FUNdraising - how did we do it?

Fundraising is a commitment, be under no illusion. But if you take opportunities, use your networks and actively seek support, it can be done, and it is great fun. You do need the girls and the parents to buy into the fundraising concept. It is good to identify the strengths and abilities of those involved in the project. For example, we ran a Variety Show as part of the fundraising plan, and several people donated unique gifts for the raffle - a boxercise class from Adele Murrell Personal Training, a beautiful illustration from Emily Fellah who illustrates children's books and a bespoke poem from a spectacular poetry agency called Sublime Rhyme. 

One of our wonderful Unit Helpers organised for us to go bag-packing in Sainsbury's.  I loved this experience, as I got to talk all day long.  It was as though I had my very own Radio 4 Listening Project.  

Another key concept is to think about simple ways to generate funds. We do regular textile collections with Phil the Bag; we collect aluminium cans and foil and sell them to a local dealer (though this market is not reliable as the price for aluminium can go from 60p / kilo to 20p / kilo overnight). I started looking around for other simple ways of making money. There are many online companies which will purchase unwanted mobile phones, even if they don't work. People often have old phones lying around. I use TopDollarMobile, who are involved with easyfundraising so an additional donation is generated.

What else did we do? I asked all of the Guides and their families to have a clear-out and to let me have any unwanted CDs, DVDs, computer games, books, following an idea from my dear friend Sushi.  

I used four websites - music Magpie (through easyfundraising), Ziffit, We Buy Books & Momox. These have huge databases and enable you to put in the barcodes or ISBN numbers and find put the value. If I had had all the time in the world, I would have sold them all through eBay or Amazon, but the websites I use took 95% of the stuff I received and the databases do change overnight, so there is still scope to make money for them if they are not accepted the first time. Once you have enough, you package them up and send them for free from newsagents, by CollectPlus, a service I didn't know existed three months ago. Momox parcels go to Germany, so they are taken to the Post Office, but are still free to send. The whole process is quite fun, although can be a tad repetitive. The best bit was always when the money hit the Guide bank account. We raised over £250 from this alone.

Easyfundraising is already set up for every unit, District, Division and County in LaSER (London and South East England Region), so if you're a Leader in LaSER and not using it yet, then why not? If you run another charitable organisation which isn't set up on easyfundraising, let me know and I'll refer you!

Printer cartridges can be recycled for cash.  Look around for the best deals and be aware - I didn't read the small print which said something about money only be paid out for over £20, when I'd send cartridges totalling the worthy sum of £1.80.  Maybe by the time I retire, we'll get our £20.  

Another way to generate funds is to recycle postage stamps.  I came across a great fundraising stamps website, which pays per kilo of stamps received.  It is very straightforward and easy to set-up.  Far fewer postage stamps are used these days, but if you ask everyone you know to collect them, they soon build up, especially when Christmas is approaching.  People will soon be adopting their annual Christmas card process of writing to everyone they haven't been in touch with since, well, last Christmas.  I measure the length of time it has been since I last saw a friend by the age of their eldest child whom I haven't met.  Last week, four friends had babies; I didn't know that three of them were even expecting.    

Consider your workplace and those of others in your group.  If you know anyone who works in a complaints department, they are likely to receive a lot of postage stamps.  Make friends with them.  

There are fun ways to engage work colleagues with fundraising.  I work in a building full of women's organisations and they have all been collecting things for me.  I have received regular deliveries of postage stamps, aluminium cans and mobile phones from work colleagues.  It's also a good way to raise awareness of Guiding.  The profile of Guiding has developed a lot within the women's sector in the past few months thanks to things like Go For It! Be The Change and the Girls' Attitudes Survey.  I work in the women's sector, for Maternity Action and a number of people have mentioned how Guiding has come to their attention recently through various national initiatives.  How fantastic! Maybe now more people will be inspired to become Leaders.  There are many other ways to help Guiding to develop and grow though - we also need people with different transferable skills, such as finance, administration, marketing etc. Consider this - is there a Guiding-shaped hole in your life? Units across the land would be pleased to fill it.  Read more here.

