illustrates the importance of knowing your equipment inside out. “Wear your marathon gear in during marathon training runs. There should be nothing new on your body come race day. You want to know that everything works properly and feels comfortable.”The day of the race

The day of the race you may feel nervous, so it is important to get good nights sleep beforehand. Many people have different tips about staying focused like visualising the last 5 miles of the route in your mind, so that when you reach it you feel confident of you finishing.

One of the best and most common tips from people who have run marathons before is to make sure your name is displayed on your shirt. People cheering you on can offer real encouragement and a needed boost. Remember once the race starts don’t let the adrenaline take over, stick to your pace and your training and try your best!

Volunteer fundraising Lana did a bungy jump

Lana did a bungee jump to help raise money for her placement in malwai, here are some of her fantastic photos.

Lattitude Global Volunteering fundraising, bungee jump

Volunteer Lana bungee jumps as a fundraiser for her Malawi placement

Meet our marathon runners: Steve is running the London Marathon for Lattitude Global Volunteering

Steve is running the London Marathon for Lattitude Global Volunteering

1. Have you run any marathons before?

No I haven’t. I have run 2 half marathons, the Silverstone Half Marathon 3 years ago and then the Reading Half Marathon last year. I have also run the Great South Run for the last 3 years (10 miles). I have always said that you have to be a freak of nature to complete a full Marathon and that I could never do it.

2. What made you want to run?

I watched it on the TV last year, got caught up in the moment and said to my wife it would be fantastic to do it this year as it will be just after my 40th Birthday and with the Olympics being held in London this year, the atmosphere would be amazing. At the time I decided not to enter as we are away in Florida for the 2 weeks leading up to it, so felt it might be too difficult to get the training done.

3. Why did you choose to run for Lattitude?

I’m the manager of Barclays Bank in Reading and for several years we have worked closely with Lattitude to provide the volunteers with banking facilities when they arrive in the UK. I received a letter from Lattitide last year looking for volunteers to run the Brighton Marathon but this clashed with the Reading Half Marathon so we couldn’t help. This year the letter arrived offering the opportunity to run the London Marathon, and I just had to do it!

4. How is the training going?

Training is starting to step up now. Since entering I have been doing little bits each week to try and build my fitness, mainly in the gym and a few small road runs, but over Christmas and into the New Year, I’m working closely to a plan to make sure I’m fit and strong enough to finish. Yesterday I ran 14.5 miles which is the furthest I have ever managed.

5. Have you got a target time? (Or would you rather see how it goes?)

I’m pretty slow, the last half marathon was 2 hours 10 minutes, so I think it will take me somewhere close to 5 hours. As long as I finish, and manage to run the full distance I will be happy. Any time under 5 hours will be a bonus.

6. How is the sponsorship going?

Barclays has agreed to match fund raising up to £750.00 One of my colleagues, Justin, is also running so between us Barclays will match £1500.00 we would love to raise somewhere between £2,000 and £3,000 including the matched fundraising from the bank, but we will have to see.

7. Have you done anything interesting to raise awareness or done any other sort of fundraising?

Now that Christmas is out the way, we are looking to step up interest; we have a few ideas depending on how hard it is to raise the money.

Abbie’s top tips for stress free fundraising

Finding the funds for a gap year is always listed as a reason that puts prospective volunteers off, but that needn’t be the case. If you choose a structured gap year, with an organisation or charity, they can help you every step of the way.

Abbie Smith is taking a gap year placement to Japan with Lattitude Global Volunteering in March 2012. Below she discusses how her fundraising activities have helped her raise the funds needed for her gap year.

For me starting my fundraising early was really important. Many people think that you have to organise huge events to be a successful fundraiser, but this isn’t the case. I found that doing lots of smaller events meant that I had access to a much bigger pool of people and it also gave me the opportunity to ask for continued donations without feeling cheeky.

Although I have done numerous fundraising activities, without a doubt, my most successful fundraising activity has to be car boot sales. It was easy to find things that I didn’t need anymore to sell and having a stall gave me the opportunity to explain to people what I was raising money for. This often resulted in more generous prices for my goods.

I have had cake sales of my own home-baked cakes. By adding a small amount on-top of the value of the ingredients, I managed to get a good price for my cakes and my buyers went away happy.

Raffles are another good way to raise money. I asked around family, friends and local businesses for donations for prizes. I found everyone to be so supportive. Most people have unused/unwanted gifts that make perfect prizes and do more good raising money than in a box under the bed. Other prizes could be a night’s baby-sitting or washing someone’s car.

My Mum helped me arrange a 70’s themed party in our garden at home and family and friends paid a small fee to come and enjoy the night. This event was so much fun and went way better than I expected.

I’ve now reached my fund-raising goal, including a small bursary from Lattitude Global Volunteering. Now I just can’t wait to go away. I am hoping to gain a whole new outlook on life and experience a once in a life time opportunity. Visiting a different country with a whole new culture is going to be difficult and challenging yet hopefully very rewarding.

Abbie’s top tips for stress free fundraising:

• Start early – It’s never too soon to start planning. The sooner you start, the sooner you’ll finish.

• Look in your local papers and directories for a list of where your local car boot sales are. It’s normally around £5 per car, so factor this in when pricing your goods.

• Get family and friends involved – The stress of planning events can be halved if it’s on more than your shoulders.

Top 10 ways to fundraise for your Voluntary placement

By Roberta Geraci

fundraising for a gap year, part of the process!

