We’re delighted that so many of you joined in with Big Yellow Friday and especially pleased to hear that it largely proved to be great fun too. Thank you to Susan for sharing with us how a small idea just grew and grew!
Ever since my daughter, Fearne, was diagnosed with portal hypertension five years ago the team at CLDF were a great help to us, and joining in with Big Yellow Friday seemed a great way of giving something back. My original plan was to do a small coffee morning at home. This quickly turned into a full afternoon event at our local community hall in Brechin as that way we could catch people after work and on the school run.
Once I started to share the idea with a few people, the response was just wonderful – I had so many offers of help. Friends and volunteers came forward for all sorts of roles on the day. As well as tea, coffee and cakes, we planned a raffle, face painting, poetry reading and even a spiritual medium offering readings.
We spread the word through Facebook – I created an event page, which got great engagement – as well as lots of word-of-mouth, social media sharing, and posters dotted around Brechin. It just so happened that Fearne’s school was already holding a charity day that fell on Big Yellow Friday. They organised a jumble sale with proceeds split between four charities and added a ‘Wear Something Bright or Yellow theme’, so it all tied in beautifully.
I was invited along for a small presentation at the school to accept the funds, and was happy to answer any questions the children had about Fearne and her condition. As a community Brechin has always been very supportive – they were there with us back in 2021 when everything happened so quickly, and the GoFundMe set up at the time meant so much to us, helping Fearne her brother, Brian and I deal with our time in London as much as we could, during a very difficult time.
Nevertheless, I’m conscious that times are tough for many people at the moment and there are plenty of good causes asking for support, so I was delighted that we got such a good turnout at our event. The fundraising pack which Dora provided had lots of great information, but I was always on hand for any questions too.
The final boost came from Brian’s workplace, Taqa, whose corporate social responsibility programme matched the funds raised by employees for charities close to their hearts – and that made a huge difference to our total.
We were completely overwhelmed to finish just over £4,500. Fearne is absolutely ecstatic to see what she has achieved and honestly, so am I. Yes it was slightly stressful to plan, but it was so much fun on the day – and I wouldn’t change a thing!
