Growing up in Scandinavia, my friends and I would always romanticise London. As teens we had aspirations to meet a Hugh Grant-esque Englishman, fall in love, and spend the rest of our lives living in the suburbs – only to venture into the cobbled Victorian streets to shop in the charming markets on the weekend. The real London, however, was a far cry from my picture-perfect aspirations.
-
Tips for Raising Money for Your Charity Bike Ride
A sponsored bike ride can be a great way to raise money for a charity – whether it is a London to Paris cycle ride, a Coast to Coast challenge or even an epic Lands End to John O’ Groats bike ride. The more people you get to sponsor you, the more money you will be able to raise for your chosen charity and the more of a positive effect your bike ride will have. No matter how much you raise, nonprofits will be thrilled with any donations that they receive. Many of them even use software from UpMetrics to track progress towards goals. Your donation is likely to help them achieve even more.
Sometimes it can be difficult to ask your friends and family for people for your charity ride. You want them to donate, but you don’t want to pester them or be annoying. Here are some tips that can help you raise money for charity in the most effective and friendly way.
A successful Paris to London charity cycle Set Up an Online Donation Page
A very easy option for setting up your donations is to use an online page, such as JustGiving. These websites are designed to collect your money, reclaim GiftAid and make it easy to set up a page for charity events that explains what you are doing.
Setting up a page online will make people more likely to donate to your cause, because it is easier for them. When they can simply give money with the click of a button, they are more likely to get involved. Also when you set up this page make sure that the first donation displayed is of a decent amount. Studies have shown that people tend to donate a similar amount to whatever others are donating, so a healthy first donation will set a good precedent and encourage others to give more.
Keep Everyone Updated
You can share the process of preparing for a long distance bike ride with your friends and followers, whether you are going through a tough day of training or buying new bike shorts. Keeping them involved in the preparation will make everyone more invested and make them more likely to donate. Let them live the experience along with you.
Ask the Company You Work For
If you work for a large company, it never hurts to ask them to match your funding. Many companies will offer support when their employees are fundraising for charity, so it’s certainly worth enquiring. Also sometimes your boss can help you arrange a fundraising event that involves the entire office. For example, you could have a Casual Friday where employees pay 1 to be able to wear their jeans to the office. If you have a few hundred employees in your organisation, this can result in a significant amount of money!
Get the Local Media Involved
Your local newspaper, TV and radio stations are always looking for human interest stories about people in your town that they can use as small fillers for their breakfast shows. Contact the local media and let them know what you are doing – they will be likely to want to email you. This will get the word out about what you are doing, which might attract the attention of more potential sponsors.
Hold a Raffle
Why not invest some money into a nice prize, then hold a raffle at your work? The money that you raise can be used toward your sponsorship account. Also the raffle will further spread the word about what you are doing and might inspire others to donate.
Don’t Be Apologetic
Whenever you are asking someone for anything, whether it is a charitable donation or a favour, it is important to ask in the right way. Don’t be too demanding, but ask with confidence and explain why your charity is worth of a donation. If you are too shy or apologetic, it will be easy for people to turn you down. If you ask the question assuming a no, you will probably get a no. Turn on your best smile and convince the person that their donation will make a positive, concrete difference.
These are just a few tips to keep in mind when you are raising money for your charity bike ride. It can be different to ask your friends, family and co-workers for fund raising money – but it’s not as difficult as you might think. If you truly believe that you have chosen a worthy charity and that your fundraising will contribute to a good cause, you will be able to portray that to the people you are talking to and convince them to donate. Good luck with it!
This article is provided by http://www.agentsofdrive.com
-
The City Calls …
If you could visit any city in the world, where would you choose?
Would it be New York, Miami, or Orlando? Would it be Paris, Berlin, or Lisbon? Or would you go further afield and head to Sydney, Hong Kong, or Kuala Lumpur?
-
Would you spend your pension on a holiday?
When we reach a certain age, working less and taking time to enjoy the good things in life, is a path many choose to follow.
Retirement is no longer about slowing down; it’s about embarking on new adventures, trying new things, learning new hobbies, starting up a business and perhaps … taking a holiday?!
