As you might have picked up from other posts, I adore fundraising. I haven't done as much as I hoped this year, but I hope that will change in 2017. I always love to look ahead to new challenges and events in the new year, so thought this would be a fun post to encourage others too! I love so many amazing causes so have decided to list some amazing national causes and what they are doing. These causes are very close to my heart. Of course if you know me, I love charities so I found this immensely difficult to choose just 5 charities, but thought 100 might be boring!
I thought it would be best to say what events or challenges you can do with the following charities closest to my heart:
1. Samaritans
I love this charity so much for their continuous support of anyone in the UK struggling. It is amazing that charities like this are around for those in need. I believe everyone needs someone to talk to, and think we've all felt hopeless at one stage in our lives. Looking online, I didn't know that everyday, 16 people decide to take their life; they are there to help prevent.
There are so many events you can do for them including:
Brighton Marathon - 9th April 2017
London Marathon - 23rd April 2017
Edinburgh Marathon Festival - 27th/28th May 2017
London 2 Brighton - 27/28th May 2017
London 10,000 - 29th May 2017
Trek Canada Rockies - choose between dates: 10-18th June or 9-17th September 2017
Trek Iceland - choose between dates: 28th June-2nd July or 30th August-3rd September 2017
Climb Kilimanjaro - as you know, climbing Kilimanjaro is the best thing I've done to date, so encourage anyone and everyone to do it! There are various dates for this.
Ride London - Surrey 100 - 30th July 2017
South Coast Challenge - 26/27th August 2017
Thames Path Challenge - 9/10th September 2017
Great North Run - 10th September 2017
Berlin Marathon - 24th September 2017
Bournemouth Marathon - 7th/8th October 2017
Royal Parks Half Marathon - 8th October 2017
Cycle Vietnam to Cambodia - choose between three dates: 7-15th October, 11-19th October or 21-29th October 2017.
Skydiving - can be done in various locations and dates
Tough Mudder - can be done in various locations and dates
Spartan Race - can be done in various locations and dates
Zombie Evacuation Race - can be done in various locations and dates
Swim Serpentine - in London, but dates tbc
2. Childreach International
I first came across Childreach International while at university, and actually climbed Kilimanjaro for them. They work in countries to help children to fulfil their potential working to ensure they have access to education, healthcare and protection, they work with children, teachers, parents and the communities they work in.
There are a whole load of challenges you can do including: climbing Kilimanjaro (of course), Everest Base Camp, Great North Run, Great Wall of China, Amazon Adventure, London Marathon, British 10K, India on 2 Wheels, Euro City Cycle, Edinburgh Half Marathon, Great Birmingham Half Marathon, London to Paris Cycle, Edinburgh Night Ride, Machu Picchu and skydives. Check out their website to discover more about the charity, and how to get involved.
3. Maggie's
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| I look so miserable, but pictures sometimes scare me! |
This is a charity very close to my heart. If you've not heard of them, they have cancer centre across the UK. They believe in the benefit of having somewhere for people affected by cancer to go to, which is beautiful and designed by architects. They are always built on the site of an NHS hospital, so that patients, relatives or friends can go to between treatments or to access support needed. The staff are fully trained professionals and included clinical psychologists, cancer support specialists, benefit advisors and Centre heads to manage the centre.
There are a whole host of things you can do for them, it is best to see what is going on locally with them as you'll find more tailored things, but here are the main ones they do to fundraise:
Virgin Money London Marathon - 23rd April 2017
Maserati Tour De Yorkshire - 30th April 2017
MK Superhero Run -1st May 2017
Edinburgh Marathon Festival - 27/28th May 2017
Moonwalk - working with Walk the Walk, they fundraise for this. This takes place in June in Edinburgh or London.
Culture Crawl - They've done Culture Crawl London for a while, but in the last two years, they've developed to do it in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Liverpool, Swansea and many more cities. It is a great way to learn about a city, and support charity at the same time. It usually takes place in September or October.
