Hello again!
So carrying on from last time...
Around Christmas time my local church hosts a Christmas fete and seeing as my mum was a member of the church she suggested that I run a stall there. This was cleared with the church and all proceeds from the stall would go to my fundraising - brilliant! Only one dilemma - what stall should I do?! In previous years my family and I had run a game named 'The marble game' but my mum was running that this year so we had to come up with another idea. After searching around the internet for a while we discovered personalised bauble - baubles with your name written on them. After doing more research ( and watching many YouTube videos) we discovered that we could buy some liquid pens which are perfect for writing on plastic and things like baubles.
Getting used to writing in fancy script on a bauble got some getting used to but on the day things turned out quite well. All in all I managed to fundraise £53 which was fab!
The next fundraising 'event' was a stroke of luck. The head of sixth form offered to let me run a cake stall (as well as serve tea and coffee) at the year 11 options evening! Of course I said yes, which then meant that I had to enlist the help of my friends and family to get baking! The event was a great success. At first it didn't really take off but teachers at the event were very generous as were some of the parents. In the end almost all of the cake was gone and we had raised £85!!!! This event was great for talking to people and letting them know about what I was doing. It was especially great doing it at school as teachers are usually generous. (This seems to be the case in many schools according to other PT volunteers.)
Our school has a charity fundraising day called 'Mistletoe Day' which all the year 12s run. I asked to have my own stall there and the school let me (thanks school!). I chose to run the cream cracker challenge and the marble game. The marble game was fairly popular but the cream cracker challenge was a massive hit with the year 7s and 8s who competed against their friends and would keep coming back! I did have to buy crackers and prizes for this but I managed to raise £20!
After the church fete my family and I though about doing a larger event, and we eventually decided upon hosting a ceilidh! Which is fitting seeing as a lot of our family members are Scottish plus ceilidh's are so much fun that I wanted to introduce my friends to them. However setting up a ceilidh takes a lot of time and dedication...
Aaaaand there'll be more on that next time!
Wednesday, 31 December 2014
Sunday, 30 November 2014
Fundraising part 1
Oh. My. Gosh. Fundraising was a huge amount of work, both physically and emotionally. There were several down points throughout the year where I really felt like I was not going to be able to raise the £5900 needed. But here we are. It was the 24th June when I managed to reach my total and I burst into tears. It was a huge weight off my mind.
So a couple of weeks after selection I finally received my letter through the post. Thailand was the county that I was most likely to go to, then Malaysia and then Japan. I was thrilled at this news! Although my first choice was Japan, Thailand looked amazing and as soon as I got my letter I went straight onto the Project Trust website to look at the projects in Thailand, Thai culture, climate and previous volunteer's experiences. Thailand is predominantly Buddhist which worked in my favour as I had recently become interested in Buddhism and I couldn't wait to learn more whilst I was out there. By this time I was rearing to get going already! Only one thing stood in the way...
Fundraising. Yes, the momentous task of fundraising £5900 before July of next year. At this time this seemed like a small feat. Previously I had managed to raise £1000 for a charity in only one summer through bake sales, collecting and a sponsored event. So I thought raising £5900 over a year would be relatively easy.
Oh my gosh, I have never been so wrong.
I started off with a car boot sale which went better than expected and I managed to raise £100. This was followed my a cake sale at my dad's work. This worked well as well, police officers always like cake and as we set no price on the cakes people often paid £1-2 for the cake and on the odd occasion over the various cake sales dad held over the year people would even donate a fiver. The average cake sale at dad's work made £30-50 depending on what was being sold. Brownies made the most profit. So by the end of September I had managed to raise £130. Not bad considering it was only the first month.
My next fundraising event was a movie night at my school for the sixth form. This was very painful to organise. First of all we (mum, dad and I) actually had to hire out the sixth form room which was quite expensive even though we managed to get it at a cheaper rate. This took weeks to organise due to health and safety rules - maybe a teacher had to be present - which meant I had to go and look for a teacher which was extremely difficult as the teachers were having some sort of party the night I intended to host the movie. Anyway, after the room finally got sorted out (at the expense of several of my lunchtimes) we were able to start advertising We then had to sort out food. We wrote around to various pizza companies to see if they would do us a discount on the pizzas. Papa John's pizza gave us the best deal - we got all the pizzas at not much above cost price. We also bought some popcorn and some fizzy drinks to feed everyone on the night.
