Are you hanging on the edge of your seat?

Well, my fundraising-following friends!  I've had my welcome pack from Raleigh, which included some general information about fundraising, information on getting publicity for fundraising events, and other more expedition focussed stuff, like the vaccinations I need to get and the kit I'll need to bring.

I haven't actually started my fundraising yet.  I've decided that I'm going to organise a series of fundraising events, and plan them properly, as opposed to just doing a series of badly organised events on the fly.  I also think it'll be better for publicity if I can show from the outset the amount of work I'm putting into my fundraising, which is easier if there is a schedule of ten events or whatever.  Plus, if I get all the planning done now, it'll be relatively plain sailing after that.

The general plan is to have a gig every month from May, and also have a different non-gig fundraising event, so that's two fundraising event per month.  If I can get £200 per month from those, plus saving like mad, I should be OK.

Here's a current rough outline of how this is going to go down.

April
Sponsored head shave: Free to put on and easy to do; not an awful lot to plan; trying to get the barber I frequent to get involved so I can make a small, in store event based around the shave, but they haven't responded - invite people who have donated to come and watch, their staff perform the shave, they get to try and sell attendees things, have a raffle with gift vouchers as prizes to get people back.  Everyone is a winner!
Gig: No intention of putting on a gig this soon - not enough time to get tickets printed and sent out to bands, or for the bands to drum up enough interest to get their fans to actually come.

May
Birthday drinks: My birthday is in May, so, for a week around my birthday I'll carry a jar around, with a copy of ID that proves my date of birth, and ask people to put the price of a pint in the jar, instead of buying me an actual pint.  I'll also have a JustGiving page set up, for people to donate online.  I'll have an actual price list from an actual pub with it, so people can decide what they want to buy me, like if they want to buy me a pint or a shot, or if it's during the day they should just get me a soft drink or something.  I never do anything for my birthday, because I get invited to so many birthday things, I assume other people are the same, and I don't have the heart to inflict another one on people.  This is a better idea all round, because people don't have to spend time on a night out, or spend the money that actual birthday drinks normally costs, like clubs and taxis, and they won't have a hangover the next day.  Everyone is a winner!
Gig: This will be my first fundraising gig.  The venue where I normally put on gigs offer free room hire for charity events, but because I want to put on so many, I've been told they might not be able to do that.  If they can't give it to me for free, hopefully they'll at least give me a decent discount.  I've contacted my usual ticket printers, to see if they can give me a discount for charity events.  Still waiting to hear back from them.

June
Charity album: I've recently invested in some gear so I could record my band's tracks at home, to save the expense of going to record in a studio.  The only thing we'd have to pay for would be studio time for recording drums, because recording drums in my little terraced house would be far from practical.  So, apart from our own music for our own albums and whatever, it means I can record a bunch of songs that other people want us to play.  The idea is that people pick a song they'd like us to play, and for a donation of £10, we'll record that track.  We can then bring the album to gigs, and get people to donate £5 or something for a copy of the album.  It's definitely a donation, and not selling, because if we were selling our covers of other people's music, we'd have to pay them, but as it's going to charity, it's OK.  As far as I understand it anyway.  On previous fundraising adventures I've been on, I've covered Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini, and Now That's What I Call Music 75.  Now 75 was particularly painful.  Hopefully, wherever I record the drums will give me a decent rate, because of it being for charity and all.
Gig: As in May.

July
Royal Barbecue: Two years ago I had my first Royal Barbecue, so named because we got a free day off thanks to some hot girl marrying some prince.  Last year was the second Royal Barbecue, when we got a free day off thanks to some old dear wearing hats and waving at people for an awfully long time.  This year, the hot girl from the first Royal Barbecue is now up the Damien Duff, and according to Google and all of its reliability, is due on 17 July.  Unfortunately, this is a Wednesday.  Nobody will announce our free day off until she's actually popped it out, so I'm just going to have to pick a Saturday, probably the Saturday after the 17th.  Previous Royal Barbecues were a few people at my house, but I need to turn this into a proper fundraiser.  I'm not sure if I should ticket it, or ask people to make a donation, or both.  If I ticket it, I might need to have it elsewhere.  If you know a piece of walled off, open air property in Birmingham where I could ticket such a thing, please let me know.  I also plan on making some home brew beer.  I've been intrigued by the idea for a while, it seems cheap enough to do, and I should have my recipe and technique nailed by July.  More scope for more donations there.
Gig: As in June.

