Facebook Fundraising for 2012 London Marathon

[Taoofproserpine]

Our cousin and her husband are running the London Marathon in aid of the Alzheimer's Society, in memory of our Nan who suffered from this terrible illness. In November they gave my sister and I a few of their unwanted items to sell at a bootsale to help boost their total. As it was hardly bootsale weather at that time of year we thought we would try and sell them to our friends and family on Facebook. Within a few days we were overwhelmed with people offering donations and so we set up our own fundraising page and it took off in a major way. We have had to rent a garage to store everything and now the weather is better we have been doing a couple of bootsales a week in addition to running the page. Since January we have raised over £3000.00 and the total increases every day. We are planning to keep the page running until the end of the month but are sure to have lots of items left which we were planning on giving to an Alzheimer's charity shop. However it does not appear that they actually have shops and we are wondering if anyone had any suggestions as to what we can go with all the surplus as it is much too good to throw away. We were thinking of Help the Aged but it is not really the same thing. We are based on the border of East London and Essex. If anyone would be interested in looking at our page, here is the link. Thank you http://www.facebook.com/groups/234569379959406/

 

[Tender Face]

Hi there – and a big thumbs up for such amazing effort and a fabulous total so far.

I am not in your area – just some generic ideas for fund-raising: (As you are an experienced boot-seller forgive me if this is grandmother and eggs and all that) ...

Got the time and resources to sell surplus though eBay? As a boot-seller, presumably you are already ‘latched on’ to partnerships with local schools or other organisations (hire a table for their proceeds – raise money for your own concerns .... work in partnership to create a selection of new and old goods to create tombolas etc with a ‘split’ of proceeds ...... )

Can’t imagine how much ‘stuff’ you’ve accumulated if you have needed to rent a garage! Are there items could be recycled? I guess as you mentioned Help the Aged (part of AgeUk now in most parts) you are keen if money can’t be realised and raised directly for AS that it benefits other charities supporting dementia? Sue Ryder is a good example.

One other idea ..... care homes themselves often have spring/summer fairs to raise money (mum’s care home held one specifically to raise funds for a sensory garden for residents). I donated goods to be sold and was asked if in fact some things could be used for residents .... if goods donated can’t make money directly – perhaps they can be ‘recycled’? You might be able to bring a smile to a resident who has no relatives and needs that nearly new cardi – or to whom a vase for their room means the world – or would love that CD .......

Have you contacted the Fund-raising team at AS for ideas to turn items into cash and donations? I do know they were exploring the idea of Charity auctions on eBay at one point ......

Wishing you the very best. Well done so far,

Regards, Karen, x