The day of the movie night I only had about 10 people coming but as the day went on several more people came up to me and requested tickets so in the end we had about 21 people attending which meant I made £117!
Afterwards I wrote out a thank you card to Papa John's and they offered to do the same thing again if I ever did another event which required pizza - which shows its important to say thank you!
Anyway I think that's enough for today. I'll post another entry about my fundraising efforts over the next couple of days! xx
So a couple of weeks after selection I finally received my letter through the post. Thailand was the county that I was most likely to go to, then Malaysia and then Japan. I was thrilled at this news! Although my first choice was Japan, Thailand looked amazing and as soon as I got my letter I went straight onto the Project Trust website to look at the projects in Thailand, Thai culture, climate and previous volunteer's experiences. Thailand is predominantly Buddhist which worked in my favour as I had recently become interested in Buddhism and I couldn't wait to learn more whilst I was out there. By this time I was rearing to get going already! Only one thing stood in the way...
Fundraising. Yes, the momentous task of fundraising £5900 before July of next year. At this time this seemed like a small feat. Previously I had managed to raise £1000 for a charity in only one summer through bake sales, collecting and a sponsored event. So I thought raising £5900 over a year would be relatively easy.
Oh my gosh, I have never been so wrong.
I started off with a car boot sale which went better than expected and I managed to raise £100. This was followed my a cake sale at my dad's work. This worked well as well, police officers always like cake and as we set no price on the cakes people often paid £1-2 for the cake and on the odd occasion over the various cake sales dad held over the year people would even donate a fiver. The average cake sale at dad's work made £30-50 depending on what was being sold. Brownies made the most profit. So by the end of September I had managed to raise £130. Not bad considering it was only the first month.
My next fundraising event was a movie night at my school for the sixth form. This was very painful to organise. First of all we (mum, dad and I) actually had to hire out the sixth form room which was quite expensive even though we managed to get it at a cheaper rate. This took weeks to organise due to health and safety rules - maybe a teacher had to be present - which meant I had to go and look for a teacher which was extremely difficult as the teachers were having some sort of party the night I intended to host the movie. Anyway, after the room finally got sorted out (at the expense of several of my lunchtimes) we were able to start advertising We then had to sort out food. We wrote around to various pizza companies to see if they would do us a discount on the pizzas. Papa John's pizza gave us the best deal - we got all the pizzas at not much above cost price. We also bought some popcorn and some fizzy drinks to feed everyone on the night.
The day of the movie night I only had about 10 people coming but as the day went on several more people came up to me and requested tickets so in the end we had about 21 people attending which meant I made £117!
Afterwards I wrote out a thank you card to Papa John's and they offered to do the same thing again if I ever did another event which required pizza - which shows its important to say thank you!
Anyway I think that's enough for today. I'll post another entry about my fundraising efforts over the next couple of days! xx
Sunday, 24 August 2014
Selection Course 18-22nd August 2014
Looking back on selection it was amazing. Thoroughly recommended!
I was absolutely terrified before selection started. I hadn't managed to get a place in the dorm rooms with everyone else - I was in a private room up the street. Although I could use the communal room, I didn't know who was Project Trust and who wasn't so I decided to stay in my room. Eurgh.
I was also really worried about getting to the ferry on time. I think the ferry left at about 8 o'clock in the morning and I was scared that it was going to sail off without me.
Anyway the next day I got up at 6:30 to leave at 7:25. Thankfully as I was walking there were a bunch of Project Trust people waiting outside the hostel who called me over and we all walked to the ferry together. The ferry ride over was quite choppy and quite a few people felt sick but we all managed to pass the time by playing a few card games.
When we got to Coll a PT representative was waiting for us, and we all got onto two minibuses to drive us to the Hebridean Centre - which is where PT is based.