So this is the end of LuxemBlog2013, thank you for reading.  I do hope that you enjoyed it.  Whether you are a member of Guiding, a parent, a friend, a colleague, whoever you are, may this inspire you.

I wish to offer particular thanks to the following organisations for supporting our Luxembourg trip: Leslie Sell Charitable Trust; the Jack Petchey Foundation; Rotary Club of Chislehurst; Chislehurst Trefoil Guild; the Region Chief; Chislehurst Sainsbury's; We Buy Books; Ziffit; Rainbow Tree Partners; Christ Church Chislehurst.  Also, huge thanks to the many friends and colleagues who supported the project in all sorts of ways, especially: Sushi; Sarah, Rebecca & Liam; Emma; Karen; Ros; Polly; Annah; Valerie; Barbara; Jan; my parents; and my ever-tolerant housemate, who endured bags of aluminium cans 'hidden' in the shed; countless piles of books all over the house; giant boxes of CDs in the front room; strangers knocking on the door with bags of postage stamps, and so much more.  Thank you.

We are in the Luxembourg national press!

Just quickly - we are in the Luxembourg national press!

What just happened?

Greetings faithful readers.

I can hardly believe that I am now home, sitting in the very spot I was sitting in 48 hours ago, packaging up another package of whatever I was packaging, after doing an online comparison, blogging about how 1st Chislehurst Guides' first ever epic international adventure is now over.  What just happened?

Time differences always perplex me, as you will know from reading my previous blogs - the Mexico one is amusing in places; the Rwanda one is the opposite, (with the exception of when my co-delegate managed to get stuck in the loo, which was quite funny).

Anyway, we were an hour ahead in Luxembourg, so we effectively gained an hour on the way back, which was useful in that it gives us another hour here, but removes an hour there.  (I think).

Today has been amazing and I am so proud of the Guides for being so great.  The day began in the morning, when we bundled down to breakfast.  Some had slept diligently, others had talked into the early hours, as one might expect where a group of friends is gathered together. 

Lucy made her Guide promise beside the Christmas tree in the foyer at the youth hostel where we stayed.  She is the first member of 1st Chislehurst Guides to make her promise abroad, as far as we know (and if you know otherwise, do let me know!).  What I do know is that she was definitely the first member of 1st Chislehurst Guides to make the new Girlguiding #PromiseForAll, abroad, which is very exciting.

We traipsed up a very steep hill to get to the bus-stop.  I have a reputation for booking the Guides into youth hostels which are, firstly, on hills, and secondly, a bit further away than anticipated, as any Guide who went on our trip to Eastbourne in June will tell you.  Some Guides even now refer to 'a Helen walk', meaning that the destination is about three miles further than anticipated.  I don't know what they mean.  

We took a bus to the Gare Central (main train station), where I used my best French to purchase tickets for us to travel to Trier.  I can't emphasise enough how important it is for people to learn languages - there is nothing like being able to communicate in a language which is not your mother-tongue, even it's just enough to buy train tickets.  So if you don't speak any other languages, why not go and learn one? Then go somewhere where they speak it, and speak it.   

The train was amazing.  I know what you're thinking - you probably commute and spend a disproportionate amount of your life on trains.  But the train from Luxembourg to Trier was something else.  It was a double-decker train.  How much would life improve if Southeastern Railway had a fleet of double-decker trains?! Well, after they'd sorted out the bridges, it would be great.  Europe is known for having a good train network, which stretches the length and breadth of the continent, although there is something mildly disconcerting about gliding from one country into another, without being sure where the border is.  And the Schengen thing means that people can travel freely between many European countries, negating the need for border controls, which makes things much easier, but means less control, and less passport stamps.  

