What Lies Ahead...

10/01/13

Just a little post to let you all know what's lined up...

Right Now: Sponsored Diet. I spread the word to all of my contacts on Facebook that anyone looking to start a New Years Diet should get motivated by raising money for Project Trust at the same time. My friend Amy is the first to agree and will start on Monday! I am currently creating a sponsorship form for her and hope that more people will take to the idea.

23rd February: Sponsored Hike - Goat Fell, Arran. If you would like to join this event please get in contact with me. The more the merrier! I so far have six friends helping out and I am still hoping for more. My Brother - who has become suspiciously fond of my leaving for a year - is also joining in! There will be a £50 cash prize for the person who can raise most money!

6th April: Bag Packing at Sainsburys Superstore, Irvine. I am looking forward to this as it is a hugeeee store. Hopefully it will raise plenty of pennies! I will need lot's of volunteers so again, contact me if you would like to help!

12th April: Bingo Night, Ardrossan. I am so pleased that this has been arranged! A family member who organizes Bingo Games now and then has arranged this for me which I am very grateful for. All money from the night will go towards my fundraising and I think it could be anything between £100-£400, amazing!

I am also going to arrange a Cake and Card stall at College and I am super sure there are plenty of Car Boot sales to come! (If you haven't been following my Blog - In the past 7 months I have attended almost 20!)

TOTAL £3805

12/01/13

I have been given a Ipod Touch - 4th Generation to sell! It comes with everything in the box, earphones are unopened, all instructions are there, charge cable... even the apple sticker! There is also a screen protector and leather case for it. Ipod is in perfect condition, it has been reset to factory settings. The only problem is the scratches on the back... but who can stop them from happening? it's impossible! they aren't too bad anyway. So if anyone fances a new Ipod, contact me! I'm open to offers. The money for this is going to cover the cost of my new Passport :)

16/01/13
Good News! For those of you that have been following my Blog, I heard back from the Poetry Competition! Unfortunately I didn't come first and win the £1000... However, they have been so taken with my poem that they have asked my permission to publish it in an upcoming book! I'm very excited :) In more news, I have received a £20 donation from an uncle that has worked many a times in Africa! 

Time since selection has flown by...

“You make a living by what you earn; you make a life by what you give.” - Winston Churchill

01/12/12

Last Christmas feels like last week and my Selection Course feels like yesterday: Last Christmas was 12 months ago and my selection course was 6 months ago. IT'S CRAZY! I can't believe how fast this year has gone, it's flown by in a breath! Things are back on track, college is going great and i'm looking forward to some Christmas Fairs for some fundraising.
03/12/12
 I went to the Library today to check up on the The Directory of Grant Making Trusts. I have been trying to get it for more than 2 months now and thought I had finally succeeded  when they told me they would order a brand new one for me. I WAS WRONG. They couldn't help me at all today, they simply said there are none and that they can't order me a new one. So no Directory of Grant Making Trusts for me! I'm going to let Project Trust know and see if there is anything else I can do, I don't fancy paying more than £100 to buy it! If you would like to buy me it as a donation, let me know! (hehe) I have raised £1250 from trusts I have found online, but I would really like the book.
 More news from the land of fundraising, I am entering a Poetry Competition! HAHA. I do love writing poems and have entered a couple of competitions before, one even got my poem published! It was about my bunny Ozzy and how peculiar he is. I was about 9.
 This one is a local competition and the Poem needs to have a connection to Ardrossan. I have decided to write about an Old Man that I passed every single day all through Primary and Secondary school, while I was walking home. I'm sure it will bring a tear to the eye and I will upload it here when I am done.
 You are probably thinking, "what the hell does poetry have to do with fundraising?!" I'll tell you. A £1000 cash prize! wooooooooooo. I'm not sure how many people would enter a poetry competition for the small town of Ardrossan so It is definitely worth a try.
 More news, I called up a center about two weeks ago that are having a Christmas fair on Thursday. They told me they would call me back the next day. They didn't. I called up today so see if I still have a stall and they said "oh, sorry we have none left, you are too late" Frustrating. It looks like I won't have any Christmas fundraising events, which I'm quite upset about. I'm going to ask if I can have a cake/card stall in college, hopefully that will happen.
06/12/12
 I have just recieved my earnings from The Dressing Rooms' total sales on the evening of my fashion show: £20. I am very pleased with this as my total is now over £3700! However I did realise that the dressing room made a total of £200... where I only made £135... at MY fashion show! oh well! I don't have much other news, I suppose it has only been three days since I last posted!
 I might be going to Edinburgh on the 15th to meet Peyton, from my selection course! I really hope I can go and If I do i'll have a stall at her Christmas Fair. 19 days to Christmas woooo.

TOTAL £3705

10/12/12

Hello, could anyone reading my blog please like my Facebook fundraising page too :) Need as much awareness as possible of course! http://jasminesyearvolunteeringinsouthafrica.blogspot.co.uk/

Fashion Show booked, things are going well...

