Contact the Elderly Fundraising Guide
About Contact the Elderly We are dedicated to relieving the acute loneliness and isolation of older people aged 75 and over who live on their own One Sunday a month our volunteers collect an older person from their home and accompany them to a volunteer host s home where everyone enjoys an afternoon of tea, cake and companionship We currently have 750 groups across England Scotland and Wales supporting over 5,800 older people We have a team of over 10,400 volunteers who host, drive and co-ordinate our tea parties We are a national charity founded in 1965 and since our first tea party we have supported over 100,000 older people Contact the Elderly tea parties are one of the most valuable things. Most of all I admire the volunteers who give their time so generously. Older guest, Stan from Edinburgh
Simple We know there is a simple solution to loneliness; we have been delivering it for over 50 years. We give our guests something to look forward to on a regular basis, a new friendship group, vital face-to-face contact as well as: personal transport private hospitality in a volunteer s home a support network that helps them remain independent a date in the diary to look forward to yet effective We conducted research that was carried out by independent agency QA Research to determine the impact of our monthly Sunday tea parties: a staggering 95% of our guests say it gives them something to look forward to 90% say they have made new friends 28% have joined other activities since joining their local group
Fundraising idea number 1: Get Sponsored! Whether you re a MAML (middle aged man in Lycra), a keen runner, a part time jogger, a rambler or fancy a trek through the Amazon, there are plenty of fundraising opportunities out there. If you want any information on a specific event or if you have a particular challenge in mind, please do get in contact!
Fundraising idea number 2: Organise an event! Things to do at work: Office bake sale Tea tasting Retro sweet sale Dress up/down Friday Christmas party Coffee morning Bingo Sweepstake Quiz
Fundraising idea number 3: Ways to donate! Become a Friend Giving 5 per month or 60 a year helps us launch more groups, recruit more volunteers and welcome more guests into our groups and gives us a steady stream of income we can rely on. Payroll or Pension Giving If your employer, company or personal pension provider runs a Payroll Giving scheme, you can donate straight from your wages or pension. It happens before tax is deducted from your income so it s cheaper if you are a basic rate tax payer and want to donate 5 per month it will cost you 4 (the taxman pays the rest!) Legacies A legacy pledge to Contact the Elderly gives you the knowledge that, without using any of your current income, you will help prevent loneliness blighting the lives of older people in the future. In Memory Many families and friends find that choosing to make a donation in memory of someone special can be a positive way to celebrate their life. It can be a great comfort to remember a loved one in this meaningful way.
` Fundraising idea number 4: Quirky ways to fundraise! PayPal Giving Fund - When you pay through ebay Checkout for an item you've won, you have the option to add a small donation to Contact the Elderly. By adding a little extra to your purchase, you can support a good cause when you shop on ebay. ebay - When you buy an item marked with the ebay for Charity ribbon some or all of what you pay will go to charity. Savoo - Shop online using Savoo and they will donate 1p for every search and 50% of their affiliate commissions they receive on sales ChariTABLE - Make a restaurant bookings using the charitable app on your smart phone and the restaurant will donate 1 per diner Give a Car - Recycle your old car and support Contact the Elderly by using Give a Car The Recycling Factory Donate whilst recycling your old ink cartridges using The Recycling Factory
Setting up an online fundraising page We advise all our fundraisers to use Virgin Money Giving as their online fundraising platform. Virgin Money Giving is 100% not-for-profit and they pass all donations and Gift Aid on to us, unlike JustGiving who charge us a 5% transaction fee. You can set up a Virgin Money Giving page for any kind of fundraising activity you have in mind including taking part in an organised event, a personal challenge, a special occasion or raising money in memory of someone special. All the information you need about how to set up a page is on their website: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com
How Contact the Elderly will support you Everyone at Contact the Elderly will be behind your efforts and supporting you 100% of the way. We will be writing regular posts on Facebook, Twitter and our website, keeping all our followers up to date with your fundraising activities to drum up lots of support. We shall provide you with posters, leaflets, balloons, T-shirts, tea pot badges everything you need to make your fundraising events a success! Make sure you send us photos of your training, cake sales and tea parties so that we can post them on our social media platforms!
Previous challenges fundraisers have completed Vitality London 10k Glasgow ½ Marathon Mount Toubkal Trek Virgin London Marathon Other events include: the London to Paris bike ride, the Surrey 100, the Three Lakes, the Three Peaks, Mount Kilimanjaro trek, the Great North Run, skydives, Swimathons, Dry January, Fun Runs, Tough Mudder the list goes on!
Previous events fundraisers have organised Drinks reception Office pub quiz Photography exhibition Bucket collection Charity football match
Mollie s Top Tips! Mollie Hawes from Liverpool ran the London Marathon for Contact the Elderly in 2016 and raised a whopping 2,600! We asked what advice she would give to anyone who wants to fundraise and she shared her top three tips with us. Over to you Mollie 1. Social media is very powerful be relentless! Posting regularly on your Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn profiles reaches many people. 2. Let them eat cake! Coffee mornings in the office certainly paid off! 3. Have people predict your finishing time it gets surprisingly competitive for them! Call our freephone 0800 716543 Follow us on Twitter and Facebook: @contact_teas Contact the Elderly is a registered charity in England and Wales (1146149) and in Scotland (SC039377) Company Number (07869142) Registered office: 2 Grosvenor Gardens, London, SW1W 0DH