Bag Packing (How Original!)

The very kind people at Tesco Metro in town have allowed me and my other volunteers to do a bit of bag packing on the 22nd and 23rd of August (Friday and Saturday – their busiest days). I recieved a phone call from them today and they will be sending a letter (to get us through security) soon.

Now that we have our first fundraiser I can feel the ball rolling, which is good as it’s going to give me the motivation I need to keep fundraising.

I ordered a brand new set of collection buckets (rather than tins – so please give generously!) which should be coming soon as well. Everything’s just started to fall into place now.

So if you’re in the Greater Peterborough area and are planning to do some food shopping in town on the 22nd or 23rd of August, come down to Tesco Metro where me and my three other volunteers (two other volunteers on the Saturday) will gladly help you with your shopping.

Thanks again to Tesco Metro for setting us up with our first fundraiser.

We’ve All Got To Start Somewhere

For the past two hours, me and Hannah (one of my volunteers) have been stuffing envelopes and folding leaflets to be sent all over the country for begging purposes!

We had a grand total of 154 envelopes to stuff with letters and leaflets and we’re still not done! I’m going to have to carry on myself for the rest of the week, but it’ll be worth it when I finally get to post them off!

First Fundraising Meeting

So I had the first fundraising meeting today. Two out of three turned up, which isn’t bad considering the amount we managed to get through in two hours.

We’ve managed to collect a managory of fundraising ideas, including, well I won’t tell you just yet. You’ll have to wait and see!

We ended up sitting in the reception of my workplace (The Great Northern Hotel) for just over two hours and already we’ve had passers by express an interest. So it’s all good news right now.

First item on the new, “To Do” list; gain as much publicity as possible. So for those of you in Peterborough, expect to see a few Project Trust volunteers around your area in the next couple of weeks.

And for those of you who aren’t in the Greater Peterborough area, pay a visit to my JustGiving page and make a donation now.

Youth Hostels

I have a trip with the school organised in February next year (right after my exams; what a treat!) and we were stuck on the idea of accommodation. Today I overheard a bunch of girls talk about how they, “wouldn’t be caught dead in a hostel” and it got me thinking about stereotypes.

If you’ve watched the film, “Hostel” or even if you haven’t, you probably thinking that hostels are these really dungy, dark, run-down excuses for accommodation.

To any future PT volunteers, you will have read that you will probably need to stay in some form of accommodation the night before your selection course starts, as the ferry leaves quite early in the morning. But don’t let the stereotypical view of a hostel put you off; they’re very friendly places and much cheaper too!

We had tons of fun staying at Oban Backpackers. The staff were really friendly, and they didn’t mind us singing, “I Would Walk 500 Miles” at two in the morning neither!

Believe me, you’ll be doing yourself more harm than good if you isolate yourself right from the very start.

And if you do decide to stay at Oban Backpackers, be sure to say that you’re with PT and it’ll only cost you £10 a night!

And on a further note, be sure to take a look at the comments book (specifically 31st March and 4th April), and leave something for me when I come back in July next year.

Wow; Two Posts In One Day

I’m not usually interesting enough to merit two posts in one day, but some more things have come up since the start of the day.

Firstly, I managed to get two more volunteers on board for the Spread The Words project, so that’ll definitely get the ball rolling.

And secondly, I’ve been offered a work experience placement at my local radio station, so hopefully I’ll be able to make a few useful contacts whilst I’m there.

And I had a good day today.

Short post, I know, but I promise I’ll update again after the meeting on Wednesday.

Fundraising Begins Today

So I finally got my butt into gear and started planning my fundraising for the next year. I have just about a year to raise £4,660. What a challenge!

I’ve got a timeline, a selection of ideas, a fundraising leaflet (almost finished), a JustGiving page, a selection of charitable trusts to send letters to and now I’m working on getting this blog up and running. All over the space of a week now.

Now I’m just waiting on this committee meeting on Wednesday to get the ball rolling. I may only have Hannah helping me out, but one person’s more than enough.

Kaz, another friend of mine, suggested some joint fundraising, but she’s buying a gap year package, rather than going with PT. I’ll have to bring that up on Wednesday, but it couldn’t hurt, right?

So right now, I’m just pounding through my huge list of to do items. It’s all going to be worth it in the end.

The Night Before

So it’s about nine in the evening before my big trip to Scotland tomorrow. At the moment, things are the same as any other Saturday; I’ve just had a takeaway and pretty soon I’ll watch a movie with my parents. I’m not sure whether to be calm, excited, nervous or all three right now!

I’ve been packing for the past week, and only now am I remembering the essentials! Random things kept cropping up all day, like remember to pack some towels and don’t forget a toothbursh. Now I’m all worried that I’m gonna forget something really important, like money!

Note to self; remember to take money.

I’m seriously considering making a big checklist to look at tomorrow morning, so I know I won’t forget anything. Knowing me though, I’ll forget the stupid checklist.

James is already in Oban now, and Georgia’s getting an early bus (about 2:00am) in the morning, bless her. Renske, Amy and I are meeting tomorrow in Glasgow for the home stretch, so hopefully things won’t go too wrong, especially since we’ve got James and Georgia meeting us at the other end.

I’m planning one last visit to The Great Northern Hotel tomorrow before I leave as well. Maybe it’ll calm these nerves, I don’t know.

It seems kind of silly when you think that there’s people who do this sort of journey every day, and yet here I am worrying myself silly. I guess it’s all down to the fact that it’s an eight hour journey!

I’ve got this sinking feeling in my stomach now, like I know something’s not right. I don’t know, it may be the curry!

Well, wish me luck!