Raising money for Juconi – running marathons

Kath Qualtrough first volunteered with JUCONI in 2003, when she helped organise sports work in the sectors. The following year she returned, this time to help with administrative work in the JUCONI office. Kath has been running a marathon every year since 2000, as a means to raise money for charities. She has raised over £6,000 for JUCONI in total, through running the London marathon (2004) and the Paris marathon (2003). Here she writes how she went about this:

“Fundraising is easy, as there doesn’t need to be any pressure: whatever you raise, is better than nothing. A little can go a very long way, especially in developing countries. Even more so, when you consider the advantages of Gift Aid in the UK - which adds about 28p to every £1 you make. All you need for fundraising is what you’ve already got – your drive, and your imagination. The rest, is up to how you use them! It can also be really good fun, because it involves being with people in a positive way: be it an event you have organised, where people can get really involved, or a challenge you are undertaking which you and your sponsors are inspired by.

When I planned running London this year, I intended it to be the last marathon for a while as my legs were suffering a bit from all the pounding. As such, I wanted to make more money than I ever had, and break my previous record on the London course. So I set myself a target of over £4,000 to raise, and aimed to finish in under 4 hours. The great thing about having a target in mind, is that you can then do your utmost to surpass it! I emailed friends, family and colleagues, and asked everyone to spread the word. I had worked with JUCONI in 2003, so was able to send people background information about their work if requested. Of course people don’t have to reply to your email, but if they say maybe - then they’re on the list! Even if they only give £1, that’s £1 closer to the target.

Whilst running the marathon this year, I carried with me a photo of some of the JUCONI children who I’d worked with in 2003. That pushed me over the line in 3h56, despite a bad leg injury setting in from around mile 12…. so I am very grateful to them for that! In total, I raised £4,045 in sponsorship from the London marathon this year. This equated to just over $7,000 for JUCONI at the time, which made such a difference in terms of the work they were able to do. Part of the money went towards funding two camping trips for the children, which took place whilst I was there in 2004. It was great to see sponsors’ funds being put to good use in that way.

My employer, PwC, kindly sponsored me £1,000 – which helped no end towards achieving the target. Another corporate donor, Syan, also generously donated-in-kind - by paying for my return flight to Ecuador. This was organised through a business colleague of my father – and hence was the result of my rather relentless mantra “please tell who you know, to tell who they know, to tell who they know about JUCONI - and maybe THAT person will want to sponsor me”!

Overall, the most important thing is - to never give up! You may have to adapt your plans, but stick with your goal. You will get so much out of an event, quite apart from raising money for a good cause. Organising these events can become quite addictive – and can fit into your free time very easily. Imagine holding a party for your favourite charity – what a great excuse to have fun with all your mates, and maybe get a free band in too! Having a target always helps a lot too, as then you’ve got a sound aim to work towards… which is always a good thing.”