Oh for crying out loud. How did I get here?
One minute I'm chuffing my way around the block and the next I'm looking at the greatest challenge since childbirth - the Virgin London Marathon. 26 miles of self-inflicted torture.
No. Wait. Surely childbirth was easier??? I know I was in labour for 19 hours....but I didn't have to do practice births every weekend!
The London Marathon. Not only am I already turning sick with fear at the prospect of up to 6 hours of 'labour' (yeh I know, I'm being pessimistic...) but I've also got to raise funds to go with it. I didn't have people sponsor me to give birth...although...I wish I'd thought of that. I'd have made a fortune!
So that brings me on to the subject of fundraising. I am committed to raising £1500 for WellChild as it was my darling husband who officially entered me in this darn race and it's his charity that has paid for my entry. But that left me with a quandry. WellChild is an extremely good cause - supporting all those sick children and paying for nurses to enable them to be treated and cared for at home with their families. But I have my own good cause - Gloucestershire Young Carers and never has the charity been more important to me than now - following the death of my friend and its co-founder Helen Predgen-Lay.
So I appealed to the good nature of my husband and (as anyone who knows him would expect) he agreed that anything over the £1500 I am committed to for WellChild can go to Gloucestershire Young Carers. I'm now committed and motivated, therefore, into raising at least £2,000.
If I'm going to raise that much then I need a totally different fundraising strategy than 'can you sponsor me a couple of quid to run 26 miles....'. That only raised me around £500 for the BUPA Great North Run last year.
I'm a fundraising and PR manager...I CAN do this.
So I'm starting with an appeal to all the companies I know. I'm going to ask them to provide corporate sponsorship initially and I've kicked that particular fundraising tactic off the only way I know how....by appealing to my mother and father-in-law of course. Those dear, generous in-laws have dipped into their corporate coffers (with permission from their newly appointed Director - their son Pete) and have sponsored me to the tune of £250. Wow. Now I'm really committed.
So that's my first appeal - to anyone out there who might persuade their company to sponsor me in the knowledge that their money will go to not only a national charity but a charity working locally in Gloucestershire too. I shall, of course, be promoting their company's support far and wide starting here and ending with their logo on my running shirt. More info on this to follow.....
Thank you, therefore, to my first Corporate Sponsor:
Progress Fire and Security
And so on to my next fundraising strategy....watch this space for news about how I'm going to tap up my friends and colleagues without them realising it.....
For further info on how your company can sponsor me email me on: dyersj@btinternet.com or simply invite them to sponsor me at: http://www.justgiving.com/jane-dyer2011/
NO private sponsorship yet please....hold your horses we're going to do this a fun way...
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