-
An Eco Retreat: My Unexpected Paradise
I’m guessing a lot of girls would be impressed with a fancy 5-star luxury break for their birthday weekend; candle lit dinners and champagne, spas and room service.
-
Death by Bike in Barcelona!
This holiday was absolutely, 100%, one of my favourite city breaks ever! I was looking through my notebook from our trip to Barcelona in Easter (I keep a journal-style record of what we get up to whenever we go away – I’m a major geek!), and remembered writing about our cycling dramas quickly in our hotel in central Barcelona, about ten minutes from Las Ramblas when Steve was out getting a brew (he goes under the guise of looking for the perfect cuppa, but I am well aware he can only fully appreciate my awesomeness when he has spent a little time away from me beforehand). We had decided to hire bikes and tackle the fabulous city of Barcelona on two wheels, and I feel the experiences we had are well worth sharing…
Why did we need to bike it?
Steve’s only recently turned 30, but I tease him all the time about being an old man. He’s got a dodgy ankle and so to help with this,he occasionally sees a physiotherapist, and sporadically does the recommended stretches. Can you detect the low levels of sympathy? Anyway, to save my poor wounded soldier from walking too much and the big bad pain starting in his ankle we opted for bikes to aid our exploration of the city.
Pasty white arms on show… I thought, for the benefit of all you keen travellers out there, I would share my experiences and words of…er…wisdom on what to remember and expect when you’re biking in a foreign city.
1. Remember which side the traffic is travelling on
Sounds easy but believe me, definitely harder than you think! I know I slate Steve for his physical deterioration with age but I have to confess, my ears seem to be failing me fast (unless it’s selective deafness that occurs as a subconscious response to nagging? Maybe I should explore that?), and so, when Steve’s ahead or behind me and there’s major traffic noise, I find it pretty difficult to work out what he’s saying to me, and so it’s easier to just block him out. Bit of a mistake when he’s trying to prevent me from becoming road-kill.
Steve being a sulky child at Park Guell because of his ankle… 2. Avoid the road: stick to cycle paths or pavements
How come cycling safely on roads on your home turf is easy, but it’s all too simple to forget the rules of the road when there’s a bit of sun and a few pretty buildings to distract you? Steve and I hit a street that had no cycle path and so were forced to brave the traffic on a quite busy main road. We patiently waited at the traffic lights ahead of a huge queue of traffic and, of course, the biggest bus I swear I’ve ever seen in my life. The lights changed and we sped off ahead of the traffic, desperately searching for the nearest cycle path and, in effect, salvation. I admit, I was ahead of Steven, I panicked, and I pulled into the bus lane. This might not have been the brightest of ideas but the situation certainly isn’t helped when my husband, who sees sarcasm as a way of life rather than a linguistic tool, says, “That’s a good idea, stay in the bus lane”. How the hell am I supposed to know whether he means that literally or sarcastically?!
3. Bikes don’t do escalators
I’m not taking responsibility for this brainwave; Steve’s the sole genius behind that one. When you get towards Park Guell you’re met by uphill cycles that seem endless. However, on the up side, there are escalators dotted around the area to tackle this. These are for people, not for bikes. My only fault here is that I was the idiot who agreed, against my better judgement, to try it first. I don’t think we need to go into details on this one; lock the bikes up at the bottom and head up the escalator on foot, my friend.
Beautiful La Sagrada Familia 4. Chase a local
After checking out La Sagrada Familia Steve and I were running a little behind schedule and had to make it back in time for the dinner and Flamenco show we had booked, and so were feeling the pressure to speed things up a little. Somehow on our cycle home we encountered a local, the Spanish Bradley Wiggins none the less, and decided to stalk him as far as we could in the direction of our hotel. It’s amazing how much more confident you feel when you’re following someone who knows the roads and traffic!
5. Don’t forget to use your gears
I’ve kind of always thought gears on bikes were just for show. Apparently, this isn’t the case, and so I feel it is my duty to pass on my new-found wisdom, just in case anyone else out there is, like me, a little bike-ignorant. You need a low gear for hills and when you’re starting off, but a higher gear when you’re speeding along. There’s probably a really technical explanation for this and way more to it, but that’s all I care to know. It gets Steve off my back when I pretend to use my gears properly, and so I now keep him regularly updated on all my gear changes.