18-10-12

Today everything was finally confirmed with my fashion show, so pleased! The venue can hold over 50 people, so hopefully i'll be able to sell more than 50 tickets which will alone raise £225. I will also be having a raffle as I have some goodies to give away! I'm hoping to raise around £300 from the night, that would be perfect. So here is the completed poster which will hopefully soon be all over the place! Local ladies will be modelling the clothes (from The Dressing Room). I've been surprised at how many people would like to model! I've also managed to raise a further £30 from ebay.. I'm awaiting payments and then I will put it onto my Virgin Money Giving... THIS IS GOING TO BOOST ME TO £2000!! yaaaaaaay. I won't write my new total until it's confirmed. I have a car boot sale this Saturday, a car boot sale next  Saturday and then then Sunday I recieve my cheque from Barony St. Johns! (note from later on this night - Ebay money is now on Virgin Money Giving )

TOTAL - £2000!

20-10-12

I've had my first failure. I hope this doesn't bring on a parade of failures. I've been really excited about this giant and spectacular indoor car boot sale that all of the car booter's rave about... and then the van broke down. So unfortunately I won't be able to make it. I also had to pay for my table via cheque a week ago! So I'm hoping I will get to use this payment for the next car boot sale. I'm so sad. This one was going to be on from 9am until 3pm today! 6 HOURS LONG I COULD HAVE MADE SO MUCH. Oh well.  Everything has been going so well so i'll just see this as a little bump in the road and wait for my next car boot sale (next week). To leave you on a happy note, I made another £15 on Ebay last night! I'm also hoping to hold a fundraising Christmas party in December.

TOTAL £2015

24 -10 -12

 My posts are getting really close together again but there is just so much news!! I JUST GOT ANOTHER CHEQUE! £500! From charitable trust's I have now had 6 negative responses and 4 positives, not a bad balance! £1000 in total from charitable trusts, it is DEFINITELY worth it! I am still waiting for the Directory of Grant Making Trusts to become available in my local library, all trusts I have written to so far have been found online. I have made around £60 on ebay which is great, I'm now picking out the good stuff from my car boot sales to put on Ebay instead, they sell for so much more! I'm really positive about reaching my target now that things are speeding up. I'm hoping to reach it early so I can raise a bit of money for spending money! I was hoping to raise £3000 by the end of November, but now I know i'll raise more than that! I really can't believe how well things are going... it's a shock!

TOTAL £2515

25 - 10 - 12

GUESS WHAT? I got another cheque today! This is the second time that I have recieved a cheque two days in a row. Where is all of this luck coming from?! It was for a big juicy £250. Today is one of those days that I wish time would go faster! I still can't believe this is happening and that this time next year, I'll be in South Africa! wooooooo hooooooo.

TOTAL £2765

28 - 10 - 12

Today I went to Barony St Johns to collect my cheque of... £650!!  I can't thank them enough. They are a local church that I have had no previous connections with and yet they have been so generous! My total is now looking great and i'm hoping to have £4000 by Christmas!!

TOTAL £3415

10 -11 -12

 For those of you that have been reading this from the beginning... I quit Avon!! They were over charging me and under paying me and forever sending me the wrong things. Don't even get me started on the delivery guy who launches the delivery boxes into the house like there's no tomorrow. I'm proud for standing up for myself and quitting. I had ended up loosing money rather than earning it so it's definitely for the best. I handed my customers over to my friend Jasmine (yes Jasmine) so I'm hoping they treat her well and she gets a lot out of it!! I'm now fully focusing on my fundraising. 

 Things have been a little slow since I received my £650 cheque and I don't like the feeling of not getting anywhere! However I did just receive a £15 donation on my VMG so things are still happening slowly but surely. My fashion show is this Thursday, the only thing I'm worried about is not many people turning up! we will see. I received a raffle prize of 2 family day swim passes from the Sea mill Hydro for the Fashion Show (thank you). My fundraising has gone far beyond my expectations, to have reached my March target in November feels so amazing! I am still reading blogs, it's great now that the 2012 volunteers have just settled in at their projects, so I can follow how their year goes and when it's over, mine will begin! 

 I have booked a venue for my Christmas fundraising party! Unfortunately I need to pay for the venue so I'm keeping my eyes open for other options while it's still early.
 Don't think I've mentioned it yet but I have a personnal target of reaching £4000 by Christmas. With my fashion show this week and a fundraising Christmas party It looks possible. I'm sure it's possible if I really try! And even more possible with the help of others so please, pretty please donate straight to Project Trust here http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserPage.action?userUrl=JasminesYearToAfrica&faId=227525&isTeam=false :D

 It's crazy when I realize it has been nearly 5 months since my selection course and being selected... In fact 5 months ago today I was settling into backpackers in Oban, ready to leave for Coll the next day...WHERE HAS TIME GONE?! Time has completely flown by! It's a nice feeling. I want time to fly by until I leave... but I want my time in Africa to last forever! (Hopefully I'll still be saying that when I get there.)

