This is my last blog about my fundraising. It's all done. Finito.
I had to have the full amount donated six weeks before the expedition. I had to make up the last little bit myself, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been. So the beginning that was the fundraising has ended, and in three sleeps it'll be the beginning of the next part of the journey, when I head out to Costa Rica. I arrive 12 January, I've a couple of days to acclimatise, and by acclimatise I of course mean 'sit by a pool and drink beer' before the work begins with expedition on 15 January.
So, to round up the fundraising, here's just a few final updates.
Nobody wanted to hurt me enough to donate anything towards epillating my chest. My chest hair is still intact.
Paul Carr correctly guessed that the name of the raptor was Bonehead. Here is Paul receiving his £50 prize money in a badly taken selfie.
My sister and mother had a ladies pampering evening at home in Castlebar, which raised €345.
I still haven't done much with the covers project, unfortunately. To those who have requested tracks, I have some of the guitars done for scratch tracks and not much more. Between my course and lurgy, I just couldn't get to it, but I promise it'll be top priority for when I get back, OK?
And that, dear friends, is pretty much it for this blog. All that's left is for me to thank you so much from the bottom of my heart. I've set up another blog here, should you feel like reading about my ongoing adventure, and Raleigh International's corporate blog that I'll be managing is here.
Well, dear reader, these chest hairs are the subject of my next fundraising event. With a fundraising target of £300, I will get this manly carpet of hair epilated. Yes, you read that correctly - epilated.
For the gentlemen reading who may not be familiar with epilation, this article should give you an idea of what it's about.
I've been epilated before "for a laugh". I assure you there was no laughing on my part. I know how much it hurts, hence the high fundraising target. Here's a picture representative of the last occasion.
I'll be looking to do it in a pub, because I'm probably going to need a drink.
I clearly hate myself. Very much.
So donations can be made to my JustGiving page. Think of how funny the video of my epilation will be - the howls of agony, the tears of pain, the... well, you get the idea. It's definitely worth at least a tenner? Right?
So, in other donation news, I have a winner for my raptor-naming competition. Winner will be announced on here with a lovely cheesy photo of me handing over their prize money and shaking their hand.
I've been up to my eyes in an assignment for my course, so I haven't had the chance to start recording the tracks requested of me. The assignment is due at the end of August, so I'm looking to get them done during September.
Outside of fundraising, I've finally saved enough money to book my flight. I'll be doing that in the next couple of days. Eek! I've also been chatting with the Finance Officer for the expedition on the Facebook group set up for us Volunteer Managers. Engaging with somebody I'm going to be on expedition with has made the whole thing a bit more "real", if that makes sense?
No doubt I'll be keeping you all updated on stuff!
I keep getting asked a lot of the same questions about my expedition with Raleigh International, and about my fundraising. I'll put together some of the more common ones.
Where are you going?
Costa Rica, with a short stint in Nicaragua.
When are you going?
January 2014.
How long are you going for?
Three months.
What will you be doing?
I'm going to be a Volunteer Manager, with the specific role of Communications Officer. I'll be there to document the organisation's activities in the country, from blogging to sorting out expedition t-shirts, from finding content for the expedition magazine to passing on messages from home.
At the heart of Raleigh International's activity in a country is field base. This is where I'll be most of the time, but I will have the opportunity to go out in the field. How can I document activities without seeing them for myself?
Raleigh International recruits volunteers, aged 17 to 24. These are the Venturers, and these are the people who work on the various projects. The Volunteer Managers are aged 25 to 74 are there to make sure the projects run smoothly.
There are three projects going on at any one time. The Venturers work on these projects for a few weeks, with a different group working on each project. At the end of the project, they return to be mixed up into different groups, and head off on another project.
Are you getting paid for it?
No. "Volunteering" means you don't get paid. I have to pay Raleigh International because they're a charity.
How much do you have to pay?
I have to give £1950 to Raleigh International. This will cover accommodation, food and any materials I need for the duration of the expedition.
Does that cover flights?
No, I've to pay for my flights on top of that. They are a charity. I also have to pay for my vaccinations, and make sure there's enough money in my account to cover the cost of my bills and stuff for the three months that I'm away.
Why are you doing this? What brought it on?
I think a lot of people were taken by surprise when I announced I was doing this. I have lots of reasons to do it.
My current job. I'm a 30 year old admin assistant. It's not even a permanent contract. I'll just leave that one there.
Adventure. I need adventure and excitement and something that's not just going into an office everyday doing stuff because you need to pay rent and bills, without any real sense of achievement.
