Coronavirus Lockdown Relay! HUGE Success!!

MARDi Fundraiser - By Bob Davies

The Coronavirus Lockdown Relay fundraiser on behalf of Medical Aid for Refugees and Displaced People (MARDi) proved an immense success raising, as I write, £1,742 . The fundraiser runs until 30th May on Facebook. 

The original inspiration for the fundraiser arose from a desire to help refugees who were the most vulnerable. MARDi support street homeless in Paris and I’d been involved with them on behalf of both DRS and directly with a project between MARDi and Care4Calais. 

But what to do for fundraiser was the question which was answered by Joanne. She suggested a virtual relay race where what we passed on was not a baton but a selfie. Sal did a brilliant job of using her expertise to map out the Derby route which created an attractive flower pattern on the map. Once the idea was there I needed to set up the Facebook page for the group and a fundraising page with a profile picture created by Joanne’s husband, Rob.  After that we needed to involve people who would be keen to take part in the event. Joanne and Sal spread the word to their running contacts while Rosie Ayliffe put together a Wirksworth group of walkers. I knew Ranald was committed to helping refugees and he was part of a very active orienteering group. He brought in 16 runners/ cyclists by also linking the event to his 68th birthday. It was this reaching out to a wide community which I feel made the event such a success. 

In this period, when many of the previously successful fundraising activities prove difficult, we are likely to need to be creative to raise donations. Think of something usual, contact people who would love to do that activity and go for it!