 I'll try not to post until after my fashion show. Hopefully next time you hear from me i'll be over the moon with how much money it raised. Fingers crossed :) 

TOTAL £3430

14/11/12

 My four year old sister just decided to inform us that "all African people drink from puddles". When asking "where on earth did you get that from?!" she replied, "My nursery teachers told me". I can't stop thinking about it now... of all the things nursery children could be learning about the world they live in, they get taught nonsense like that! Even worse, Emily is now convinced this is the truth and will be repeating it and repeating it and repeating it.
 Anyway, I think this blog should be about the up's and downs of my fundraising, something I can remember a year from now. So i'm having doubts about my Fashion Show, worrying that not many people are going to turn up! I've estimated about 30 people, which will bring in £135, that's still really good because it hasn't cost me anything to hold.. but I had originally estimated I would raise about £300! I know it's tomorrow so I should just wait and see... but I want to know how it goes... now! It's quite upsetting that the only friends I have coming are models, so they don't pay to get in. I did think more friends would come but oh well :( I will be having a raffle too and have been trying really hard to get some good prizes, so I hope that raises more than £20... but the less people there the less raffle tickets I will sell! Rant over...
 On a more positive note, those that ARE coming have been wonderful. Girls I have never even met have been volunteering to model and help out and that's just amazing and so kind! And my friend Jasmine and her mum have managed to sell around 6 tickets for me which is great, thank you!
15/11/12
I'm so frustrated all I can do is laugh, hahahahaha! The Dressing Room decided to inform me - on the day of my fashion show - that my model's have to be at their shop before 5 to get outfits chosen. I feel so terrible, all of my models have been wonderful and have all planned to be at the venue for 7 and now I've had to change the plans! I just hope they can all still make it :/ I have a really good pile of raffle prizes so there better be a good turn out :( emotions right now: panick, upset, frustrated, feel guilty for my models.

First cheque and hit target early....

26 - 09 - 12

Today I was very lazy, I slept in until around 1ish...which I know is really bad...and I swear usually i'm skipping about waiting for the post!

Anyhoo, I wake up to a letter sitting on top of me and Instantly I felt really nervous... to be honest I expected it to be another negative response from a trust... but then a £300 cheque fell out!! I have my first cheque and i'm so happy!! For some reason I thought i'd be the only person to never recieve a check...ever!! Note to self: stop doubting. This means I have officially beat my November target of £1500, and I'm still waiting on the cheque from Barony St Johns! 

TOTAL - £1618

27 - 09 - 12 

NO WAY! I GOT ANOTHER CHEQUE TODAY! It's crazy, yesterday I was over the moon about getting my first charitable trust cheque, and then I get one the next day! It's for a brilliant £100. Thats £400 easy money in 2 days, crrraaaaazzzzzzyyyyyyy.

TOTAL - £1718

29 - 08 - 12

Car Boot sale raised £31, not bad! I met a lady from South Africa today, thats the second since I started fundraising... small world!  I thought I should brighten up my blog a little with some photos. Heres me making cakes for my car boot, at the car boot and no, I don't always look like that when I smile!

Thought this was quite funny

Loads to sell, my leaflet, yummy cakes and South Africa fruit stickers on my money tin!

30 - 09 - 12

I seem to have news everyday, sorry if it's boring! Well I got paid £50 today for photographing a friends granddaughter, it's going towards my fundraising. And she has very kindly spread the word about my photography so hopefully I'll have a few more shoots to do! I also got £200 from photographing  a wedding 3 weeks ago, so thats £250 raised from my photography! Barony St Johns contacted me, they have already raised £650!!!!! I can''t believe it, at first they hoped to raise around £200!!!! So I will recieve that cheque on the 28th October, when I go by to recieve it and update the congregation on my fundraising. Not bad for a 20 minute presentation! I am officialy 1/3 of the way there :D

TOTAL £1800 

06-10-12

Car boot sale at Episcopal Church, Largs raised £37. I now have my two charitable trust cheques and a fundraising cheque of £456 to send of to PT! Granny Bennett donated a bag of 20ps, adding up to £10... thank you! James from my college class donated £10 to my virgin money giving... please do the same via this link! http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JasminesYearToAfrica

TOTAL £1857

08-10-12

NO WAY. I got another cheque today for £100, amazing!  I am still waiting on The Directory of Grant Making Trusts to become available in my local library, which will hopefully bring in some more cheques! eeeep, £43 away from £2000, I really can't believe ittttttttttttttttt. I will be having a fashion show now, all clothes from The Dressing Room - Saltcoats! I also have local woman modelling :) ! I recently confirmed the venue which is great, It will be at Potters Bar in Stevenston. And it will be on the 15th November! So I am glad I have that to look forward to. I have made a poster, it will change a little when I find out exactly what to put on it but here it is anyway!!(above)

TOTAL £1957

13-10-12

I've been getting lots of donations of items to sell at my car boot sales and on Ebay. The spare room is so full of stuff, you can't walk 2 feet into the room! So last night I sold a vintage 1970's Mah Jong set for £16, not bad! I'm listing a lot more stuff tonight. 

TOTAL £1972