Fundraising
We depend on donations to provide the very best care for our young patients and their families.
Our fantastic supporters organise their own fundraising events for us all year round: from cake sales and walks, to art exhibitions and wine tasting, the sky’s the limit!
If you'd like to join in and organise your own activity, then you’ll find everything you need here; inspiration, advice and all things nice to make sure it’s a success. Have a look at our five top tips or get in touch to tell us all about what you’ve got planned.
1. Pick an idea
Whether you’d like to do something adventurous, quirky, sporty or social, you’ll find inspiration in our A-Z list below. Your idea can be as big or small as you want - be creative!
2. Plan your activity
The better prepared you are, the more smoothly your activity will run. Think Who, What, When, Where, Why and How.
Have a goal and set yourself a fundraising target to help you plan. Think about how much you want to raise and when you want to raise it by. Be ambitious!
3. Promote your fundraiser
Once the details are decided, it’s time to drum up lots of interest from everyone you know.
Let us know about your event and we can help raise awareness through Facebook and Twitter.
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Tell people why you’re raising money for us. Use different forms of promotion to make sure you connect with as many people as possible. Put up posters and flyers anywhere you think people might see them, e.g. local shops, leisure centres, libraries and community centres. The more people you invite, the more money you will raise. Email, text, and post the details of your event online to all your friends, family and contacts. You could create an event on Facebook or tweet about your fund-raiser to spread the word even further.
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Invite all of your family, friends and colleagues.
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Involve your local media – call your local paper or radio, or send a press release.
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Create a JustGiving online fundraising page – it’s the easiest way to get everyone to sponsor you – you can share it on Facebook and Twitter too.
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Make your fundraising go further with Gift Aid
4. Pay in your money
You can collect donations yourself and send them to us or raise money through JustGiving.
5. Pat yourself on the back
All your hard work has paid off. The funds you've raised will help the Cancer Unit continue to care for all our young patients and their families. Thank you so much for everything you’ve done!
Our A-Z of fundraising ideas
A
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Alcohol
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Choose how long you are going to give up drinking for, and then ask people to sponsor you
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Artwork sale or auction
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Of friends work or that of local artists
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Arts / Craft Stall
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Sell your works of art at a craft fair
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Afternoon Tea
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Put the kettle on and get baking
B
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Bag packing at a local supermarket
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Ask your supermarket if you can hold a bag packing day
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BBQ
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Ask guests to pay an entrance fee, then provide them with food and drink for free
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Bike rides
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You name the distance and the route
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Book sales
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Clear out your book shelves and get ready to sell
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Book club
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Meet monthly, charge a club fee
C
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Cake bake
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Invite your neighbours round or do this at work. Bake a few cakes and sell each slice
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Carol singing
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Get your vocal chords warmed up
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Car washing
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Get your sponges ready
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Coffee mornings
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Get the good mugs out and have a few friends round
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Coppers for CCUC
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Collect all those unwanted coppers that weigh down your pockets
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Chocolate ban
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Give up chocolate for a day, week or month and give the cash you saved to CCUC
D
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Dances
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Organise a disco or ceilidh night. You need a venue, band/ DJ and a drinks licence (if you are selling alcohol)
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Dog walking
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Get your neighbours to pay you.
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Dress down day
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Ditch the uniform or the suit and dress down for the day
E
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Exhibition
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Get local arts and crafts groups to hold an exhibition of their work. Ask for an admission fee
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Eco Day
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Dress green and do good deeds for the day like litter picking and recycling your rubbish. Get sponsored for all the activities you do
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eBay
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Register sign up to eBay and auction off your old, unwanted items
F
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Film night
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Create your own cinema and hold a film night for family and friends. Sell popcorn and drinks and charge an entry fee
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Football match
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Collections at half time
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Fun runs
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Simply book a place in an officially organised event and ask friends for sponsorship
G
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Garden party
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Or open garden; show off your plants and offer refreshments / entertainment
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Grow a beard or moustache
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Get sponsored to grow a beard or moustache
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Give it up
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Get sponsored to go without something e.g. chocolate, smoking, computer games
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Guess the weight / number of
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e.g. balloons in a car, sweets in a jar
H
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Halloween party
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Get into fancy dress
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Head and tails auction
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Idea for a special event – everyone donates £5, stands up and decides whether they're heads or tails by putting a hand on their head or their bottom. A coin is flipped and the result announced. Those who get it wrong sit down. Continue until only one person is left. Winner gets a prize.
