You too could help us raise funds to promote Organ Donation in the UK - here are some tips from Jac, who has proved she knows some good ways to do it!
You too could help us raise funds to promote Organ Donation in the UK - here are some tips from Jac, who has proved she knows some good ways to do it!
Jacqueline Didsbury is 30 years old and lives in Scotland. She recently organised a sponsored walk raising over £22,000 for LLTGL. We chatted to her about this phenomenal achievement and asked her what her trick is!
Q: What made you want to do this? I had a double lung transplant last year and am so grateful for this gift of life. However I am well aware that many people are not so lucky and due to the chronic shortage of organ donors they will never get a second chance. I therefore wanted to raise money for a transplant charity with the hope of helping others in my situation. I especially wanted the fundraiser to be a physical challenge to show how much this transplant has changed my life and the difference it can make to those people waiting.
Q: When did you start your planning? I started planning about 8 months before the event – this is when I had the idea but I didn’t want the walk to take place until the spring when I hoped the weather would be better.
Q: How did you envisage this event when you started out? I thought it would be a 10-mile sponsored walk – with myself and a few family members – possibly a group of around 15 people.
Q: At what point did you realise it was turning into something really quite big? After a couple of months I realised this event was going to be much bigger than I expected with numbers of around 60 – a few months later I realised it was actually turning into a big event with 170 members of Team Jac.
Q: Could you describe some of the practicalities you had to take into account? Firstly I had to choose a route to walk, I had to take into account the time to travel to the start point for people taking part, whether there was parking available and if we would be able/allowed to have 160 people walking on this route. I then had to look at the actual walk itself and make sure it was safe for team members, not too arduous but challenging enough. I had to look into toilet facilities on route and where people could stop for lunch, especially if weather was poor. I looked into how people would get back to their cars at the end of the walk and had to arrange buses for this purpose. I did also have to assess safety on the walk – checking details with the local rangers for that area, contacting the council to check we could use the route and also alerting the police due to the number of people.
Q: Did you get sponsorship? If so, how and what for? I was sponsored by friends, family, and workmates to complete the 10-mile walk. Members of the team were also sponsored individually. I also received sponsorship from a company to provide team members with caps to wear on the day. I was also given a supply of biscuits form Tunnocks and bottles of water from a local shop. I had buses donated for use on the day.
Q: Did you find people wanted to help? Yes, people did want to help –with both organising, helping on the day and taking part in the walk. I had people volunteering as first aiders, to take the register, hand out caps, walk the route in advance to provide written directions and provide transport to people.
Q: Your team has gone over the £20,000 mark. What do you think has helped you in your bids for sponsorship? I think sponsorship has been high because so many people were taking part, and they all felt moved by the success story of my transplant. I also did have some promotion in local papers, which helped raise awareness. I wrote to several MP’s including Gordon Brown and did receive sponsorship, which increased the profile of the walk. I received donations from many people who do not know me but were either moved by my story or had a connection with Cystic Fibrosis or transplant. I also spoke at my local parish church about my life and about transplant and had a great deal of donations through this.
Q: In your opinion, what were the key strengths of the day? I think the sheer number of people walking – everyone turning up and all plans going to schedule – it was an amazing sight.
Q: Were there any last minute panics? A few last minute panics about some people who couldn’t make it at the last minute, making sure everyone was on the bus and they were all signed in. Generally though it all went smoothly.
Q: What would you do differently? I would perhaps ask the people taking part to make a small donation to cover extra costs – such as the fact I supplied first aid kits to all teams. I kept in touch with team members via email but would maybe set up a website if I did it again – so that people could just check in for the latest updates, access sponsor forms and find details of the event. Some of my emails were being filtered as spam which meant not everyone was getting updated.
Q: What are your key tips for someone thinking about organising an event like this? Start early! Have a very clear plan – and have this written down. If a large number of people are taking part, make sure you have everyone’s name, email etc and a way of updating everyone on any changes. Ask local businesses to help if possible – for example we had buses donated for free and a pub on the route allowed us to use a room for eating our lunch and using toilets. Do not incur costs yourself – if you have to hire buses for example, get team members to pay a small amount for a place on the bus.
