1 to a Million

This is a fabulous fundraising idea being organised by James Harrod (former site editor of LongPier) to raise money for Haven’s Hospice in Southend.

James is attempting to raise £1million from the kindness of strangers.  Starting with one solitary pound, James is asking the general public to double the last amount donated.  So, £1 becomes £2, £2 becomes £4 etc etc, until the goal of £1million is reached.

On his website James says;

Everyone who donates will be given pride of place on this website and a little note about why they gave to this very special cause…Sometimes we’ll have to fight for the next stage and entice business or well known philanthropists – other times we’ll be fortunate enough to be on the receiving end of an act of kindness from a complete stranger.  Whatever your background, whatever you can afford – we’d appreciate it.

Like a crowdfunding initiative (a collective pooling of money by a network of people support a project or a cause), this campaign has the  potential to motivate a lot of people into making a positive difference.

I love this idea because it’s original, it’s a huge challenge, and because it has the potential to make a huge and positive difference to people living with life-limiting illnesses.

Donate now, and/or help spread the word:  http://www.justgiving.com/1toamillion

Run to the Beat…

…and help to beat poverty

That’s my plan anyway – having signed up for the Run to the Beat half marathon to raise money to support Community Links’ work tackling poverty in east London.

Having missed this year’s Southend Half Marathon (organised by Haven’s Hospice it’s my favourite local running event), I felt that I needed a challenge for the summer.  Run to the Beat is the only UK half marathon that’s set to music, which will be an interesting experience (I’m expecting it will all be motivational music, and not ballads by Leonard Cohen!), plus I hope to raise some ££’s for a good cause.

There are still places available via Community Links for Run to the Beat, so snap up a charity place now!  Free fundraising support and Nike Dri-Fit t-shirt included.

Sponsor my half marathon efforts at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/LaurasRun2TheBeatChallenge

Canary Wharf companies raise £24,000 to tackle east London poverty

On Wednesday 8 June 2011, nine teams from Canary Wharf and the City took part in the Chevron Community Links Karting Challenge, raising over £24,000 for Community Links’ poverty-fighting work in east London.

The event now in its 16th year, is an annual event for London business teams who raise sponsorship to compete in a 2 hour endurance race. Since its beginning, Community Links and event sponsor Chevron have raised funds for the charity’s work in an area where 1 in 4 children live in poverty.

It was wonderful to work on this event, and fantastic to have so much support!  Thanks to everyone involved!

Just Text Giving

This week I am mostly thinking ways to implement Just Text Giving – a new service launched by Vodafone and JustGiving which allows people, on any phone network, to donate up to £10 to their chosen charity by using a unique code.

Not only will this allow donors to give ‘on the move’, but the donation itself is collected via the donors mobile phone bill – meaning minimal hassle.  According to The Guardian, 89% of adults in the UK own a mobile phone, so the fundraising potential for charities is enourmous, plus 100% of any donation made via Just Text Giving will be given to the charity.

So far the team have added our unique code to fundraising posters, surveys, and email footers, as well as sharing with our networks on Twitter and Facebook, and I’ll be interested on seeing in the coming months how many people use the service…

In the meantime, if you would like to donate to Community Links Just text COML11 to 70070 and include the donation amount i.e COML11 £10.  Thanks!!

*Photo: Creative Commons via veesees

Revving up for the Karting Challenge…

It’s time for me to rev up and get set for Karting Challenge taking place later this week, where corporate teams from Canary Wharf and the City will compete for the covetted track speed and fundraising trophies, while at the same time raising money for our charity.

It’s going to be an evening of adrenaline fuelled fun…watch this space for updates…