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Posts Tagged 'skydive'

Taking to the skies

Published October 5, 2012 Fundraiser Stories , Guest Blog 1 Comment
Tags: Charity, Fundraising, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air ambulance, skydive

In a few days time Graham Machin will be taking to the skies, skydiving for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance.

We heard from Graham in the lead up to his daunting challenge:

“How did I end up signing up to throw myself out of a plane at 12,000 ft?

“Let me take you back to a certain Saturday in early August.

“I’d already seen Great Britain win three Olympic gold medals when in one magical hour saw Jess Ennis show us why she was the poster girl of the games winning gold in the heptathlon. This was followed by Greg Rutherford becoming the first Brit since Lynn Davies in 1964 to win a gold in the long jump. Then of course came Mo Farah.

“About an hour later after tucking into more wine gums and ice cream it hit me-what have I ever done? I thought the Olympics was supposed to inspire a younger generation, not some middle-aged, slightly over-weight granddad approaching 50. Inspired by these athletes I decided to do something for charity – the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Air Ambulance.

“They do an amazing job, made even more amazing by the fact that they are not state funded. Can you imagine calling for an ordinary ambulance and being told sorry you can’t have one because they haven’t raised enough money from the public?!

“After choosing the charity, I knew straight away it would have to be something that either a lot of people couldn’t do or wouldn’t want to do for people to really to support me. After a couple of weeks of looking at various ideas I ending up looking into skydiving .

” I decided to do a Free Fall Level 1 skydive which is the most they will let brave or daft first timers like me do. Basically I jump out of the plane with two instructors at my side, free fall a few thousand feet and when they tell me open my chute and then I’m guided down by another instructor on the ground.

“Having booked it all up I decided to make this spoof training video which gave everyone a laugh.

“It’s getting really close now, and I cant wait to do it. You can sponsor me on my fundraising page.

Top fundraising tips from Diabetes charity JDRF

Published June 21, 2012 Fundraising Tips 3 Comments
Tags: Challenge, Charity, donors, event, Fundraising, JDRF, Marathon, plan, skydive, Social Media, sponsor, Target, trek

JDRF, the type 1 Diabetes Charity have had a fantastic start to the year with donations and fundraising.

They had a huge team of runners in the Virgin London Marathon and have a whole host of other events coming up – including skydives, community events and treks. We asked them to share some of their top hints and tips for fundraisers:

Start as early as you can. By giving yourself six months, or more you can set a stretching target.
Write a fundraising plan with a target amount. Make sure you include a list of all your potential sponsors and other events that you could use to raise money.
Write a blog or keep updating your fundraising page to keep everyone engaged, including photos and videos to keep it interactive. You should share these on Facebook/Twitter etc to make sure it’s seen by as many people as possible.
Offer your sponsors an incentive (such as a prize for guessing your correct finishing time).
Personally thank all your sponsors after you have completed your challenge, and remind those who haven’t sponsored you it’s their last chance.

Thanks to Jon Medcraft from JDRF for sharing their charity top tips, if there’s something you’ve tried that you know works really well why not share it in the comments below.

Jumping for Jubilee

Published June 1, 2012 Fundraiser Stories Leave a Comment
Tags: Charity, Diamond Jubilee, Fundraising, Queen, RNLI, skydive

Fundraiser Rachel Pratt is swapping her lifejacket for a parachute in an attempt to raise £600 for the RNLI.

Ambulance Technician and volunteer crew member with the RNLI Lifeboat Rachel is undertaking the skydive just a few days after the Queen’s Jubilee. The Queen is the Patron of the RNLI.

Eastbourne has recently been given a new TAMAR class lifeboat, which will be named ‘DIAMOND‘ JUBILEE.

To help raise money for the RNLI, Rachel will be throwing herself out of a plane at over 10,000 feet.

We caught up with Rachel to find out a little more about her challenge

“My reasons for doing the jump are two fold.

“Firstly, a parachute jump has always been on my ‘Bucket List’ of things to do in life before it’s too late.

“Secondly, I saw an advert in the RNLI Lifeboat magazine who were appealing for anyone willing to do a jump to mark the Queen’s Jubilee naming it ‘Jump for Jubilee’. I thought, what a perfect way to mark the coming of our new Tamar class lifeboat here in my hometown of Eastbourne, aptly named “Diamond Jubilee”, which will be here in June.

As for the jump itself I suppose I haven’t really thought about it and I guess this is the key. I am very excited to be able to complete one of my lifetime achievements. Doing my daily job and volunteering with the RNLI is almost a daily reminder that life is too short not to live life and do crazy things once in a while”.

You can sponsor Rachel Pratt on her fundraising page.

Hosting a Jubilee inspired event?

Published May 31, 2012 Events Leave a Comment
Tags: blog, Charity, Fundraising, Jubilee, skydive, street party

At the end of this week the Queen is celebrating her 60^th Jubilee. There’s lots of events going on around the country to celebrate – including an extra long Bank Holiday weekend to celebrate.

It’s the perfect opportunity to hold a fundraising event and raise money for causes that are close to your heart.

At Virgin Money Giving we’ve heard from fundraisers who’ll be skydiving to raise money for charities supported by the Queen in her role as patron – and it seems some of you will be using the long weekend to get in some extra training before the Blenheim Triathlon on 9 June.

If you’re hosting a Jubilee Inspired Street Party and raising money for charity or taking on a more daring challenge over the weekend let us know in the comments below.

We look forward to hearing from you – and lets hope the sun comes out to play!