Since employing our first ever Fundraising Officer back in September 2015, we have massively expanded our community fundraising and raised lots of money and awareness for AKU. In this week’s blog, we highlight our key fundraising successes and look forward to what’s to come.
Community fundraising is all about raising money, raising awareness and of course, having fun! Over the past year, we have got involved in a variety of different fundraising events, from cycle rides to coffee mornings to our very own charity comedy night. This week, we celebrate our fundraising successes over the past year and encourage our supporters to get involved in future fundraising events.
Fundraising Successes
In September 2015, the AKU team (along with AKU supporters Richard and Bob) cycled from the Royal College to Physicians in London to The Eagle Pub in Cambridge, where Watson and Crick celebrated the discovery of DNA. Despite a few minor direction mishaps and some surprisingly large hills, we all made it back in one piece raising a massive £2,655.
September was the month of challenges, as five of our supporters took part in the
Cambridgeshire Spartan challenge. Jumping over walls, wading through mud, swimming through lakes, climbing up ropes and taking on the dreaded burpees were just some of the challenges along the way. Rising to the challenge, our supporters raised £415 for AKU and got very muddy and wet along the way!25th November is a significant day for AKU, as it is the birthday of Sir Archibald Garrod who discovered the condition back in 1901. To celebrate this monumental day we hosted our
very own Coffee Morning in our office and encouraged our supporters to host their own. The whole day was a big success with supporters getting involved and sharing their own AKU bakes. Best of all, we raised £702 for AKU.
In February 2016, 10 of our wonderful supporters ran the
Half Marathon for AKU. The 13-mile run took them past the spectacular sights of Cambridge and the AKU team were on hand with a big banner and plenty of cheers. All our runners said how much they had enjoyed the day and in total, they raised a huge £2,897 for AKU.
In June, we hosted our first Stand Up For AKU Comedy Nightat the Portland Arms in Cambridge. Hosted by the hilarious Pam Ford, the night was a massive success, with 5 acts leaving the packed out room in stitches! As well as having lots of laughs, the night was also a great way to raise awareness of AKU, as many of those attending had never heard of the condition before. We were thrilled to raise £670 from the night and hope to organise more comedy nights in the future.
What’s Coming Up
With a successful year of fundraising under our belt, it’s time to look forward to what’s to come. Following the success of Garrod Day last year, we will be hosting another Coffee Morning on Friday 25th November and are encouraging our supporters to do the same. This is the perfect opportunity to get together with friends and family, get creative with your bakes and raise lots of money and awareness for AKU.We are thrilled to have secured
one running place for the London Marathon that will take place on Sunday 23rd April 2017. It is notoriously difficult to secure a place for this iconic event and we are delighted to be able to offer it to someone committed to taking on this incredible challenge while raising lots of money and awareness for AKU.
Have Your Say
We are always looking for new and exciting ways to fundraise and raise the profile of AKU. Our brand new Fundraising Officer, Rory has started today and we are also recruiting for an Admin and Events Officer who will continue to develop our community fundraising. There have already been talks of a charity cycle, a half marathon and perhaps even a fire walk. We want to hear your fundraising ideas so if you’ve got any burning suggestions, get in contact with the team and remember – no idea is a bad idea so be as wacky and creative as you like!