This evening we will be carrying out maintenance to the Virgin Money Giving website.

As a result the website will be unavailable between 20:00 on Tuesday 24 and 06:00 Wednesday 25 January.

If you have any questions please call our team on 08456 10 10 45 or email us at theteam@virginmoneygiving.com.
We’re here Monday to Friday, 9am – 5.30pm.

Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience.

The Virgin Money Giving Team

Following the loss of 55 year old Nigel to an unexpected brain aneurysm in 2010, Dan wanted to show his support to other families who may find themselves in a similar situation by raising money for the charity Headway.

Pulling out all the stops, Dan has already reached his fundraising target of £1,500 three months ahead of event day and is set on sending his total even further through the roof.

If that isn’t enough, Dan has hired himself a personal trainer and put himself on a four-month ban from alcohol in the hope this will enable him to complete the race in less than four hours.

Dan said “After struggling through the 2008 Marathon with very little training, I swore I would never put myself through the torturous pain again.  That said; the unforeseen loss of my Dad soon changed my mind.

The training has been tough, but I know it will be worth it for the great atmosphere on the day.  I wanted to turn something very negative into something positive, so here I am raising money for a cause I really believe in.”

Headway- the brain injury association is a charity set up to help offer support and services to those affected by brain injury as well as their families and carers.  Headway offers a wide range of services both locally and nationally, including rehabilitation programmes, carer support, social re-integration, community outreach and respite care.

Launching a YouTube video to inspire people to sponsor him, and with the support of a charity event hosted by his girlfriend’s Mum, Dan has gone above and beyond raising the money he intended to and hopes to go even further.

If you would like to sponsor Dan ahead of the biggest fundraising event of the year, please go to: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/DanWittred

Each year, all runners in the Royal Parks Half Marathon receive a soft breathable running shirt, and the the back of the shirt features an inspirational design.

The Royal Parks are looking to find an exciting new design to take to the streets of London on Sunday, October 7, 2012.

The chosen designer will also win two coveted Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon race places for the 2012 event, a magnum of Champagne and two VIP invitations to rub shoulders with the stars in the exclusive hospitality tent in the festival village.

To find out more about the competition and how to get your design submitted by Wednesday 15 February visit the Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon website.

If you’re running the 2012 Virgin London Marathon and fundraising with Virgin Money Giving their donation could get a huge boost towards your target with our latest competition.

We want to help you raise more money for your chosen charity, so every time you you receive a donation to your page between now and 31 December we’ll automatically enter you into a prize draw to win a £500 donation to your page.

There are two £500 donations up for grabs, so the more donations you receive the more chance you’ll have of winning.

Terms and conditions apply.

The aim of the game is to launch your stickman from a cannon, fly him across London and land him safely in a bath of baked beans, avoiding obstacles and collecting bonus points along the way.

Head over to www.facebook.com/virginmoneygiving to play the game. And don’t forget to enter the prize draw for your chance to win some fantastic prizes.

The prizes

	Two places in the 2012 Virgin London Marathon  Guaranteed entry into the 2012 Virgin London Marathon. Start from the Green Start with the celebs and VIPs. Not a runner? If you win the prize you can transfer the race entry to a friend or charity. Find out more about the 2012 Virgin London Marathon here.
	White 16GB iPhone 4s FaceTime video calling. Retina display – high res screen. HD video recording. 5 Megapixel camera. Access to over 300,000 apps from the App Store. The iPhone comes ‘sim free’ without a contract. All you need to do is sign up to an iPhone plan from your favourite mobile network and request a microsim. Find out more about the iPhone 4 here.
	White 16GB iPad 2 with Wi-fi & 3G Browse the web, email, photos, and video. A 9.7-inch, high-resolution display with incredible Multi-Touch capability. So thin and light enough to take anywhere. Thousands of apps made just for iPad,with more coming every day. A new way to read and buy books with iBooks. Connect to the Internet at Wi-Fi hotspots and over 3G networks when you’re on the go. The iPad comes without a contract, if you’d like to use it out and about you’ll need to sign up to an iPad data plan from your favourite mobile network and request a microsim. Use on your home Wi-Fi network is free. Find out more about the iPad here.

Terms and conditions apply. This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook. By entering you understand that you are providing your information to Virgin Money Giving and not to Facebook.

Virgin Money Giving fundraiser Gareth Sutton wanted to give something back, so raised an impressive £6,600 from two sponsored events, including a Mountain Trail Challenge.

Sharon Smith, Joint Chair of Stepping Stones DS, said “It is only with fundraising efforts, like Gareth’s, that we are able to operate.”

