7 Months Down The Line

Wow, I'm so brilliant at updating this blog but so much has happened over the last 7 months I've hardly had time to breathe! I bought my first car, got a new job, passed my driving test, fundraised all my money for Borneo, sat my A-Level exams annnnd grew a little taller (just kidding, I'm still the same old same old!)

I have been so lucky and so supported by my family and friends to fundraise all of my money to allow me to fly out to Borneo in just under 10 days EEEEEKKK! 

Here is a brief summary on what I've been doing since my last post which was ages ago (sorrrrry): 

February was a good earner for me as I held and presented a talent show at my school. We had such as successful evening and so many different acts - we even roped the teachers in as judges! In the end we earned about 200 pounds in one night! Not bad going if you ask me as that was purely from ticket sales! We also allowed other Borneo-goers who were fundraising if they wanted to run a raffle and refreshments separately and they could keep there money from that!

Later on in February I also bagged myself a new job at Sainsbury's! I really enjoy wokring there and a majority of my wages from this went towards my trip. However, it also towards my first set of wheels as I also kept my waitressing Saturday job to see me through my fundraising!

The inner Mary Berry was still there and my baking still contributed to "shine" through - well, no-one's been poisoned so far! :) :) :) 

Pet sitting business also continued and I looked after a few people's pets whilst they went away - including this little handsome fella! Pet sitting is a great and easy way to earn some money for your trip especially if they live on your street which mine did! If you want to try it create some flyers and advertise and get friends and family to spread word about!

Anyway, even though there has been BIG delay in this post I'm going to continue posting now I have loads of time on my hands! I'm going to blog about finding kit, equipment and medical items at the cheapest price, dealing with packing your bags (I've got some great space-saving tips!), dealing with the flights, and of course include lots of details and information of my trip when I'm back!

In the meantime, take care fellow trippers! 

Merry Christmas!!!

Erm, well, I kind of forgot the log-in details for this blog page. Nevertheless, here I am more than 2 months later at the end of the year filling you in with how my fundraising has gone. 

October

By the end of October my running total was £1894.32. Most of my money that month was made up of pet-sitting and my wages from work - that's as exciting as it gets my friends!

November

At the end of November my total stood at £2146.97 (where these random endings come from I have no idea!) This month I made £67.40 selling bits and bobs at local school fates (the one I did was a firework night), I made another £40.25 selling teas, sweets and biscuits at my brothers football matches every Sunday which is a great money earner! Then I also had £15 worth of donations and £130 wages from work. 

December

Now we get to this month, December has been such a booster month for me and I'm so lucky! I have my birthday in December and a majority of my birthday money went to my fund - £210 to be exact. I then ran a stall at my local schools Christmas fayre (I know, I forget to take pictures of these things...) and I raised £55.45 by offering an array of games and activities such as icing digestive biscuits - because who didn't love doing that as a child eh? 

I then made £51.00 selling items again mum managed to get hold of lots of lovely items for us to sell including Yankee Candles, Body Shop products and Soap & Glory products. 

Christmas was also a huge help this month as I received £300 from family and friends which I'm so grateful for - holding myself back from spending that in Urban Outfitters was INCREDIBLY hard but I fought and held myself back. 

I am still awaiting my wages for this month (I get paid on the last day of the month) and hopefully that will be around £100 raising me to ~£2,900 so fingers crossed. 


I am hugely grateful to all of my friends and family and just so you know, I didn't get presents as well as the money - I specifically asked for money instead of presents this year so I could get this paid off a bit quicker!

We also know that from now on my New Year's resolution is to take photos when I'm fundraising! After all, this is the whole reason I started this blog! What a lemon..

Anyway enough of my rambling, MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR! 

xx

I'm Back - Better Late Than Never!

Well, this is a belated post - isn't it? After starting sixth form at the start of September, I've been showered with deadlines and due dates I haven't had time to put my school work down. However, instead of sitting on the sofa stuffing my face with unhealthy food watching X-Factor on a Saturday night, I thought I should probably update this blog. 

Because of school my fundraising has slowed down a little just while I get into the swing of A-Levels. But in September I managed to raise £188.10 bringing my total to £1645.20. This £188.10 was made up from £125 wages, £60 in donations and £3.10 misc.

I'm still planning my main winter events which is exciting. I'm running a talent show at school alongside some fellow expeditionees which will hopefully be a success and take place sometime in Jan/Feb 2015. Then I am planning my own events to run over the winter months. I'm hoping to run a Borneo Bingo night and then a Coffee Morning sometime soon. 

With it currently being mid-way through October, I've raised an additional £89.61 bringing my running total to £1734.81. Football season is back and therefore I'm running my tuck-shop again; in the first week I raised £32.95 from selling sweets and drinks under this rather fancy pagoda that conveniently appeared on the field where my brother plays his footie matches - result! We also saw the return of Barney & Poppy, the two cats who I have looked after multiple times now and got paid £25 for letting them out of the house and feeding them for a few days. 