Chilling (literally) at the Ice Bar 6. Avoid parking your bikes under a pile of rubbish
OK, so we didn’t see a pile of rubbish and think, “that looks like a great place to keep our bikes”. We parked the bikes on a side street, went for dinner and a few drinks, and came back to find them totally submerged in boxes and rubbish that had toppled over from the mountain made by the nearby shops and restaurants. Steve’s face was hilarious, and became even more so when I took pictures repeatedly of him digging the bikes out rather than help him.
Getting hammered on Las Ramblas, Barcelona 7. Remember where you hired the bike from
Is it just us who are soft enough to forget where we hired the bikes from? I know we hired them three days ago, and I know we were a bit drunk when we did, but even I was shocked at our stupidity on this one! Eventually, Steve remembered he had the receipt from the shop and so we were able to locate the shop. It was nowhere near where we’d been looking, which proved to me we were both a lot more drunk when we hired them than I remembered us being.
To Bike, or not to Bike?
I think that pretty much sums up my cycling experiences of Barcelona. I definitely recommend bikes to get around quickly and easily; it’s much nicer actually seeing the city rather than spending it underground negotiating a subway system that is identical to that of every other major city.
-
Top Hampstead Wedding Venues
Hampstead is well known for its beautiful buildings and estates which open their doors to couples looking to tie the knot in some of the grandest venues in London. When I was researching my Wedding in 2012 I myself took a look at these lovely venues and wanted to share my top choices with you.
Kenwood House
If you are a fan of Hugh Grant you might recognise this elegant mansion from the film “Notting Hill” – with its graceful white stucco exteriors, Kenwood House is both imposing and a well-loved landmark with spectacular views towards the centre of the city.
The original house dates from the early 17th century and since then has gone through a number of updates including the addition of the Orangery in 1700 and the remodelling from 1764 – 1779 by Robert Adam (Scottish neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer) who added the stunning library.
Kenwood House is available for a ceremony, drinks reception and dinner seven days a week with a number of options for Weddings including the West Wing and old Kitchen offering space for 80, Green Room, Music Room and Dining Room with space for 40 and a Marquee in the Flower Garden for up to 480 guests for the reception.
Source: English-heritage.org.uk Fenton House
This is a charming 17th-century merchant’s townhouse, now owned by National Trust, located at Hampstead Grove. It is a lovely detached house with a beautiful walled garden featuring roses, a 300 year old orchard and a working kitchen garden. Fenton House is amongst Choice Hotel’s top places to visit in Hampstead with some great sights.
The interior offers some fantastic ambience with collections of early keyboard instruments and paintings (including the collection of Peter Barkworth, and loans of Sir William Nicholson paintings), porcelain, 17th-century needlework and furniture from the Georgian period.
Fenton House has all the ingredients for an elegant and stylish wedding reception. The Long Dining Room offers space for 25 to enjoy a sit down meal, alternatively a canapé or drinks reception for 50 can be accommodated. If you wish to enjoy the enchanting garden then a Marquee can be erected which can hold 200 guests for drinks reception and 100 for a seated meal.
Source: nationaltrust.org.uk Burgh House
Amongst the cobbled streets of Hampstead Village, just steps away from the Heath you can find this Grade I-listed historic building Burgh House, constructed in 1704 during the reign of Queen Anne. The house has been home to many over the years the notable residents including Elsie Bambridge, daughter to Rudyard Kipling, and husband from 1933-1937.
When I visited Burgh House it was the traditional, wood-panelled Music Room which stood out as the perfect location for the ceremony with a Bluthner baby grand piano on hand for a magic entrance, and the modern Peggy Jay Gallery makes for a unique reception space. The venue offers space for 110 people for standing receptions and up to 72 for more formal, seated events.
Burgh House offers on-site catering for your big day with top notch staff guaranteeing the highest level of service for you and your guests. Host a champagne reception, treat your guests to a scrumptious vintage afternoon tea, nibble canapés, mingle over a hot buffet or seat your guests for a decadent evening meal. For more information see their Wedding Brochure.
Source:youandyourwedding.co.uk