Q: Any other words of wisdom?! Accept help from people – don’t try to do everything yourself! Allow yourself plenty time, brainstorm ideas with people – it’s amazing what others come up with – and above all, enjoy yourself!!!
Q: What made you want to do this? I had a double lung transplant last year and am so grateful for this gift of life. However I am well aware that many people are not so lucky and due to the chronic shortage of organ donors they will never get a second chance. I therefore wanted to raise money for a transplant charity with the hope of helping others in my situation. I especially wanted the fundraiser to be a physical challenge to show how much this transplant has changed my life and the difference it can make to those people waiting.
Q: When did you start your planning? I started planning about 8 months before the event – this is when I had the idea but I didn’t want the walk to take place until the spring when I hoped the weather would be better.
Q: How did you envisage this event when you started out? I thought it would be a 10-mile sponsored walk – with myself and a few family members – possibly a group of around 15 people.
Q: At what point did you realise it was turning into something really quite big? After a couple of months I realised this event was going to be much bigger than I expected with numbers of around 60 – a few months later I realised it was actually turning into a big event with 170 members of Team Jac.
Q: Could you describe some of the practicalities you had to take into account? Firstly I had to choose a route to walk, I had to take into account the time to travel to the start point for people taking part, whether there was parking available and if we would be able/allowed to have 160 people walking on this route. I then had to look at the actual walk itself and make sure it was safe for team members, not too arduous but challenging enough. I had to look into toilet facilities on route and where people could stop for lunch, especially if weather was poor. I looked into how people would get back to their cars at the end of the walk and had to arrange buses for this purpose. I did also have to assess safety on the walk – checking details with the local rangers for that area, contacting the council to check we could use the route and also alerting the police due to the number of people.
Q: Did you get sponsorship? If so, how and what for? I was sponsored by friends, family, and workmates to complete the 10-mile walk. Members of the team were also sponsored individually. I also received sponsorship from a company to provide team members with caps to wear on the day. I was also given a supply of biscuits form Tunnocks and bottles of water from a local shop. I had buses donated for use on the day.
Q: Did you find people wanted to help? Yes, people did want to help –with both organising, helping on the day and taking part in the walk. I had people volunteering as first aiders, to take the register, hand out caps, walk the route in advance to provide written directions and provide transport to people.
Q: Your team has gone over the £20,000 mark. What do you think has helped you in your bids for sponsorship? I think sponsorship has been high because so many people were taking part, and they all felt moved by the success story of my transplant. I also did have some promotion in local papers, which helped raise awareness. I wrote to several MP’s including Gordon Brown and did receive sponsorship, which increased the profile of the walk. I received donations from many people who do not know me but were either moved by my story or had a connection with Cystic Fibrosis or transplant. I also spoke at my local parish church about my life and about transplant and had a great deal of donations through this.
Q: In your opinion, what were the key strengths of the day? I think the sheer number of people walking – everyone turning up and all plans going to schedule – it was an amazing sight.
Q: Were there any last minute panics? A few last minute panics about some people who couldn’t make it at the last minute, making sure everyone was on the bus and they were all signed in. Generally though it all went smoothly.
Q: What would you do differently? I would perhaps ask the people taking part to make a small donation to cover extra costs – such as the fact I supplied first aid kits to all teams. I kept in touch with team members via email but would maybe set up a website if I did it again – so that people could just check in for the latest updates, access sponsor forms and find details of the event. Some of my emails were being filtered as spam which meant not everyone was getting updated.
Q: What are your key tips for someone thinking about organising an event like this? Start early! Have a very clear plan – and have this written down. If a large number of people are taking part, make sure you have everyone’s name, email etc and a way of updating everyone on any changes. Ask local businesses to help if possible – for example we had buses donated for free and a pub on the route allowed us to use a room for eating our lunch and using toilets. Do not incur costs yourself – if you have to hire buses for example, get team members to pay a small amount for a place on the bus.
Q: Any other words of wisdom?! Accept help from people – don’t try to do everything yourself! Allow yourself plenty time, brainstorm ideas with people – it’s amazing what others come up with – and above all, enjoy yourself!!!
