They've demanded a pic, so from now on I get my ugly mug in the paper too! As you'll read below, fitness has taken a back seat this week (but I have an excuse!). I have been for a slow short jog both today and yesterday though, and plan for a long one on Thursday, so things are still ticking over. Anyway, week two below - enjoy!
Former Offaly Independent reporter Laura (Lollipop) Ryder is waving goodbye to her couch. She’s giving up the sedentary lifestyle for one big reason – to climb the world’s highest free standing mountain, Mount Kilimanjaro, this August. As well as pushing herself to her physical limits, she’s also pushing to fundraise for two very good causes. You can keep up with both journeys in this column every week.
Fitness has taken a back seat this week; it’s all been about fundraising. A work trip to London with only hand luggage and no room for runners no matter how I arranged and re-arranged my bag put paid to any strides in the fitness department. And though I gave myself a shock when I thought this first, I really missed jogging! Coming from a high of finally running 10km last week to nothing this week left me strangely drained of energy.
Or perhaps my tiredness is down to the organisation skills I’m having to get to grips with as I put together my first fundraising gig.
When I decided to raise money for charity in tandem with getting fit to climb Kilimanjaro I also decided my fundraisers would be events people would gladly pay money to go to, aside from the charity aspect. While I’m still totally behind that idea, it’s hard work! At the moment I’m putting together a 90s night in Dublin, finalising dates for a party in Tullamore, starting to think about a gig with a few different bands (if any bands reading are interested in taking part give me a shout!), and even debating trying to put on a roller disco as well as the inevitable table quiz and raffle! Putting my own money down to confirm these gigs when I can scarce afford it what with having plane tickets and climb packages to pay for definitely feels like putting my money where my mouth is! Any marketing skills and friends I might possess will be truly tested as I twist arms so events are well attended and I see good returns on any investments I make, because it’s not just me who will lose out if my fundraisers fail; it’s charity too.
Which brings me neatly to the subject of my chosen charities.
Deciding to raise money for charity is easy. Deciding what charity exactly is much harder. There were countless charities I could have chosen, all of them worthy. In the end I settled on two.
After thinking long and hard I narrowed down the areas I couldn’t not support to homelessness and mental health, and from there to the Simon Community and Headstrong specifically.
I live in Rathmines in Dublin now, and on my half hour walk to and from work in the city centre every day I see about ten homeless people. Most of the time they make me feel desolate and sad. Sometimes they annoy me. All times they make me want to do something more than just give them a bit of spare change. And I know the homeless people I encounter on any given day are just the tip of the iceberg as much as I know that by myself the difference I can make is limited. So I want to add a lump sum to Simon’s pocket. As a nod to my midlands links, I’ve decided that two thirds of all money raised for Simon will go to the Midlands Simon coffers.
On to Headstrong, last year I randomly sat in on a talk about suicide prevention given by its founder Tony Bates. It had such an impact on me that I wrote him an email the next day to tell him so. I’ve also known enough people with mental health problems to know that it’s quite the problem in Ireland, and any of us could be affected at any time. Most adult mental health problems can be traced back to teenage years, and it’s this age group the Headstrong charity works with. To be honest I just think any organisation that works to promote good lifelong mental health deserves support.
Details are below if you’d like to support either charity, and all donations are much appreciated.
Until next week,
Lollipop x
Sponsor me
http://www.mycharity.ie/event/lollipop_kili_headstrong
http://www.mycharity.ie/event/lollipop_kili_simoncommunity
Follow me on Facebook
http://facebook.com/lollipopversuskilimanjaro
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