I wanted to do some good out of my "40 List" so I decided that I would like charities to benefit by giving donations. These donations could be in the form of sponsoring friends in their challenge events or by just simply calling the charity or visiting their website to make a donation.
So, since the start of my list which technically was my 33rd birthday, I have donated my first lot of £40.
My first donation of the year was in March this year, sponsoring my colleague Dan for running the London Marathon for the charity I work for - Joint Action. Joint Action raises money to support Trauma & Orthopaedic research. I sponsored him £5.
The next donation I made was for Joint Action again but this time sponsoring my colleague, Hayley, in her crazy attempt of a bungee jump. I went along with her to watch her do it (and to make sure she didn't chicken out). She did so well. I sponsored her £5.
The next recipient of my generosity was a friend of my dad who is running next year's London Marathon for NSPCC. Neil has shown me a fair bit of support in my music career so I thought I would support him right back. He's doing a heck of a lot of training to make sure he can complete the Marathon. He's just completed a 10k so he's working his way up - well done, Neil! I sponsored Neil £5.
My next two donations were done on the same day. I sponsored my very good friend, Lisa £10 for her "Race for Life" for Cancer Research UK. My Auntie passed away from cancer so any opportunity I get to donate to it I do. I also sponsored my friend Stu £10 for a cycle ride from London to Brighton in aid of Cystic Fibrosis. I mainly sponsored him for two reasons: 1) because he's a friend and 2) because I'm jealous of the fact that he can ride a bike (it's still on my "40 List").
This just left £5 and it was getting closer and closer to deadline date (17th October). I remembered that I needed to make a donation but had no one to sponsor so I decided to call the first charity I worked for and make the final donation to them - Shaare Zedek UK. Shaare Zedek is a hospital in the heart of Jerusalem and it is known as the "Hospital with a Heart". They have come a long way since I started working in the London office from 1999-2001.
= £40
I'm starting to make a list of charities I want to support in the coming year. If you have any suggestions, please comment here and I'll check out the websites. Bear in mind I have six more years to make donations.
By the time I'm 40 I will have donated £280 to various charities. Who knows, if I'm in the money, maybe I'll make a substantial donation on my 40th birthday!!!