1. Organise a charity sporting event

Try organising a charity sporting event to raise money, have fun and keep fit. You could try organising a team game or set a personal challenge, like Michael Njunge, who cycled on a 400 mile journey from his home in Langley, Berkshire, to LegoLand, Windsor, taking in three other Merlin theme parks around the country including Thorpe Park, Chessington World of Adventures and Alton Towers. Michael set a target of £800 to raise, which will help him reach his goal and allow him to take up his medical placement in Japan with Lattitude Global Volunteering in March 2012.

Why not try organising a charity football, rugby or hockey match for example. You could try and make it interesting by taking on your friend’s parents, or see if your school will be happy for you to arrange a teachers Vs students match. Try and get people to donate to watch and participate.

Michael with his bike

2. Donate for your guilty pleasures

Make a box to save up money every time you do something you shouldn’t. For example if chocolate is your sin, donate a pound every time you eat some. Try and get all your family and friends involved and challenge each other. You could even donate money every time u wasted 10 minutes on Facebook instead of doing something more productive!

3. Get partying

Try arranging a party and getting people to donate to attend, for food and for drinks. Some ideas might include; a seasonal party (like Christmas, Valentine’s day party, Easter party, a New Years Eve party, a themed party (like a murder mystery night, film night), or a disco or karaoke night.

What about organizing a Come Dine with me style competition between you and your friends, or try organizing a party based on your preferred destination like Ailsa. Ailsa has held a Fiji themed party, a cake sale, a ceilidh with raffle and is even planning a James Bond evening, among other ideas. Ailsa has already raised over £1,000, and she has more events in the works!

4. Be fancy

Fancy dress can be fun all year round! Whether it is seasonal (Halloween, Christmas, Easter etc..) or just to have a laugh, get you and your friends in funny outfits and have a contest with a small prize, get around the city and get people to donate to snap a picture with you (like dressing you all like famous movies character— Star Wars, pirates, etc). Sam, who is volunteering in Japan this September with Lattitude Global Volunteering, managed to raise over £100 by dressing up as a Dalmatian!

The dalmation!

5. Challenge yourself

Run a marathon, cycle or walk miles, participate in a mountain climb or brave yourself to take on an obstacle course run (where people pay a small fee to add obstacles on your way).

David Logue, ran from his hometown of Leicester to Twickenham Rugby Stadium, to raise money towards his gap year teaching placement in Argentina. In February David and his friend, Jacob, ran over 100 miles, participating in the equivalent of four marathons! David explained “We chose to run during the February half term, as it was between our January and summer exams”. “When we saw that the England Vs France Six Nations Rugby match was taking place at Twickenham that week, we decided to run to the stadium.”

With Lattitude’s help, David secured coverage in The Leicestershire Mercury, This is Leicestershire, South Leicestershire College News and MKWeb, boosting awareness about the run and fundraising. In total David raised nearly £1,500 towards his placement and managed quite an incredible achievement.

Other inspirational examples are James, who went on a sponsored bike ride dressed as Spiderman and Sam who despite suffering with a knee injury, signed up for a half marathon, which he intends to do on crutches to raise the funds for his placement!!

Let us know if you’re planning something and we can help you raise awareness and more donations

6. Challenge others

Try organizing a quiz night or a “guess the number of” competition (for example using jelly beans, Easter eggs, keys, anything really!). Charge a small fee to participate and give a prize to the best guesses.

A good example is Mike, who with the help of his mother, Rosie, and the Hamble Valley Rotary Club, organised a quiz night to help raise money for new text books at the remote Secondary School, where Mike was volunteering, in North Tanzania.

7. Sell, Sell, Sell!!!

Why not hold a jumble sale or a Car boot sale to get rid of your old and unwanted clothes, video games, CDs, films etc. You could try setting up an eBay account or post for sale items on message boards. You could even take things a step further like Liam Taylor, by starting you own small business. Liam , who works full-time, thought of a great way to raise money for his placement in Japan. Each week Liam made Japanese sushi lunchboxes for his colleagues who all pay him to save them the time of making a healthy homemade lunch. Liam found they were becoming really popular and even introduced “Cheesecake Friday’s” to sell his homemade cheesecake for a £1 slice! Not only you will get instant revenues but it looks great on your CV too!

You can ask your friends and family to donate unwanted items too to increase your sales.

8. Odd Jobs -

Everybody hates chores, so why not offer to do it for them. You could offer to do gardening, DIY, walk your neighbour’s dogs, or babysit.

Why not ask your neighbours and offer your services in return for a donation, you could even do it in fancy dress to get noticed! It’s a great way to get to know your neighbours, raise money and improve your skills at the same time.

9. I dare you!

Here’s one for those of you with no shame! Owen Copping came up with the idea of a dare page where people would challenge him to do something in exchange for a donation. Suggestions raised so far include eating nothing but baked beans for 3 days, and offers to be a “slave” for 5 days. Owen set up a Facebook page and took offers from his friends. You could even do an auction to raise more money and have a bit more control. Like take bids on who would want to take you for a date! While we encourage you to have fun, please remember to be safe, stay legal and do not do anything you will regret for too long!

10. Show Off

Why not organise a show? It could be anything from a talent show, a fashion show, a magic show, to your own play or dance routine.

Elaine a former Lattitude volunteer organised her own Fashion show fundraiser to raise money for her placement in Ecuador. You can charge people to come watch, get people to donate to be a model for the day, you could even design your own clothes, or better yet, get people to donate to have their designs showcased. Why not talk to the Fashion students at your college and see if you can work together to hold a fundraiser. You could combine the event with other fundraising ideas such as raffles or after show parties.

Elaine held a fashion show as part of her fundraising for her overseas volunteering placement

Whatever you decide, please remember to do it safely and keep in touch so we can help raise awareness!