You don’t have to be a star baker or a great runner to join in with Big Yellow Friday. Maybe, like Darian, you could put your existing talents to great use.
We joined in with Big Yellow Friday last year because our son, Wesley, was born with biliary atresia so of course the work that CLDF do is really important to us. I decided to do tarot reading because it was something I’ve done for close to a decade, both personally and professionally. I actually had a spiritual and wellness small business before Wesley was born and it’s something I just love to do! I think sometimes people are put off when they hear tarot because they think of ghosts or things they’ve seen in movies when really it’s just a self- care and reflective tool and can be really great at gaining some deeper insight in to something you might not be able to fully articulate yourself.
I promoted my fundraising event by creating some social media posts which was actually the first time I’d shared what was going on with Wesley, so it generated a lot of additional support which was unexpected! I set aside a day that I’d do the readings so the posts had details of how to book and pay via PayPal. I asked for a £5 minimum donation but many people donated more. It actually caught the eye of a woman I went to school with who was born with a rare disease and she donated a bouquet of dried flowers to be raffled off when you booked a reading.
All in all, we ended up raising £535 just through making some posts on Facebook and Instagram and word of mouth. I had a lot of fun doing it and it didn’t take much time at all. I managed to get through them all by mid evening whilst looking after a poorly 4 month old!!
I must admit I have been reluctant to do fundraising in the past because I’ve found the idea a little bit intimidating and felt I had to make a huge grand gesture or spend a lot of time and money planning and creating events. But really this cost me nothing besides some time and it generated a lot of money. It also brought in some additional support from people I would have never connected with otherwise.
So I’m so glad I did it and am hoping that this year’s Big Yellow Friday goes just as well!