I'm also giving a special mention to Anicka and Salma who both emailed me unsure about whether to partake in a Camps International expedition as they were put off by the fundraising and were unsure how and where to start. Hopefully, you guys are really thinking about taking part as it's definitely worth it and I hope my email motivated you in some way! 

Good luck to anyone who is fundraising at the moment and remember I'm just an email or a comment away if you want anyone to talk to about the expedition/fundraising - just click the 'Contact Me' tab at the top of this page. As well as me, don't forget there is both Sophie and Rachael at Camps International HQ who will be happy to talk to you regardless.

Happy fundraising!

....hopefully there won't be such a long delay for my next post.

What I've Been Up To: The Rest of August

With August now ended and the summer holidays over, it has been the end of a bumper month for me. During the month of August I managed to raise £826.25 in total doing lots of various things including my sponsored trek. My sponsored trek was were a majority of the money came from raising £344.

However, after my sponsored walk I did a few extra things to earn some more money during my time off before returning to school and starting sixth form. I posted several flyers around my local streets informing people of the trip I'm doing and told them how I'm raising money to get there. Through delivering about 100 leaflets, some of my neighbours asked me if I would look after their pets, plants and houses whilst they go anyway on their holidays. By looking after peoples pets, gardens and houses I managed to raise £180.

August 21st a.k.a Results Day, saw some benefits too! As well as earning 2 As, 5 Bs and a C, I was rewarded with £60 towards my trip by my mum.

I also received my August wages, after keeping a little for myself, I was left with £90 to add to my expedition fund. Mum also ran a carboot for me as I was unavailable to go and raised me £63.25 which I was very grateful for!

Finally, I had £15.00 donated to my expedition, baked an 18th birthday cake for £34.00 and I am also currently in the process of painting some fences for one of my mums friends and she has paid be £40.00 for the work I have done so far!

x

What I've Been Up To: Summer Fayre

So, it's been about 2 weeks since I last posted on here but here is my first post for July! Today, my old primary school were holding a Summer Fayre and they let me have a stall for free! Unfortunately, I work every Saturday so was unable to attend therefore my lovely Mum and Nan (pictured above) ran it for me instead.

We sold things from around the house and things that mum managed to find on offer and in sales etc. Plus lots of sweets, cakes and chocolate. She also used one of the games we had in our playroom and charged 30p a go; if you could complete it without the machine buzzing, you won a prize (but no-one managed to complete it!)

All together they made £52.30 in two hours for me which I'm so grateful for! This week I also washed mum's car and earned another £10 which is good going to kick off my fundraising for July! Next week I am also pet sitting again, but this time they're two cats!

Happy fundraising! 

x

I GOT A JOB!

Now, I'm not going to lie, it is so hard to break into the working world with absolutely no experience (other than the nonsense paper-round that I did for THREE years!). Almost every place you apply for wants you to have some sort of experience, whether it be: retail, customer service etc. 

Being young also makes it harder as we are restricted to how many hours we can do a week and how early/late we can start/finish. Though, now I'm 16 and left secondary school I am not so restricted to when I can work. What was holding me back was my lack of experience.

Nevertheless, I hit the computer (not literally..) to print out copies of my covering letters and CV's and started to hand them out to local businesses and chain stores in my local city. Unfortunately, I never heard anything from any of them which left me feeling a little bit peeved as I spent £7 something on a pack of 1st Class stamps!

It wasn't until May this year, my mum found out that one of the local businesses in my town where looking for a Saturday girl to help out here and there. The business is a cute, and dainty tea parlour serving thousands upon thousands of different teas from all over the world and lots of light snacks etc. I didn't hesitate to jump on it and handed in my covering letter, CV and reference letters (to save them writing out to them and speed up the process) the next day. It wasn't until a few weeks later when one of the girls called me up and invited me to an interview! My emotions where contradicting as I was so excited yet trembling in my boots because I had never had an interview for anything before. Plus I missed out on the mock ones at school  for career's day. Despite this, I went in smiling and acting like my normal self and it was over before I knew it! Phew!

I got a phone call a few days later from them telling me they would like to get me in for a trial shift. This allows them to see if I was capable of working there and to see if I actually liked it because behind the scenes it can be a lot of juggling and rushing around! I went in that Saturday and had a trial shift which lasted about 2 hours - I was so nervous but I tried to not let it show and did whatever they asked me to. If I saw something that needed doing, I went for it!

Now, it was just the wonder between the period of the trial shift and the waiting for the phone to ring. Eventually it did ring and they told me they would like to offer me a job with them! I was absolutely ecstatic and over-the-moon! I have now been working there for the past 2 weeks, working roughly 3-days a week (not just Saturdays!); currently learning how to abbreviate orders, take payments and make the 43 different teas that they offer! There is something different to do each day and I really, really enjoy it! 

I was so happy I finally managed to get a job, therefore I can financially contribute myself towards my Borneo trip and my mum can chill out a bit with her overtime! 

I really do recommend that you try and get yourself a little job if you are fundraising for a trip with Camps International - I know it's easier said than done! Just keep on trying, at the end of the day it's the people you know who can help get you little jobs here and there. If you get declined, don't be upset, just move on and keep on trying! 

Good luck!