“To date, four million women have raised over £240 million for Cancer Research UK’s life-saving work.” (Race for Life) “Finishers have raised, it is estimated, more than £360million in sponsorship for numerous charities over the years – a record breaking £46.5million was raised for good causes by last year’s event alone…” (London Marathon History, media pack 2008). These figures show what a powerful tool race sponsorship is for fundraising. Individuals seeking sponsorship from family, friends, colleagues and local companies can raise funds which can really make a difference to the lives of others.
In October 2008, 3 Vision Africa staff members/volunteers took part in the Standard Chartered Marathon in Nairobi. Each runner selected their distance of choice from 10k, half marathon and full marathon and sought sponsorship from a variety of sources. As a result, the funds were raised to pay school fees for 4 children for a year. If 3 people can do that, imagine the potential if we can get 50 runners…or 100…or 1,000.
Vision Africa is launching their “Run to the Rescue” campaign to recruit runners to get on the starting blocks and look for sponsorship. For those who take up the challenge, our Run to the Rescue Sponsor Form (PDF) can be used as a starting point. For those who have never run a race before this could be the perfect motivation to get fit for a good cause. There are plenty of events to choose from and websites like http://www.born2run.co.uk/bornToRun/webmodules/Pages/Events.aspx can be used to find one in your local area. If running sounds a bit too much of a stretch, you could get a group of friends together and organize your own sponsored walk or cycle.
Kenya is currently in a period of drought and famine with news headlines reporting children dying of starvation. Newspapers claim that 1 in 3 Kenyans are facing starvation. This makes the need for funding even more important than usual as our projects are faced with increased food prices and scarcity of some staple foods. Combining this natural disaster with the economic crisis being experienced all over the world gives Vision Africa a tough job as individuals and corporates struggle to find the extra cash to donate. If we can recruit a large group of people who ask an even larger group of people to give a small amount of cash, together we can continue to support the vulnerable children of Kenya.