The train to Trier didn't take long, and the views were spectacular and not like the views on the Greenwich line from Plumstead to London Bridge, with which I am overly familiar.

Once at Trier station, I introduced the Guides to an exciting concept that many had not come across - left-luggage lockers! It's knowledge of this sort of thing which enables independence.  We bundled all of the pull-along cases into 5 lockers, using all of the Euro shrapnel we could muster, then followed our trusty native Edda to the Christmas markets of Trier, which was 10-minutes away.

The market was buzzing and had quite a different feel in the day-time, in that you could actually see people.  There was a mixture of beautiful goods, some personalised, as well as the obligatory tat which you can happily live without.  The girls had all been given some EUR with which to buy lunch, and this was very exciting for many of them.  They variously ate German sausages, called 'bratwurst', potato pancakes and hot-dogs; I ate a large plate of mushrooms.  I don't think I eat enough mushrooms.  There is room for more mushrooms in my life.  

My one regret is that I failed to get a Coke lid.  As you may know, wherever I go in the world, I collect a Coke bottle (glass bottles only, obviously) lid.  I have lost count of the curious looks I have received around the world asking for this, but am over that now.  The only time I have ever been to Germany was in 2003 when I spent an hour in a transit lounge in Frankfurt, which doesn't count.  So if you are in Germany, please could you get me a Coke lid? 

The Guides loved the atmosphere of the market at Trier.  It was busy but with a comfortable feel to it, and the entire world represented, which was beautiful.

We sent an advanced party back to the train station to unload the lockers.  We followed shortly after and together we boarded a much smaller train.  This was the stopping train. We sat on it for forty minutes, variously snoozing, playing games, reading and chatting,  At 2.30pm, it pulled into Munsbach, where we alighted.  Kim had organised for us to be collected by some relatives of the BGIFC, so we were shuttled to the most amazing building I have ever seen.

The Luxembourg Scouts own a spectacular Celtic hut in a place called Neuhausgen.  Our visit coincided with the local BGIFC District's Christmas event, for all the family.  We were warmly invited to join this event, in a huge Celtic hut, which included two fires in the room, a plethora of stalls around the hut, manned (or maybe that should be 'womaned') by BGIFC Leaders whom we met yesterday at the youth hostel.  We sipped Christmas tea, with that glorious apple-y, cinammon taste, and hot chocolate, and munched mince pies, where allergies permitted.  We sung songs around the campfire, made new friends and browsed the stalls.  It was wonderful to be part of a local Guiding celebration with our new friends in BGIFC Luxembourg and to see how Guiding is thriving there.  The hut at Neuhausgen is in a forest - a beautiful setting, great for camping, and quite different to the city setting of our youth hostel.  

I still can't quite believe that just a few hours ago, we were singing songs around a campfire, in Neuhausgen, in Luxembourg, with Girlguiding members who live in Luxembourg.  And this morning we were in Germany.  What a day.

This is almost all I'm going to write today, but I will follow-up with a post soon about fundraising and how we did it, to show Unit Leaders that it can be done.  We have had a short-haul international experience, visiting Guiding friends in one country and visiting two countries, in a weekend.  So if you are a Unit Leader, may this inspire you to do something similar.  It was girl-led; they came up with the idea of going to Europe, visiting Christmas markets, meeting Guides abroad, and at the age of mostly 10 and 11, they have now done this.  How amazing, for a 10-year-old to have flown with her friends to another country, which many adults cannot locate on a map, then visited another country, with her Guiding friends.  What an amazing organisation we are part of, one which enables us to be facilitators of such opportunities.  I didn't say a lot before I went to the World Scout Jamboree in Chile in 1998, now I struggle to stop talking and writing, as you will know as this blog is rather long.  I'll post a couple of photos and continue with this tomorrow.  

