Saturday 17 July 2010

Fundraising for VSO

I feel that my first post has to start with my fundraising efforts. Despite having now completed seven months of indepth research and training, I still struggle myself with understanding exactly how VSO works and what I am about to embark upon. So I will try my best to explain it to you.

We are told that VSO needs to raise £10million each year in the UK to continue its vital work and VSO have asked us volunteers to raise £900 to support this. Although £900 is a fraction of the total cost to recruit, train and send a volunteer to share skills in developing countries, it can obviously help, not only supporting funds, but also raising the awareness of what the charity is about.
My first fundraising effort was clearing out the majority of my household belongings that I have collected over the years and selling them at a carboot sale, very early in the morning. Anyone who came to our stall definitely walked away with a bargain. Fiona (my sister-in-law) and Dad helped out and we managed to raise £89!

My second attempt was organising an Art Exhibition at school. This involved gathering paintings, pictures and models from all classes in the school. Talented teachers, parents and other staff also displayed their work. With the support of my talented class, we advertised, promoted and opened the gallery. Visitors made a donation to view the gallery and then they bought any artwork they wished to purchase. There was a remarkable response and we managed to raise £211! Many thanks to everyone who helped to support this and make it a huge success, not just in raising money but in bringing the whole school community together in a new way.









Although I am only one third of the way into my fundraising target I have made a huge effort and feel that I have been very successful in raising the awareness of the goals of the VSO, sharing skills, at a community level to help fight poverty in the world's poorest countries.

If anyone else would like to support the charity please visit my fundraising page to the right hand side of this post. Also you may wish to browse the VSO website for futher information.