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Head shave
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How about shaving your head or waxing those legs?
I
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International evening
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Hold a themed international night and decorate your hall with flags from across the globe. Serve national dishes and entertain your guests with world music
J
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Jelly eating competition
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Great fun for the kids
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Jumble sale
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Get friends to donate unwanted quality items and sell them
K
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Karaoke night
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Get friends together for a sing-song
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Knit
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Put your needles together and sell your wares at the local bazaar
L
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Local races and marathons
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Take advantage of any local races that are established in your area. Book a place and ask friends for sponsorship
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Loud tie day
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Get your company to sponsor it
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Litter picking
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Litter pickers at the ready – tidy your local community for a good cause
M
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Market stall
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Book a pitch at your local market. Sell fruit and vegetable from your garden or unwanted items from your home
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Master classes
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Organise a small class to teach other people your talent e.g. knitting / gardening
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Matched Giving
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Lots of employers will match some or all of the sponsorship you raise. It’s a great way to increase your fundraising so check with your manager to see if your company takes part in a matched giving scheme
N
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Name the teddy
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Charge people to come up with the most interesting suggestion. You could raffle the teddy at the end to
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No smoking week
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For all those who need a real incentive
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Non uniform day
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For kids at school
O
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Outgrown exchange
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A sale of children's clothes, books or toys
P
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Plant sale
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Next time you're planting seedlings or taking cuttings why not double the quantity and have a plant sale later in the year?
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Plant a tree
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In collaboration with your local authority's tree planting programme
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Pub games evening
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Teams pay to enter. Have plenty of fun prizes and charge for refreshments
Q
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Quiz night
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Get your questions ready and charge per team
R
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Race night
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Organise an event at your local dog or horse racing stadium
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Raffles
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Get friends and family or local business to donate prizes and raffle them off
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Read-a-thon
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How many books can you read over a short period of time?
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Scrabble competition
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Skydive
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If you're brave enough to jump out of a plane, there'll be plenty of people who will sponsor you
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Slim
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Why not raise money as you lose the pounds? Get friends to sponsor you
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Swimathon
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Kids and adults can do sponsored distances
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Teddy bears picnic
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charge for entry and organise a clown, face painters etc
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Treasure hunt
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Get some prizes donated and organise a set of clues leading people from one location to the next. All participants pay a fee to enter. Finish with a barbecue?
U
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(Down) Under day
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Celebrate all things Australian, hold a BBQ and ask everyone to dress up like surfers or beach babes. Ask friends to pay an entry fee
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Ugly face pulling competition
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A prize for the most outrageous face, Make sure you get photographic evidence. Each entrant pays to play
W
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Walk
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Take part in a sponsored walk
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Wine tasting evening
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Spend an evening tasting fine wines. Ask attendees to pay an entry fee, provide wine, cheese and French bread free of charge. Try to get the wine donated
X
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X-Factor Competition
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Celebrate your talents by putting on a show
Y
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Yoga marathon
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Only for the very supple!
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Yes day
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Say yes to everyone's demands (within reason!) and ask people to sponsor you to do so
Z
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Zany events
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The list is endless… zumba marathon, dress like a clown… go as daring as you like. Get people to sponsor you or donate on the day
We're so grateful for your valuable support, which will make sure we can continue to care for children in the province who suffer with all forms of childhood cancer and selected benign haematological conditions.
We would love to hear about your fundraising activities. Take photos of what you do and send them to us so we can celebrate your success by sharing them on our website.
Fundraising not for you? Make a one off donation
Many children come through the doors of the unit every year with complex conditions, sometimes life threatening and in need of specialist care. With your help we can give hope to children and continue to make the Children’s Cancer Unit the special place that it is.