After the introduction we were split off into groups to complete an ice breaker activity. We got given straws and pins which we had to use to create an oil rig strong enough to hold a large dictionary. All groups failed.
We then went off to out host families. I'm vegetarian and was put in a host family group with two girls called Hebe and Rhiannon who are also vegi. Our host's name was Lisa and she also had an adorable little girl. On the first night we had dinner which was absolutely delicious, Lisa also had friends round, so there were 11 people to feed! Of course, we offered to do the washing up and by the end we were so tired we all went straight to bed!
The day after was my birthday - I was 17!
That day we had to plan a 15 minute lesson to teach our group - I chose to do mine on how to introduce yourself in Russian, which was very difficult as I hadn't done any Russian since I was 15 and could barley remember the alphabet. Thankfully, I ploughed through and nobody else knew Russian so they couldn't tell me that I was wrong.
After this we practiced Scottish ceilidh dancing as there is a ceilidh on the final night.
Following lunch the we were all split in half. The group I was with went to dig up the lazy beds - where they plant vegetables. At this time we also got a talk with our team director about why we want to go away with Project Trust, a bit about ourselves and why we think we should be chosen.
After that, we swapped with the other group which meant we walked up a relatively easy hill to the highest point on the island. Here some of us, including me, climbed under a large rock balanced on top of 3 smaller rocks. This is some sort of fertility ritual (aahhh). After a short game the group sang 'Happy Birthday' to me and the staff member we were with gave me a picture of all of us which he had printed out from his polaroid camera (awww).
On the 20th we had a fundraising workshop where we had to come up with fundraising ideas including seasonal ones such as candy canes at Christmas or a Halloween party. After this, we went through overseas scenarios such as "what should I do if my partner isn't eating?" which was quite scary but also really helpful both for us and for PT. We also participated in some voluntary activities. Some helped paint people's house, some helped repair a fence and some other and I were tasked with a beach clean-up. There was so much rubbish and rope on the beach due to the tides in the ocean. It felt great to be clearing it all up.
The next day we had to do our presentations. We had been told on the first day that we all had to prepare a presentation on some aspect of Coll life. Of course, we had no internet so we had to rely on books and word of mouth. My presentation was about Coll and the environment. I talked about the litter on the beaches, RecyColl and the marine protected areas around the island. I remember being so scared about the presentation. Talking in front of people had never been my strong point and this presentation felt especially important as I really wanted to be selected.
That night was also the night of out ceilidh which was so much fun! Ceilidh dances are amazing and its a fantastic social environment as well. We got pictures and promised to keep in touch over the next year!
Leaving everyone the next day was so upsetting. We'd become pretty close as a group - which is inevitable as everyone is in the same boat. Loads of people went straight to the train station - but I had to stay one more night in Oban.
Our group has managed to stay in touch through Facebook where we have a group together and we often post updates about the projects that we're going to be staring and how well our fundraising was going.
Selection was amazing. I felt safe in the hands of Project Trust and confident that they would pair me with a project that would suit my strengths and personality. I couldn't wait to find out if I had been selected, to see where I would go and I was thoroughly looking forward to training next year.
The next part is all about my fundraising over the year, boy was that difficult. See you there xx
I was absolutely terrified before selection started. I hadn't managed to get a place in the dorm rooms with everyone else - I was in a private room up the street. Although I could use the communal room, I didn't know who was Project Trust and who wasn't so I decided to stay in my room. Eurgh.
I was also really worried about getting to the ferry on time. I think the ferry left at about 8 o'clock in the morning and I was scared that it was going to sail off without me.
Anyway the next day I got up at 6:30 to leave at 7:25. Thankfully as I was walking there were a bunch of Project Trust people waiting outside the hostel who called me over and we all walked to the ferry together. The ferry ride over was quite choppy and quite a few people felt sick but we all managed to pass the time by playing a few card games.
When we got to Coll a PT representative was waiting for us, and we all got onto two minibuses to drive us to the Hebridean Centre - which is where PT is based.
After the introduction we were split off into groups to complete an ice breaker activity. We got given straws and pins which we had to use to create an oil rig strong enough to hold a large dictionary. All groups failed.
