Trying, Trying, Trying

So I have just set up a Virgin Money Giving account! This is where people can donate online to me by using their debit or credit card and so it is not a lot of hassle for them! The advantages of this page is that the money goes straight to Project Trust under my name instead of me having to send it off. The disadvantages of this though is that Virgin takes a charge off the donation however I think it is only 2% so that is not too bad. I am grateful for any donation anyway :) Visit the page at www.virginmoneygiving.com/VictoriaPowell94

In other news, I have been trying to contact a possible location for the Ceilidh ( a social Scottish kind of dance night) I am planning to hold and so are just waiting for them to get back to me! I am also on the mission to look for a cheap Ceilidh band to make the night complete but I am just very worried that the price of hiring will be too high to get much of a profit from :( Meanwhile I am selling a few Valentine's Quizzes with one person handing back such an entry with hilarious answers! Next week I will be full steam with trying to convince people to buy them! Fundraising is such a huge task and sometimes it feels rather heavy but I am so determined to make it. Here's a few pictures of which fundraising activities I would like to do (although some are rather unrealistic!)

sponsored tandem plane jump

  

coffee morning

sponsored swim

  

karaoke party

bake sale

party

bagpacking

Now just need to put my plans into motion!

Valentine's Day Quiz and News from Project Trust!

Last night I wrote and designed a Valentine's Day themed quiz in order to raise some more money! The quiz has nine questions on topics such as famous Romance novels, celebrity partners and Rom-Com films! It only costs £1 to enter and the winner will get a prize of £10. I really really hope a lot of friends and acquaintances will help out and buy a quiz because it is cheap, fun to do and they can win some money for themselves!

In other news, Project Trust has recently contacted me and informed me on several things I need to do before I go on my year away. Firstly, they warned me of which injections I need to get which in total is about six. Ouch! I'll have to stir up all my braveness for the day I do get them. They are also advising me to take a First Aid Course which I very much plan to do hopefully around some time in the Summer Holidays. Additionally they told me what the dates are for my training week - from Saturday 7th to Wednesday 11th of July. It will be held on an island called Coll which is off the West Coast of Scotland and is where Project Trust is based and there I will meet who my partner who I will be for the whole year and learn essential skills and knowledge that I need for living abroad. I can't wait!

Progress

Today I sent away 117 letters to Charitable Trusts! Charitable Trusts are usually a small network of people who donate money to different charities or charitable causes. In Britain every year they give away approximately £750,000,000. The hope is that the Trusts I have sent letters and leaflets to will have an interest in my voluntary work and want to help me out! I am glad this day has come because it took a lot of hard work to get here....


The Process of Sending My Letters


Firstly I had to go to the library and look through the Book of Charitable Trusts they have. Here I would seek out the trusts I fitted the criteria in order to apply to. It took about 4 sessions of 4-5 hours to be able to write down all the addresses but luckily I was armed with sweets and Coca-Cola to make the time more enjoyable!

Secondly, I had to design a leaflet to enclose in my letters to the Trusts. The leaflets basically included information about me and why I wanted to volunteer for a year, about Project Trust and what they do, where the money you donate goes to and a little bit of information on Cambodia. I found making the leaflet fun because it is not an activity I get to do everyday!

Afterwards I had to write the letters which I put bucket loads of thought and consideration into! After I had printed them off, my Mum and Dad stepped into help. Whilst I was studying, they folded all of the letters and leaflets and even wrote some of the envelopes! I am grateful for all of their help and support during this process.

And now all the letters are off! I just now have to nervously wait for all the replies whilst I now have time to organise fundraising events. 

I Got Mail Today....!!

There are two pieces of exciting news I have to tell:


Firstly today when I walked into my house there was a letter waiting for me. I tore open the envolope and there waiting for me was a cheque for £300 to go towards fundraising for my year away! It was from a very generous relative of mine who will be getting a thank you letter sent his way very soon. What a way to kick off my fundraising!

Secondly, I finished my preliminary exams today and for some reason this has taken a huge pressure off me. A week ago I recieved an unconditional offer for deferred entry to the University of Glasgow and now that I have my life after my year away sorted, I don't have to feel too stressed about my exams - I'll still work hard though, honest! With the prelims finished I have felt like I have made headway with my courses and between now and my final exams in May I can really focus on fundraising. With my first cheque arriving today, I have a sudden spur of excitement to really get going! I am nearly ready to send away all my letters to Charitable Trusts (there is a post about that coming soon) and I am now ready to organise lots of events!

So there you go! Just to finish off, here is a little illustration of how excited I feel at the moment!

Welcome!

Hello there everyone and welcome to my blog! This is the very first post of a page which will be chronicling the events in the run up to my year in Cambodia.  Project Trust recently gave me the opportunity to become one of their volunteers after completing a 4 day selection course. So from August 2012 I will be living and working in a Cambodian orphanage for a year and I cannot wait.

However before I get there I have to raise a whopping £5100! The purpose of this blog is to raise awareness of what I am doing and encourage people to donate to my cause. Also needless to say I feel the need to document my excitement about the year and my journey to get there.

So on here you will be hearing about every stage of my fundraising and a lot about my preparation for the year – this may be learning to cook, trying to pick up some of the language (Khmer) or having more experience of working with children. Also every week I will be putting up a fact about Cambodia so by next August you and I will know a lot more about this country! But for now here are some pictures of Cambodia and Project Trust’s Work. Happy reading!!

A potential volunteer on a selection course

A past volunteer in an Asian Orphanage