Travel. The nature of my current job makes it incredibly difficult to do any decent travelling. I went to Peru a couple of years ago and could only go for a week. I caught up with a great friend and saw Aerosmith, but Peru is still a long way to go for just a week. From that I saw that to get any worthwhile travel done, I'd need to quit my job and make a proper adventure of it.
Employability. I want to be a Communications Officer, but it's pretty much impossible to have an application taken seriously if the first thing employers see is "Administrative Assistant". Even if I do tick all the boxes in the person specification. I needed to get "Communications Officer" onto my CV, and this was my opportunity to do so, and resolve the frustrations of my previous points at the same time, therefore killing several birds with one epic stone. I also felt that working as a Communications Officer on an adventure would help a job application stand out a bit more.
The greater good. I want to contribute to helping people who need help, and who will appreciate the help long term, and feel like I was actually contributing something to the world besides sitting at a desk.
Is your girlfriend going with you?
No. Some people are shocked by this.
The first thing Raleigh International do with couples is separate them, because couples will isolate themselves from the group, which completely defeats the purpose of going on an adventure with the opportunity to meet new people and make new friends.
She doesn't need to. She has a permanent job with a good salary and a mortgage and is generally well set up. Her work allows her to travel for decent periods of time.
She'd have something to lose. I don't.
It's only three months.
Will your employers keep your job for you?
This is a tricky one, and one which I haven't discussed with my employers. I'm sure I'll get to it.
Several people have suggested that I ask for leave of absence for the three months I'll be gone. I do see their point. It would be super-sensible and easy and lovely to have a job to come back to.
But, I can't help but think that defeats the purpose of signing up for this adventure (see my previous point about employability, in the bit about why I'm doing this)?
The more I think about it, the more I feel like it would detract from this being an experience for me to build on, and reduce it to being a holiday. I'd be as well off going to Torquay for a week (nothing against Torquay - I was there once and had a great time. Rosie's Fish and Chip Shop is immense!).
Somebody also suggested that it would detract from my expedition experience if I always had returning to my job in the back of my mind, and I do think they're probably right.
You'll be renting out your house while you're gone?
No. Again, some people are shocked by this.
My landlords have said that for the sake of three months, it's not worth it. The house would have to be cleaned thoroughly before renting it out to tenants, then again when they leave. They also live abroad, so don't want to rent out a house to people they don't know when they're not on hand to deal with any issues. It would generally work out costing them. If I was going for a year, they probably would, but for three months, it's just not worth it.
I'd like to spend the couple of weeks before I leave enjoying time with my friends, not moving stuff into storage for the sake of three months.
How much is a pint out there?
I don't know, it doesn't matter. You're not allowed to drink on expedition.
What? How will you survive?
Just fine. It's only three months and I'm not an alcoholic. It's not a big deal, it's part of the experience, and it won't do me any harm. And a nice pint of Guinness will taste all the better after it!
Are you letting your hair grow back?
I'm going to let it grow for the winter, because I'll be cold, but I'll shave it again before I go, because I'll have better things for doing over there than fussing over my locks.
Hopefully that answers a lot of the stuff people are wondering.
Here's Lenny Kravitz, because with all this information, are you gonna go my way?
Alas, there are no prizes for guessing what this post is about.
After hair loss, virtual birthday celebrations, interesting covers requests and 12 blog posts, I've reached the halfway mark of my fundraising. Look! 50%! This puts my fundraising exactly where I wanted it to be by the end of July. Phew!
I have been overwhelmed by my donors' generosity. Your support, both financially and in your words of encouragement and best wishes, is a wonderful reassurance to a major commitment, which I initially felt left people kind of surprised and confused. Not that I ever doubted that this commitment was crazy, but to have the backing of your friends and family really is a whole other thing.
I can only thank you, and yet that thanks doesn't seem enough, but being as every spare penny is going towards the cost of my flight, spending money, and my bills here in the UK while I'm away, I'm afraid it's all I've got for now.
Here's a tune from Soundgarden:
I recently watched a TED speech online, given by the musician, Amanda Palmer. I only watched it because the link description said something about an eight foot musician. Even when it was obvious that Amanda Palmer is not eight foot, I continued to watch her because she was enthusiastic and engaging. I didn't remember being that inspired by something that wasn't a record, well, ever! It really changed my approach and outlook in doing things, both in my fundraising for Raleigh International and my music. I won't say any more about it. Here it is for you to watch. Make of it what you will.
And thanks to my good friend, Iris, I'm going to see Amanda Palmer live tomorrow night. Excited!
