October is the national breast cancer awareness month and this October will be the 25th anniversary of the pink ribbon! You can get involved and partake in breast cancer awareness month quite easily. There are loads of opportunities and if there isn’t it isn’t too hard to create some. The easiest options to get involved is one, partake in someone else’s fundraiser or two start your own fundraiser. You can be really creative or doing something basic but the bottom line is you’re helping.
A lot of people start in the workplace or their social groups and communities. Here’s some of our fundraiser ideas.
At Work Ideas
- You could do a charity raffle – get local businesses on board and ask people to donate prizes or services. You’ll find people are up for helping because of the cause you’re raising money for. Selling tickets in the office should be easy too if you keep the prices low. Everyone loves a raffle too!
- Pink for the day – Your office could go Pink for the day! Ditch the ties or go pink head to toe!
Community and friends
- Quiz Night – A quiz night is a fun way to get all your friends together to raise money. Pubs, bowling clubs, community halls etc are great options and are all easy to hire. There are loads of free quizzes online too or you could ask a local DJ (they might do it cheaper due to the cause).
- Collect Donations – A bucket and a smile is all that’s needed. Stand outside local shops and see how much change you can gather. People will put their spare change quite easily as soon as they see what your raising money for.
- Organize a race – You could organize a race! This is quite a popular type of event for fundraising. It gets members of your community together and can be great fun too. You should give everyone notice so they can train and ask for a commission upon arrival.
- Haircut Party – Most women have a go to stylist. However, a unique idea to raise funds would be to ask your hairstylist if they could help organize a haircut party at your local salon. They would offer a discount or the proceeds would go to your fundraiser.
- Darts Match – Fundraising is all about being different. If you try get people to do something for charity you’ve got a better chance at it because it plays on the heart strings. This could be an interesting way to get your friends together. Even if they don’t play they might give it a shot since its to raise money and they’re playing with people who don’t normally play either.
- Horse Racing – This is pretty easy to organize and you’ll be able to get lots of people involved. All you need is a horse Racing DVD and a TV really. These are quite popular and can be really successful too.
- Charity Bands Battle – A really fun and popular way of raising funds is to throw a charity band battle. It is also a great chance for local artists to play in front of a crowd. Remember each band has its own following too so it shouldn’t be too hard to pull in a crowd. Plus, more people the more money you’ll make.
- Flash Mob – flash mobs are when groups of people assemble suddenly in a public place. Usually to dance or sing but people have gotten creative and done things like pillow fighting or freezing still.
- Silent March – This is a very powerful way of showing respect for something.
- Marathon Events – You can do marathon events for almost anything. 24 hour DJ mix or 24-hour ping pong but the most common one is just normal marathons.
- Silent Auction – For a silent auction to be truly effective it has to include interesting items that will intrigue and excite your guests! It’s tough to come up with ideas for silent auctions that are easy to sort and valuable enough to bring in some decent money or else it just really isn’t worth the time. For example, two movie tickets won’t bring in more than £20 but a package that includes movie tickets, restaurant and a taxi and is branded the “ultimate date night” could easily bring in more than £100. Try get items like helicopter rides, ask your local police station if they could give the winner a ride in a police car or holiday discounts from your local travel agency etc. etc.
If you have or know someone with cancer they can talk to www.breastcancercare.org.uk nurses or use their forums. If you are looking for psychologic support, you can visit the Loc. There are plenty of other resources out there to make you feel comfortable.