Thank you to my amazing leadership team - Edda, Tula, Sarah, Jo, Lucie, Anne - you were all great and each leader brought something unique and special to the team.  Thank you for coming, for giving your weekend to Guiding and providing this fantastic opportunity for our Guides.  I'll be in touch about the next adventure!!

The Plane Truth

Tempted as I was to don my luminous Girlguiding jacket, wave some table tennis bats around and assist with the air traffic control operation, I resisted.  We bundled into the plane.  It was quite a small plane, but Tula and I have been in a smaller plane previously, in Guatemala, where we could have touched the pilot.

The plane before ours was cancelled; the plane after ours was cancelled; our plane was not cancelled, it just left a bit late.  Three hours late.  There was an eerie silence on the plane when we sat on the runway for about half an hour, whilst they waited for a take-off slot.  What a strange procedure - there were lots of flights cancelled, so surely there would have been a lot of slots! I was thinking about how aeroplanes work.  I mean, really, how on earth does a huge lump of metal, packed full of people who are statistically, mainly overweight, lift off from one country and arrive in another? It's a bit like wireless printers - how do they work? How can that information transport itself through the ether and onto paper? Amazing.  But enough about all that, let's get back to the trip.

I had a run-in with the hostess.  I did not endear myself to her as I was darting around checking on the girls who were variously losing their passports and asking questions about how planes work.  Luxair woman looked at me with a look which said 'this aisle ain't big enough for both of us' as she wielded trays of croissants and I wielded the clipboard of knowledge.  It wasn't a very big aisle, not like in Morrison's or Tesco's, which have much bigger aisles.

Eventually, we were airborne, not like an airborne bacteria, you understand.  Once off the plane, my beloved team inform me that I conducted a roll-call in the 'no go zone' right beside the propeller, in an area which was actually cordoned off.  Thanks for telling me at the time, team! Anyway, we jumped on a bus and several Guides thought this was the bus to the youth hostel, and were worrying that they had not collected their stuff.  Thankfully, it was the bus to the terminal.  We gathered our bags and I prized the girls away from the conveyor belt, which was itself more exciting than any Guide activity we have ever done.

The flight was remarkably short - we were going to Luxembourg, not Johannesburg.  I had to use my very best French to convince the immigration guy that our trip was legitimate and that all of the children were mine, but not mine, in that way that fellow Leaders will understand.  I produced a list of names, the consent forms, and an explanation as to what we would be doing.  He wasn't sure and took a bit of convincing.  Once he was sure, I asked if he would stamp all of our passports.  He said, quite categorically - 'non'.  I explained that it was our first time in Luxembourg, first time on a plane for some, and that a passport stamp would mean a lot.  He relented,  and dutifully stamped every one.

The youth hostel have a bus and they were going to shuttle us from the airport, but it only had 7 seats, so would have taken most of the weekend to bring us back here.  I don't think the Guides are quite ready for the African bush taxi experience, not on their first international trip.  Instead we took bus number 9 into town, with most of Luxembourg.  I then took the girls on a minor detour to find the place where we are staying.  On arrival, my dear friend Anne, a fellow International Adviser, was here to greet us, along with a group of BGIFC from Luxembourg, with many of their Leaders, led by Kim, with whom I have been in touch planning our adventures.

Allow me to explain what BGIFC is.  It stands for British Guides in Foreign Countries.  I first learnt this when I was given a BGIFC mug when I left Brownies and went to Guides, in about 1992.  BGIFC provides Guiding units which follow the Girlguiding programmes, in countries where there are British communities.  There are BGIFC all over the world.  Anne is, amongst other things, the Outdoor Activities Adviser for Benelux and France County and has many connections.

We spent a happy hour with the local Guides in Luxembourg, playing impro games which were great fun.  We heard about why they live in Luxembourg and how long people have been here.  Many of the Leaders came for a short period and have never left, so if you're ever tempted to move to Luxembourg, be warned that you may not leave.  Ever.  But it's a beautiful place, with winding streets, variously coloured buildings and a happy place.