I'm blogging about my fundraising much less frequently than when I originally started.
Am I losing interest? Nope, can't afford to do that! I guess when I first started blogging about my fundraising, it was mostly about planning, and there was a lot of ambition and excitement around it. Now, I'm just getting on with it, and trying to juggle it with my day job, band and course, and still find a little time for some gaming and a little time for my friends.
So, in my last blog, I outlined my next fundraising challenge, which was to cover ten songs, as requested by friends, in exchange for a £10 donation. Here's what I've been challenged to:
1. Rockin' in the Free World (originally performed by Neil Young, requested by Ma and Da Fitzgerald)
2. Enter Sandman (originally performed by Metallica, requested by Steven David)
3. Even Flow (originally performed by Pearl Jam, requested by Stacey Sheppard)
4. Friday (originally performed by Rebecca Black and AutoTune, requested by Chas Brickland)
5. Slow Ride (originally performed by Foghat, requested by Dee James)
6. Firestarter (originally performed by The Prodigy, requested by Jon Kelway)
7. Two Little Boys (originally performed by Rolf Harris, requested by LJ Davies)
8. Jerry Was a Race Car Driver (originally performed by Primus, requested by Phil Cooper)
9. Stay (I Missed You) (originally performed by Lisa Loeb, requested by Pamela Pinski)
10. I'm Not That Kind of Boy (originally performed by Anal Cunt, requested by Francisco Mac Dowell Innecco).
Here's a playlist of the tunes:
Now I just have to find time to record them! I'm going to put them on CD and offer them to people in exchange for a £5 donation to my fundraising.
I'm still not any closer to getting any gigs organised, which I've been banging on about since day one. My annual Royal Barbecue is also looking like it will be knocked on the head, again, because I couldn't find a suitable venue. I may just scale it right down and have it at my house, as usual. It'll be like the rent gig in Wayne's World where Cassandra's band had a gig at her apartment to pay the rent, except I look nothing like Tia Carrere and it'll be going towards Raleigh International. Being as the Royal Baby is due to drop in the next couple of weeks, I really should get on that! Maybe just get a load of food and beer and ask people to make donations?
I'd feel much worse about not carrying out those original planned events if I wasn't making up for the funds I would have made at them elsewhere. My raptor-naming competition is nearly over, and I've had a couple of generous personal donations made. I'm still totally confident of reaching my fundraising target, so that's all cool and the gang.
I haven't blogged in almost a month. Remember when I said I'd be spreading out my fundraising so I don't have to be pestering people continuously because they'd get sick of it? That.
Also, I was in bed ill for a week, which has delayed me in getting started on this month's fundraising event. Hopefully it will all work out though.
So, what is this latest fundraising effort? Well, it's a cover song project type of thing, where for £10 people can request a song for me to record a cover of. I'm aiming to raise £100 for this challenge, so that's ten covers.
You might not understand how, as a musician, this is a challenge. I've had a good old rant about why it's a challenge further down. You should read it if you care, or if you're really bored.
As the video of my headshave currently has 908 views, I've made one to go with this fundraiser. Check it!
Here's a rant about covers to explain why this is a challenge: The covers rant
As far as I'm concerned, if you're calling yourself a "musician", it means you're creative, therefore, you should create things, not copy things, which is what covers are. Obviously, everybody who starts to play a musical instrument does so by learning the songs of their heroes, but if you're an actual musician, shouldn't that progress to writing your own?
I've repeatedly heard the argument "Would you not play covers for the money?" and the like. Well, I have a job for money. If I want more money, I apply for better paid jobs. If I started playing covers for money, well, isn't that just going to do another job outside of my job that I already have? One job is enough for me, thank you very much. Also, when you split the money a covers band gets paid, after petrol and a couple of pints, there's not much left. For me, not enough to make it worth the hassle.
If young bands have it drummed into their heads that the only reason to play music is to make a few quid in their local pub, well, that's crap. Where's the encouragement and incentive to write their own stuff so they can go me megastars? Why is nobody pointing out that the people who wrote the songs they play are not playing covers and are making a hell of a lot more money by doing so?
It bothers me that bar managers will pay bands to come in and play other peoples songs, when musicians who write their own stuff can fudge right off. "They play songs people know, and people want to hear songs they know on a night out", is the general argument. So, why not put on CDs of said songs people know? It'll be better quality and cheaper.
Think of it this way: would an art gallery pay somebody to come in and copy the Mona Lisa with a packet of Crayolas and a refill pad? No, they really wouldn't. Why should music be different?
