Here's a picture of my leaflet I designed and distributed ..EVERYWHAH

My 18th birthday Ceilidh1 I also had a raffle, auction and disco. My overall total for the night was about £900. Success!

My fundraising events, successes and thank you's

The first step for me was designing my leaflet. I would like to thank Genie Dee for helping me design it, helping me with basically everything. I honestly could not have done it without you, thank you.

I would like to thank my boss Graham Howie for printing out my leaflets for free and allowing me to have them displayed in the Bistro. Lots of customers gave me the odd tenner! Very kind.

Thank you to all those who sponsored me when I climbed Ben Nevis in August 2012. Thank you to my fellow Project Trust volunteer Rhomi for sharing with me the idea and then having me in her home for 2 days! It was masses of fun and such a thrill when we got to the top.

Then there was my Firewalking Event in September 2012. Thank you to Fiona Mackenzie for saying she would host one for me. We did it in my back garden late at night and I managed to get an amazing 6 people to attend! (Hahah) Thank you to Alex, Merryn, Pat, Claire, Chris and Zoe for participating and concurring their fears of walking on burning embers. I think everyone felt some sort of kindred spirit that night.

I would like to thank all the charitable trusts who have donated, and all my kind friends and family. I would also like to thank the odd person who I don't know very well who have given me money. One very thoughtful gentleman gave me £50 on JustGiving and I don't think I've even met him before. Thank you also to my dads dear old friend who gave me a rather large cheque. The kindness of some people!

To Jane Bechtel. Thank you very much for helping me with my birthday Ceilidh. Thank you to the Birnam Institute for giving the venue free (or maybe the invoice just hasn't arrived yet? Hahah!). Thank you to Fiddle Stix for performing in your Ceilidh band for free. Thank you DJ man for DJing for free (Urban Discos, Perth). Thank you Wendy for giving me some amazing Hilton auction prizes.. Thank you to everyone who came on the night, helped out, donated raffle prizes and brought food. Thanks to Mum, Luisa, Alex, Claire, Zoe and all her friends. for helping out.

Thank you to all those who have donated on Just Giving.


It's been one hell of a year!

I know where I'm going!

In May of 2013, I found out where I will be in South Africa! :D

I will be going to Underberg Primary School which is situated in the Drakensberg Mountains! There, I will be assisting with teaching and social care. I will also have the opportunity to work with children who have learning disabilities. Here's a bit more about it all.

"Underberg school is a new project nestled in the majestic foothills of
the Drakensburg Mountains of South Africa. The town has a sleepy feel
to it and is rural but certainly doesn’t fit into the typical picture of ‘rural
Africa.’ The picturesque mountains and cooler climate combined with a
small town with relatively good amenities give Underberg a very different
feel to what you may expect from South Africa.

As with the rest of the country, Underberg has disparate communities
juxtaposed in close proximity to each other. A comfortable middle
class community are neighboured to a government ‘low cost housing’
township. Volunteers placed in Underberg will have the opportunity to
seek out a range of different lifestyles and communities all based within a
few miles of each other.

The primary role will be within Underberg Primary school. This is a
fee-paying school and represents South African education at its best;
a melting pot of different ethnicities within all classes working side by
side with excellent facilities and standard of teaching to push them
academically as well as life outside of the classroom. The school prides
itself in its high standards of teaching and opportunities, offering small
classes from Grade 1-7. As well as helping with literacy in the younger
years, volunteers would have the opportunity to assist in the sports
programme as well as with any other extra-curricular clubs which they
have a passion for. Another interesting aspect to the project is the school
mastery unit. This unit has been set up to address the varied academic
needs of students with learning difficulties or in more need of support.

Accommodation is based at the school hostel; a residential unit with
38 pupils in residence. It is envisaged that the volunteers will immerse
themselves in the day to day running of this unit, with emphasis on
working directly with the children."

How exciting does that sound?! The Underberg project is a new one, so my partners and I will be the first people to volunteer there. What a privilege! I also found out the date I will be leaving which is the 22nd August. My confirmed training dates are the 15th-19th July. Yippee! I received an attachment along with my project details... oh my. What a lot of information. Included were things I needed to get/organise: visa application (£35), Disclosure, (£25), Medical Report (full physical examination, yellow fever, chest x-ray and BCG jab = £150). We also got the list of equipment and clothing that we will need. Spent about £50 on Amazon that day! We have to have it all sorted by the 15th of June.. that's only just under a month! I feel very lucky that I am not busy with exams at the moment like a lot of other people are.

So, apart from fundraising, there's actually quite a lot of extra expenses that you forget about until now..! Altogether, extra expenses have come up to just under £500. Lucky I saved my holiday money last summer as I am supa' organised. I think it's worth it though, especially getting the BCG and yellow fever which does you for 10 years and BCG for life. It was in fact very lucky that I went to the doctor for my physical examination, as the GP is suspicious that I may have a urinary infection. Let's hope I don't, but if I do - I have nipped it in the bud!

My fundraising total is currently at about £4,500 which is simply AMAZING. I am so proud and so thankful to those who have donated and helped me out over the past year and a bit. I have 2 months to get as near £5000 as possible. If you are thinking about doing volunteering on this scale, I would definitely recommend starting everything super early so you have time to fund-raise and organise everything. There is something called 'luck' which comes into the equation too. If you are surrounded by support from your community, friends and family, then things are going to run a lot smoother and it will be easier to raise that amount..


I still can't believe this is all happening to me. What an opportunity. Thank you.


Now, time to learn some Afrikaans and Zulu! Totsiens!

Iona