Great North Run - 10th September 2017
Royal Parks Half Marathon - 8th October 2017
Skydive - various dates and locations in UK
4. RSPCA
I don't need to say much here. I just love animals - mainly dogs and cats, but couldn't imagine harming even a fly so hurts to think others do. We shouldn't need charities like this, people should be nice to animals. They also work to protect them from their environment such as getting trapped somewhere etc. I did do my skydive for SPCA which is the Scottish version of the charity. Not sure I have any pictures from that terrifying experience!
Their website doesn't tell you a great lot about what events are happening in 2017, but I'd suggest getting in touch with your local RSPCA to find out more:
Brighton Marathon - 9th April 2017
London Marathon - 23rd April 2017
Great North Run - 10th September 2017
BIG Walkies - I don't know much about this one, but it sounds really cool.
5. NSPCC
Who can't support a children's charity? If asked to name a children's charity, this is the first to come to mind. As a child, I might not have known my number, but I knew Childline (luckily I never used it, but it's amazing to know it's there). I believe I had a near perfect childhood, and feel every child is entitled to that. NSPCC work towards supporting to end cruelty, help support those bullied and generally support children when they need it most!
Here are some incredible events you might consider:
City Fine Wine Challenge - 23rd February 2017
Adidas Silverstone Half Marathon - 12th March 2017
Lapland Husky Trail - 17th March 2017
Brighton Marathon - 9th April 2017
Brighton 10K - 9th April 2017
Virgin Money London Marathon - 23rd April 2017
London 10K
Isle of Wight Challenge - 29th April 2017
Tough Mudder - 29th April 2017
Yorkshire 3 Peak Challenge - various dates between 1st May and 30th October 2017
National 3 Peaks Challenge - various dates between 1st May and 31st October 2017
Machu Picchu Trek - 12th - 21st May 2017
London 2 Brighton - 27th May 2017
Edinburgh Marathon Festival - 27th May 2017
Great Mancester Run - 28th May 2017
Colour Run - 11th June 2017
Velo Birmingham - 24th September 2017
To find more events on NSPCC, check out the website here.
My top tips to raise or exceed your target:
1. Tell everyone you know - whether it's texting, posting on social media or writing letters to neighbours. I raised a lot posting online about what I was doing and even got £20 from a neighbour.
2. Get your work involved - while fundraising for Kilimanjaro, my work at the time helped so much! They helped me organise a quiz night, held a bring and buy sale in the staff room, sold cakes to the staff and people donated online. One person was even pregnant and held a "guess the baby weight". Remember it makes them look good. Employers look good to other employees and the public too!
3. Do what you enjoy - I love organising events so did a race night, date auction (valentine-themed) and of course the quiz night.
4. Sell online - I raised £200 from selling items online that people either gave me to sell, or I sold myself
5. Ask for help - friends and family always want to help and they all have their own ways.
For 2017, I would love to do a firewalk for charity, but haven't found a charity who do it yet. I'm desperate to do another challenge, I just don't know. Maybe another trek, and then it might help me lose weight too! Killing two birds with one stone, or whatever the phrase is...I'm tired!
Hope you enjoyed reading and feel inspired to give something back in 2017! Having done a lot of fundraising, I'm always keen to help people raise more for charities, so feel free to comment below or like and comment on the Facebook page.
If you missed yesterday's post on being a scrooge, and what I hate most about Christmas, click here.
What a great list of events to raise money for charity. Christmas is SO about giving back, I agree, and to realise how lucky we are.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard but think it keeps us grounded x
DeleteThis is a great way to encourage more people to do more for Charity - I look forward to seeing what your next challenge will be :)
ReplyDeleteAww thank you - hope it inspires! I will be sure to write about it 😊 x
DeleteI love the charitable giving we are able to do. It's a privelege to give back.
