The very title of this blog makes me cringe. I hate it. It
makes me feel awkward and uncomfortable. I feel like if you could physically
see me now, you would see that I’m squirming in my chair. This was not
something I had anticipated when I embarked on the Uganda project. Honestly, I’d nonchalantly figured it would
be easy. It’s such a good cause, of
course people would be willing to donate.
The problem is, I’d overlooked the fact that I’d have to ASK them to
donate. I don’t know how I’d thought the whole fundraising thing would
work. I’d said to my husband, when we
discussed the money required for the programme, “it’s fine, I’ll fundraise!”
The thing is, I’ve never done any fundraising before. I’ve done Macmillan coffee mornings, I host
one every year at work, but this is a widely publicised event and people pop
their donations in the box without me asking them to. I’ve done a couple of the Race for Life runs
for Cancer Research, but the sponsorship pages just went up and people
donated. I also didn’t have a huge
target and raised the money quite easily.
This is different. This is a lot
of money and I have to ASK for it.
I’m sure it’s a cultural phenomenon. Us Brits don’t like talking about money. We don’t discuss our wages or the exact price
we pay for our cars or houses. If I go
for a meal with my parents, we don’t discuss how much the bill was. We just seem to have this idea that talking
about money is somehow rude or disrespectful.
We’re not comfortable asking for money.
This leaves me with a bit of a conundrum. How do you raise money without asking for it?
Simple answer: you don’t! Unfortunately,
there is no money tree shedding notes in my garden and no fairy godmother
offering me plane tickets, so instead of trying to avoid it, I’ve decided to
give you some really good reasons for WHY I am asking for your financial
support as I embark on this fantastic project.
Firstly, I am asking for your donations so that I can be involved
in a project that aims to fundamentally change students’ lives for the
better. I’m not asking for money for
something frivolous or selfish, but for your support in helping to create a
better standard of education in a developing country. Education is a right that
we often take for granted in the UK. We
take our children to school and fully expect them to receive a high quality of
teaching and learning that will give them access to opportunities and
qualifications that will help them to lead financially stable and ultimately
fulfilling lives. This sort of education
is not available to everyone, but it should be!
That’s why I am doing this.
I want to be involved in something that is I bigger than any pride I
might have over asking for money, something that is far bigger than just myself
at all. I want to be involved in
ensuring students, irrespective of background or location, receive a high quality
and standard of education, so that they have access to the all the wonderful opportunities
our world has to offer.
Secondly, teaching has given me an amazing career and I
really want to give something back.
Teaching is both the hardest job that there is and the most
rewarding. I left the physical classroom
three years ago with the ambition of completing my doctorate and finding out
more about what makes teaching and learning as good as it can be. I’ll admit, I had been worn down by the bureaucratic
interferences in the classroom. It’s not
my intention to discuss that here, but I left wanting to find better ways to
teach and learn and to make a difference for my students.
Since working for Tute and teaching online, I’ve been given
a truly unique opportunity to explore what works from a pedagogical perspective
(methods and practices of teaching). Not
only will going to Uganda give me an opportunity to share what I have learnt
about teaching and how to support students in making progress, but it will also
give me the chance to explore this area further. In Uganda resources are limited. There teachers rely on their abilities as
teachers, their pedagogy, more heavily than in other areas where they might
have the luxuries of technology, text books and the raft of educational
materials we might have elsewhere. Not
only will I be able to share my knowledge and experience with the teachers we
will be helping to train, but I know that they will have a great deal to teach
me as well! Going to Uganda will no
doubt make me a better teacher and a better researcher too.
The final reason I am asking you for money is perhaps the
most challenging to put down on paper. I
am asking because I have to.
Unfortunately, I am not in a position to fund this programme solo. I am asking because I need your help to make
this a reality. I am committed to going,
passionate about the work and dedicated to the ideals of the programme, but
without your help, I can’t do it. My
husband and I work full time, we have a modest house in Ellesmere Port and we
are by no means wealthy. I spend the
last week before payday counting the pennies and adding up the cost of the
shopping in the trolley to make sure I’ve got enough money to pay for it. I don’t have savings. I pay student fees from previous and my
current studies and childcare fees so that I can go out to work. One day I hope all this studying and hard
work pays off and I have the sort of income where I can be the philanthropist
that can afford to fund this sort of programme for other like-minded individuals,
but I’m not there yet. I need your help.
So there you have it.
It’s not my favourite part of the project, but I need to ask people for
money to make it a reality. If any of
the reasons I’ve given have convinced you that this is a worthwhile project and
you want to contribute to my fundraising efforts, please do! If you are able to give even just a couple of
pounds, that’s a huge help. I’m
organising a toy fair, a bake off and a fundraising evening over the coming
weeks and will keep you posted, but if you’re interested in making a donation
to help pay for the fellowship place, flights or resources, please visit my gofundme page.
Thank you for reading.
Well said
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