Since his daughter Zoe was born with Down Syndrome 19 months ago. Gareth said “I don’t know what we would have done without Stepping Stones DS. We first got in touch with them when Zoe was just 10 days old and from that point on we knew everything would be alright. They provide us with friendship and knowledge, as well as practical and emotional support. Doing these challenges was my way of giving something back”.

Gareth used Virgin Money Giving to collect donations for the two challenging events raising an impressive £6,600. In September this year, he and two friends took part in the Mountain Trail Challenge, which required them to walk 30 miles in 10 hours, including climbing three peaks!

The Challenge was not without drama, the weather was dreadful, visibility was poor and Gareth’s boot fell apart after just 20 miles!

The money Gareth raised has enabled the Stepping Stones DS to set up fortnightly physical activity sessions for our pre-walkers encompassing movement, balance, co-ordination games and more, this activity supports and promotes all areas of the children’s development as well as giving parents an important chance to meet up and have a natter!

Without fundraising efforts, like Gareth’s, they wouldn’t be able to operate. The Charity needs £5,000 per month to run all their activities and support their evergrowing membership, which currently stands at 80 families.

Last October their UK team ran a half marathon and raised a considerable £997.40 through Virgin Money Giving. This money enabled the charity to launch an exciting new youth group in Gondar – the ‘Kindu Klub’.

The families that the charity support live in tough conditions with many parents illiterate and unable to provide any educational support for their children at home. Overcrowded housing and sporadic electricity limits the ability of these kids to study outside of school, but without gaining a thorough education they will face a difficult future finding employment.

The Kindu Klub provides supplementary education and a place for children in Gondar to study and participate in games and activities. With this support the children have a better chance of gaining a precious education that is so vital for a sustainable future for both themselves and their communities.

It’s been a success story that all involved with The Kindu Trust can be proud of.

One of the people who helped to support this recovery was Hilary Bloor, who faced the huge undertaking of running the Marathon des Sables for the British Red Cross’s New Zealand Earthquake appeal. The description on her page only goes some way to describing her challenge “7 gruelling days, hottest temperatures on record (54C), longest MdS to date, l took 54hrs 21mins carrying all my food and equipment, being totally self supported. My rucksack weighed 13kgs on day one when l crossed the highest dunes in the Sahara. I’m both exhausted and elated. Now is the time to let my feet repair and drink coffee before my next adventure!”

Hilary raised a fantastic £1,760 through her Virgin Money Giving page, with an extra £425 raised through Gift Aid.

Another individual who was touched by the crisis in Christchurch was Matthew Whitaker who, with a phenomenal group of 71 friends, cycled 65 miles from London to Christ Church (the one in Oxford, UK).

The team raised a phenomenal £23,330, with almost £5,000 extra raised in Gift Aid.

Hilary and Matthew’s admirable efforts helped to fund the emergency response in Christchurch. The earthquake left some survivors stranded in damaged homes with no power, no water, no sewerage and no way of contacting anyone. In response to the disaster the New Zealand Red Cross sent out volunteer emergency response teams to conduct urban search and rescue, door-to-door outreach and psychosocial support. Following the earthquake more than 45,000 people registered with the Red Cross, which worked to reconnect families separated in the disaster.

In 2011, £16,785 was raised for them through sponsored events. This meant 26 people with MS could receive therapy and support for a whole year.

One Virgin Money Giving fundraiser Ben, was in full-time employment when he first visited the Centre and is now studying full-time. Despite a relapse in July 2011 he recovered through the use of oxygen therapy and physiotherapy.

Deciding to give something back to the centre and through his own determination he completed a personal challenge of swimming the tidal river Forth (2.25km) in September to raise money for the centre using Virgin Money Giving.

The money that the MSTC Lothian has received from all their fundraisers this year has enabled them to continue to deliver therapies and support which are a lifeline for people with MS.

All of the money raised will support some fantastic British causes through the Dallaglio Foundation (supporting a major prostate cancer project), the AF Foundation (supporting the development of children’s rehabilitation and physiotherapy units throughout the UK) and Virgin Unite (the not-for-profit foundation, helping young people in the UK to increase their employability and entrepreneurialism, as well as tackling other important issues for young people).

Our friends at Virgin Media are the official sponsor of the challenge. Virgin Media will be providing Freddie, Lawrence, the core riders and support teams with top-of-the-range smartphones so that they can stay connected to home and their supporters as they tackle the changing weather and landscape. Virgin Media is also giving ten customers and ten members of staff the opportunity to join Freddie and Lawrence on the Cycle Slam journey too – each raising money to help Freddie and Lawrence achieve their fundraising goal of £2,012,000.

To support the Dallaglio Flintoff Cycle Slam 2012 visit virginmoneygiving.com/DallaglioFlintoffCycleSlam.