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoy it so much, so much easier when you're passionate for a cause x
DeleteFundraising is great. I used to sponsor a child a while back x
ReplyDeleteThat's great 😊
DeleteWhat a great post and totally agree it is about giving. I think fundraising and helping charities is such an amazing thing we can do x
ReplyDeleteThank you, glad you enjoyed it 😊 Means a lot! It's something everyone can do, big or small z
DeleteI've never done any fundraising but I always donate monthly to the NSPCC and The Samaritans x
ReplyDeleteThat's still fundraising and means they have regular donations they can predict and helps them see where they need to fundraise in other areas x
DeleteA fab list of events and charities to be involved in.I've never done fundraising but do try and give a bit of money to charity when I can.
ReplyDeleteThat constitutes as fundraising and makes just as much difference to charities x
DeleteThis is a brilliant list, I try to give back as much as I can although I tend to keep it local at the moment as there are a few charities close to my heart that helped me when I lost my daughter.
ReplyDeleteKeep up the great work, its always a good thing to be selfless xx
It doesn't matter what charities you support. I have local charities I love too but thought with lots of people from other parts of the UK it might be easier to associate with a charity that operates in their area too 😊 It's easier to fundraise when it's a cause close to your heart. Thank you that's so sweet x
DeleteThis is a beautiful post and what I truly believe the spirit of Christmas to be about, giving to others. You have so many wonderful charities here and they all have such great events to attend to raise funds for them. Great post x
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed reading 😊 Hopefully it will inspire others x
DeleteChristmas is truly about giving back and not just receiving and these fundraising adventures are all great. I support a few myself
ReplyDeleteGlad you agree, means different things to different people. That's brilliant! X
DeleteI think it's great that you are highlighting this as people need to be reminded about the fact it's not just about what gifts we receive but also about helping others.
ReplyDeleteThank you, I think so too. Easy to forget or get wrapped up x
DeleteThis is such a lovely post. I completely agree it's important to give back - especially at Christmas. I hope many people find these events and charities useful. I know I will! x
ReplyDeleteYeah everyone likes to set goals or new year resolutions and this is when I start to think of ones so this might be useful I hope x
DeleteI've done a bit of fundraising this year as it was the second year I did the shine night marathon walk for cancer research and I also raised money for sane with my obstacle course runs and they help people with mental health problems and provide support for them x
ReplyDeleteGo you! Heard of Sane before but don't know a lot about what they do x
DeleteChristmas should be more about giving back and these are some great charities to support x
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked reading x
DeleteIts lovely to see that there ate so many ways to help raise money for charity.
ReplyDeleteYeah there are so many other ways besides getting involved in events x
DeleteI agree! I support quite a few charities myself and I think its important to give back!
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear it 😊 As you get older, you realise Christmas really is a time for giving x
DeleteThere are just so many great charities out there and well done you for doing your bit x
ReplyDeleteYeah 😊 thank you! I just want to do more x
DeleteI love supporting charities and have donated to a few this year too. Every little helps.
ReplyDeleteIt definitely does. giving as little as you can still adds up for charities! X
DeleteI also think its really important to give back at this tome of year! Thank you for such a helpful post that enables people to do that!
ReplyDeleteAwww thank you, it's what I love doing and talking about most 😊 x
DeleteThere are some amazing charities out there and so many which deserve support, so well done you.
ReplyDeleteAww thank you, it's something I enjoy 😊 x
DeleteUsually around Christmas there are so many different campaigns. Great feature!
ReplyDeleteYeah didn't think of discussing them for whatever reason lol x
DeleteThis is a great post and important message. It's so true and this year I have only focused on giving than receiving and I am excited to see their faces tomorrow :) x
ReplyDeleteIt's really exciting isn't it? X
DeleteThanks for sharing all these different events! At some point in my life I definitely want to climb Kilimanjaro but I haven't decided what cause I would like to raise money for yet. This has given me something to think about :)
ReplyDeleteYeah so many fab charities it is hard to decide how. I'm not sure which charity I'd do next challenge x
ReplyDeleteThis is such a useful post. Great idea to put it all together in one place.
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed it and sorry I only just spotted your comment! X
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