August
Chest epilation:  I once had my chest waxed for charity.  It was really easy, and I didn't even flinch.  A girl who was present was very impressed by this.  I'm not sure if my lack of flinching was relative to the amount of snakebite I had consumed.  I kept a baldy chest after that, because I could write things on it, and I had a tendency to play shirtless at gigs.  When my parents were meeting my girlfriend for the first time, for some reason, it was decided that said girlfriend would epilate my chest.  As I recall, it was for no other reason than "a laugh".  I assure you, there was no laughing on my part.  My girlfriend and parents found it hilarious.  Anyway, I know how much it hurts, and for charity, I will relive that agony, in public, for the amusement of others.
Gig: As in July.

September
Song auction:  I've seen this done for another charity before.  I think it's a fun idea.  Essentially, I'll be placing a listing on eBay for people to bid on me writing a songs for them.  I won't just write a song - I'll offer a full consultation on the song's theme and style, and also record it for the winner.  I think this might be the riskiest fundraising idea.  I've no idea how much I might make.
Gig: As in August.

That's where I'm currently at.  The £1950 donation to Raleigh International will be due in November, so I'm only really two months short of a full programme of events. Hopefully, I'll get confirmation on what I need to get the gigs booked next week.  That'll be the spine of my fundraising effort.  Then, all going well, I'll get the stuff I need for the other events the week after, so I can finalise my programme of events, and start publicising it.

Do I have to come right flat out and tell you everything?

Having confirmed my place on the expedition with Raleigh International, I'm now awaiting a pack which will include fundraising ideas, an equipment list, and a vaccination list.

The main thing on my mind is fundraising.  I need to donate £1950 to Raleigh, eight weeks before the expedition begins, or I won't be allowed to go.  My current job isn't very well paid, so it really will be a big fundraising effort for me to get that.  That's also just to be allowed go on expedition - I'll have to pay for my flight to Costa Rica on top of that, as well as make sure I have enough in my account to cover my bills whilst I'm away.  This means that the actual amount I have to  raise is £4000.  If I can save half and fundraise half, that will be fine.

In terms of fundraising, I have a few ideas.  I've done fundraising for charity before, but this is something else.  I instinctively go towards music-related fundraising activities.  I've run plenty of gigs before, I know plenty of musicians and venues, and I know some venues will let you have the place cheap/free if it's for charity.

Another fundraising idea that I've previously seen is auctioning songwriting on eBay.  I'm in a band, and I'm a pretty good songwriter, if I may say so myself!  I can auction writing a song, working with the winning bidder to have it in the style they like, with the themes they want included, as well as arrange for recording the song.

My birthday is in May.  Instead of having birthday drinks like everybody else does, I'm thinking of asking people to donate the price of the pint they'd normally buy somebody for their birthday to my fundraising.  This helps me by raising money, and helps them by not having to give up their time or health for yet another birthday drinking session.

I'll probably also put on a pub quiz.  I think they're pretty reliable fundraisers.  I'll include raffles at the quiz, and also at the gigs, to help bump up the fundraising a little bit more.

I'm awaiting my pack from Raleigh with information about the fundraising, so I'll have their guidance on branding and key messages for advertising fundraising events.  I don't want to do anything that might upset their marketing people.

I've worked out that I need to raise £194 per month between now and November to be able to pay Raleigh International for the expedition.  I'll also need to save £181 per month to cover the cost of flights and bills while I'm gone.

I haven't even factored in spending money for Costa Rica.  I may just have to give my credit card a good thrashing, and hope to get a job to pay it back when I return.

It's just as well I enjoy a challenge!

Also, in case anybody is wondering about the title of this post, it comes from a Spinal Tap song called Gimme Some Money.

Let's get it started.

So, my friends.  My Raleigh International journey continued on Tuesday 5 March, with a phone call from Clare at Raleigh, to say that they were happy with my application, and that I'd made a good impression over the weekend.  The facilitators who had been guiding my team spoke highly of my energy and enthusiasm and positivity.  This all meant that they were happy for me to go on expedition with them.

There was, however, a small snag.  The position of Communications Officer for the September Costa Rica expedition was already filled.  She was able to offer me some other positions in other countries, or I could take the Communications Officer role for the January 2014 expedition.  I asked if I could have a couple of days to think about it, and she said I could have until the end of the week.  We ended the call.

