Organising your own fundraising event gives you the control and opportunity to make it exactly what you had in mind. At the heart is the focus of supporting a cause that means something to you but be prepared to have a strong group of people around you to contribute to the event. Also don’t underestimate the kindness of people who are willing to do so much.
Background:
My brother passed away in 2012 from an undiagnosed heart condition when he was fit and healthy, working as the Strength and Conditioning Coach for Leicester Riders Basketball Team. As a family, we became aware of the charity Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY), who support families who have lost their loved ones but also proactively lead research into cardiac deaths and have a national heart screening campaign.
This led me to consider events and activities that I could remember my brother by raising awareness and funds to prevent further deaths and my family and I were supported by CRY to established our own memorial fund that ringfenced money within the charity to spend on CRY projects.
Event and fundraising:
In our younger years, my brother and I played ice hockey in Milton Keynes and were lucky to meet many others who turned into friends that we still have today.
Following my brothers death I was contacted by a friend about organising a charity ice hockey tournament in memory of my brother. It was such a nice feeling that others wanted to remember my brother. Having not played ice hockey for a little while I was unsure of how the community would respond but my friend pressed ahead with organising the first event.
My friend Alex put an instrumental amount of effort and energy into organising the event and I am certain I’ll never really know how much time she spent. However the response from those who wanted to contribute and participate was amazing and really cultivated the ice hockey community in Milton Keynes coming together.
In all honestly, me and my family played a supporting role as Alex had everything covered in delivering the event. What really stood out in organising your own event is the ability to refine everything to how you want to do it. It also allows you to add things on at different stages of the organisation depending on the support and kindness of others.
The first ice hockey charity event was a 24 hour match where players signed up to 3 hour blocks and were able to gather sponsorship from family and friends for participating. The commitment from players was incredible, even in joining the slots at 2-5am! Once that was going well, other things such as auctions, giveaways, sports massage and a DJ followed and made more of a spectacle for others to join in who did not play the sport
Alex did an incredible job with the event raising over £15,000 in its first year and become an annual event for the following three years. The refinements she made helped it get better and better each year, meaning more people wanted to join in which was the true reflection of the work Alex had done in organising the fundraising activities. In the subsequent years, the already raised funds allowed the event to hold heart screenings in the ice rink alongside the ice hockey tournament, again a benefit of running your own event is the autonomy that it brings you moulding the event to your preferences.
Schools' Active Community Coach 