We then went off to out host families. I'm vegetarian and was put in a host family group with two girls called Hebe and Rhiannon who are also vegi. Our host's name was Lisa and she also had an adorable little girl. On the first night we had dinner which was absolutely delicious, Lisa also had friends round, so there were 11 people to feed! Of course, we offered to do the washing up and by the end we were so tired we all went straight to bed!
The day after was my birthday - I was 17!
That day we had to plan a 15 minute lesson to teach our group - I chose to do mine on how to introduce yourself in Russian, which was very difficult as I hadn't done any Russian since I was 15 and could barley remember the alphabet. Thankfully, I ploughed through and nobody else knew Russian so they couldn't tell me that I was wrong.
After this we practiced Scottish ceilidh dancing as there is a ceilidh on the final night.
Following lunch the we were all split in half. The group I was with went to dig up the lazy beds - where they plant vegetables. At this time we also got a talk with our team director about why we want to go away with Project Trust, a bit about ourselves and why we think we should be chosen.
After that, we swapped with the other group which meant we walked up a relatively easy hill to the highest point on the island. Here some of us, including me, climbed under a large rock balanced on top of 3 smaller rocks. This is some sort of fertility ritual (aahhh). After a short game the group sang 'Happy Birthday' to me and the staff member we were with gave me a picture of all of us which he had printed out from his polaroid camera (awww).
On the 20th we had a fundraising workshop where we had to come up with fundraising ideas including seasonal ones such as candy canes at Christmas or a Halloween party. After this, we went through overseas scenarios such as "what should I do if my partner isn't eating?" which was quite scary but also really helpful both for us and for PT. We also participated in some voluntary activities. Some helped paint people's house, some helped repair a fence and some other and I were tasked with a beach clean-up. There was so much rubbish and rope on the beach due to the tides in the ocean. It felt great to be clearing it all up.
The next day we had to do our presentations. We had been told on the first day that we all had to prepare a presentation on some aspect of Coll life. Of course, we had no internet so we had to rely on books and word of mouth. My presentation was about Coll and the environment. I talked about the litter on the beaches, RecyColl and the marine protected areas around the island. I remember being so scared about the presentation. Talking in front of people had never been my strong point and this presentation felt especially important as I really wanted to be selected.
That night was also the night of out ceilidh which was so much fun! Ceilidh dances are amazing and its a fantastic social environment as well. We got pictures and promised to keep in touch over the next year!
Leaving everyone the next day was so upsetting. We'd become pretty close as a group - which is inevitable as everyone is in the same boat. Loads of people went straight to the train station - but I had to stay one more night in Oban.
Our group has managed to stay in touch through Facebook where we have a group together and we often post updates about the projects that we're going to be staring and how well our fundraising was going.
Selection was amazing. I felt safe in the hands of Project Trust and confident that they would pair me with a project that would suit my strengths and personality. I couldn't wait to find out if I had been selected, to see where I would go and I was thoroughly looking forward to training next year.
The next part is all about my fundraising over the year, boy was that difficult. See you there xx
Saturday, 23 August 2014
Thailand, Project Trust and I
Hello!
My name is Emily, I'm 17 years old and soon (September 22nd 2015) I will be flying out to Thailand to spend a year teaching English to 11-18 year olds in a town called Uthai Thani.
I'm going over there with a charity called Project Trust which is an educational charity, founded in 1967, which sends school leavers overseas to work voluntarily in over 20 countries in Africa, Asia and the Americas. The projects that are selected for the volunteers ensure that they are making a valuable contribution to the community and are not taking away work from the local people.
Volunteers undergo a selections process on the Isle of Coll and then, if successful, are matched to a country which best suits their abilities. They also undergo training a few months before their project starts back on the Isle of Coll to prepare them for their project, cultural differences, health and safety, living only with their partner and how to deal with homesickness as well as various other scenarios.
I aim to keep this blog updated with fundraising, training and of course - my year in Thailand!!
I aim to keep this blog updated with fundraising, training and of course - my year in Thailand!!
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