I considered the options, and it didn't take me long to conclude that I may not get to do this again, so I might as well take the role I want, in the country I want, and going in January would allow me a more comfortable time frame to fundraise.

I phoned Clare back to let her know.  I received my offer letter and some fundraising information in an email the following day.  I was also informed that I would need to pay an initial donation of £200 to confirm my place on the expedition, within two weeks.  Out with the credit card, and that was that done.

One of my favourite things about phoning up to pay by credit card, was, believe it or not, being put on hold.  Why?  Because their hold music was Fly Away by Lenny Kravitz!  Few things can make you happier about committing to a volunteering organisation than Fly Away by Lenny Kravitz being their hold music.

I'm going to Costa Rica, baby!  Woo, yeah!

To the next level.

I got pretty excited once I read the information and equipment list I had been sent for the assessment weekend.  It seemed to me like a big old Scout camp, which was fine with me.  It was even taking place at a Scout campsite.

The assessment weekend was taking place in a place called East Grinstead on 2 and 3 March.  No, I'd never heard of it either.  Google Maps told me it was down south.

It was starting at 9am on a Saturday, and because I'm a public transport monkey, it meant having to go down the evening before and get a B&B for the Friday night.  Every single train I got on was delayed - Birmingham to Euston by over half an hour, Euston to Victoria by ten minutes, and Victoria to East Grinstead delayed for about 20 minutes at Hurst Green, and eventually cancelled completely.  So there I was, hanging around this train station, in the middle of nowhere, with a replacement train unable to arrive because the broken train couldn't move from the platform, no taxis outside the station, no numbers for taxis on display anywhere, no internet on the phone I was using to Google "taxi hurst green", so pretty much generally stranded.  Then some total hero said he could bring two to East Grinstead - his wife had come to collect him.  Oddly enough, I was the only person who went with them.  They dropped me right outside the B&B.  A good ending, and it was obvious that the adventure had already begun.

In the B&B, I met a girl who was also there for the Raleigh International assessment weekend.  She already had a taxi booked, so I said I'd be happy to split the cost with her.  The following morning at breakfast, we met another man who was also attending the weekend.

We got to the campsite, filled in a bunch of forms, and got split into teams.  We played a few games getting to know each other's names, and then it was straight into some activities focussed on us working together as a team.

It was nice to meet total strangers who turned out to be an outstanding bunch of people and to bond so quickly with them and to share the experience with them.  It was fun to regress into being a teenage Scout again, trudging about in the muck and in the dark, and eating from a Trangia, and playing silly games.

I came home feeling so reinvigorated and alive like I haven't felt in years.  All I could think was that should Raleigh not want me, I'd be looking to get back involved with Scouting.  I remembered that stopping Scouting was never a conscious decision, it just dwindled where I grew up because so few people wanted to move up to Venturers.

Regardless of what else what might happen, I learned a hell of a lot about myself, giving me food for thought about what I'm doing and where I'm going.  Which was needed.  Badly.

I'm going back to the start.

Hi there,

A couple of months ago, I decided to look for something amazing to do.  My day job is OK, but one day I wasn't really feeling it, and my contract expires in July.  I hit the internet, looking for something different, something exciting, something random.

On Guardian Jobs, I found an advert for a Communications Officer role with an organisation called Raleigh International.  It was a voluntary role in Borneo, starting in June.  I knew it would cost many pounds, and I would have to miss seeing Neil Young live and my best friend's wedding, but the more I read it, the more exciting it sounded.  Long term, Communications Officering is what I want to do - I figured that if a company already sees "Communications Officer" on my CV, it will be more attractive to them than "Marketing Administrative Assistant", and when they look to see what makes me stand out from other people who have already been Communications Officers, having done it voluntarily for a charity would make it stand out pretty well.  I sent in my CV and covering letter on 24 January, and on 29 January, I received an email inviting me to their assessment weekend.

I found out that the assessment weekend was a general thing, and that I hadn't in fact specifically applied to be Communications Officer in Borneo in June.  This was cool and the gang with me, because I then discovered that they also ran schemes in Costa Rica at other times of year.  As a bit of a Jurassic Park fan, my interest in Raleigh International then became all about becoming Communications Officer in Costa Rica in September.

I thought, in the words of Wayne Campbell: "It will be mine.  Oh yes.  It will be mine."