Covers bands might get a few quid from playing other people's songs, but, personally, I love the feeling of somebody paying for a CD of my songs. To know that somebody valued the songs you wrote at the end of your bed enough to part with their hard earned cash for it? That's a whole lot of warm and fuzzy inside right there. To log on to your iTunes sales report to see that somebody in Australia bought just one of your tracks? That's a feeling the few quid you'd make from playing covers really just can not buy.
I've also had people argue that some of my favourite bands have played covers. There's a difference between a band playing the occasional covers as a nod to their influences. Oasis played I Am The Walrus, but it was hardly their bread and butter. If anything, it's opened me up to more music. There's also a difference between covers and reinterpretations, a la Nouvelle Vague, or Mark Ronson's Version album.
Well, friends, I haven't blogged in quite a while! It turns out that juggling a day job, fundraising, studying for a digital marketing qualification, and job hunting, is really, really time-consuming!
I've been told that my contract at work won't be renewed when it runs out at the end of July because I can't commit to the full twelve-month contract, because of going off to try and make a difference in the world in January. It also somewhat jeopardises being able to save enough money to get to Costa Rica. I'm sure it'll work out fine, but if anybody knows of any jobs going that can keep me in rent, bills, food, and £200 a month in savings towards my expedition, let me know. Any kind of marketing or communications role would be great, anything with digital marketing would be perfect, but anything at all with an income will be fine. Here's my LinkedIn profile.
My actual fundraising, however, has been going fantastically!
On 2 May, I noted that the YouTube video of my headshave had 359 views. After a post of said video on Facebook, stating how the number of views did not reflect the funds raised, super-generous friends donated £80 within an hour of the post. The video currently has 664 views, which raises a number of questions:
Is it viral yet?
Will it make me the new PSY?
How come my band's music videos don't get as many views with their insanely catchy choruses?
Does anybody know anybody with a job for somebody who has made a popular YouTube video?
I've started my raptor-naming competition. This one is going slowly. I'm only inviting people to take part if the conversation has gone towards my fundraising. I'm not going around pestering people. There's no need, just take it nice and easy.
I recently had a very big and old birthday. I never make a big deal of my birthday, because so many people are born in May, and there's two bank holidays in May, I don't have the heart to inflict yet another expensive night out on people. It's just not fair on them. So, this year, I decided to make an exception to not making a big deal of my birthday, and turn it into a fundraising opportunity. I created an event on Facebook called Ronan's 30th Birthday Session, invited all my friends, and asked them to donate the price of the pint they would buy someone on their birthday to my fundraising.
It's been SOOOO successful!
So far I've raised £201.98 from this little stunt. I did notice that some people bought me some incredibly expensive pints. They should look for somewhere else to drink, because they're totally getting ripped off. I've been overwhelmed by the response. I wonder if it's because people are grateful that I wasn't asking for their time for a night out, or if they're just making sure they'll be rid of me for three months?
So, all that money was raised just from Facebook, so if you know anybody who might have a job for somebody who has demonstrable experience of a successful social media campaign, you should definitely tell them about me.
After my headshave and my birthday session, I've raised £413.48, which is 23% of my fundraising total. Based on this blog post, I was expecting to have made £300 by the end of May, so I'm well ahead of target. If I could get to 25% by the end of May, well, that would be super! I'm currently £25 or so away from that.
Still haven't managed to sort out any gigs though, which is kind of funny because when I first thought of the fundraising I'd have to do, that was my first thought. I think I'm going to work a different angle on it, and essentially hire out my music promotions expertise to potential venues e.g. a venue donates £50 to my fundraising in exchange for me providing live music for them for the night. I wouldn't have to get tickets printed and it would be a sure, fixed amount of money, as opposed to relying on bands selling tickets, and hoping to break even after paying for venue hire and tickets. I'd be looking to start something late-June at this stage.
So that's where I'm at with fundraising. On a more reflective note, I've started to realise how much I'm getting out of the Raleigh International experience, without having even booked flights for going on expedition yet! From what I learned about myself at the assessment weekend, to planning and organising my fundraising, which is going exceptionally well, to getting back into blogging, which will keep my writing skills sharp, to my use of social media as a key element of my exceptional fundraising. It's made me realise that when I get back from Costa Rica, I'll have so much more to talk to potential employers about than the three months in the field. I'd definitely employ me in a digital communications role.
That was heavy, and this has been a very long and wordy post. It's definitely time for a tune. As I've got the post-birthday session hangover, here's a song I love about a hangover.