We walked into the Christmas market in the centre of Luxembourg, which was beautiful.  The comforting smell of open fires, candy floss machines buzzing, people chatting in a plethora of language.  The girls were mesmerized by the Ferris wheel, which was illuminated against the deep darkness.  There were bungee trampolines, a carousel and a lot of happy Guides.

The Guides are amazing, if exhausted.  Many of them are wearing onesies, some are dinosaurs and others are monsters, or One Direction.

I am so proud of the Guides who are making new friends, growing in confidence and doing a great job of representing Girlguiding abroad.

The girls are now having a bit of free-time, debriefing and planning tomorrow, when we are off to Germany! Very exciting. In other news, as Pip and anyone else who was on the Mexico / Guatemala trip will be pleased to hear, I found a Coke lid.  Unfortunately, it appears that it does not have 'Luxembourg' written on the side, which suggests they may not be bottled here.  Interesting.

Well, night is drawing in; in fact, it has drawn in.  Lights out is looming, so I must sign-out.  We are having a wonderful time, despite the slow start at London City.  The Guides were great and didn't make a fuss.  They were friendly to the general public in London and in Luxembourg.

More tomorrow - goodnight!

One ticket to Tula please!

Welcome to the world.  Welcome to... Woolwich Arsenal.  We congregated there with varying levels of success.  Tula very nearly had to set up a market stall after struggling with the one-way system; others got confused by the buses and sat-navs; great confusion ensued over Oyster cards, Zip cards and singles, but Beverley was the hero of the moment, coming to the rescue and sorting us all out.  One of our Leaders is called Tula, and was tasked with sorting out the tickets.  The message was misconstrued and one of the Guides attempted to buy a ticket to Tula, which didn't really work.

So we boarded the DLR train, with our pull-along cases and carry-on baggage; there weren't too many people around.  We had the whole carriage to ourselves, apart from two other very confused travellers.  We sorted out our numbering system to avoid losing anyone, especially Jade.

We have been a tiny bit delayed by, well, we're not sure quite why.  Something about the air traffic control computer being in night mode, rather than day mode.  Story of my life.  I felt like that at 5am this morning.  So we are chilling, chatting, reading, resting, learning not to leave our bags unattended and soaking up the atmosphere at London City Airport.

The air traffic control computer is called NATS and we don't think she's involved in Girlguiding.

Welcome to Luxemblog 2013!

Welcome to Luxemblog 2013! Thanks for reading our blog.  Maybe you came to the blog on purpose, or maybe it was a happy accident.  Let me tell you a little about our trip....

It all began when the Guides talked about the possibility of going abroad.  1st Chislehurst Guides is 2.5 years old now, with a thriving membership and long list of girls wanting to join.  Like many units, we are in need of more Leaders to help us to develop and grow. Girlguiding offers wonderful opportunities for girls and young women and I would highly recommend becoming involved if you are not already.  If you are reading this, you probably already are, so well done, and read on...

We started researching some ideas.  I was very keen that no-one should be put off by the cost.  No-one has any spare money these days and often as soon as you say 'international' people shut down and say they can't afford it.  And they're probably right.  Which is why we embarked on a major fundraising effort to raise what we needed for the trip.  Each Guide was to pay £50, Leaders £75, and we would fundraise the rest.  I wanted to make the trip accessible to every Guide in the unit who wanted to attend.  Once everything has cleared and outstanding monies received, we will have done it - we will have raised over £3,500 in 3 months.  I'll write more how we did it later, as I want this to inspire other Leaders to do the same, as it can be done.  

I'm off to post 5 boxes of books, CDs, DVDs, computer games and a package of postage stamps, but come back later and there will be more... we fly to Luxembourg (why Luxembourg? I'll explain later) tomorrow morning.  We can't wait.  International neckers at the ready, and plenty of warm clothing!

Come back soon! And write nice comments if you wish.