Welcome to the From Med to Sled Blog

Here you can follow my progress as I prepare for an arctic challenge to raise £10,000 for the Willow Foundation. I'll be blogging about all things challenge related, like the latest fundraising events, my training, the lovely people helping me out and whatever else comes up along the way.

May 22, 2009

Fundraising Surprise

I attended the birthday party of my friend Mel last night at a local bar and as I arrived she announced "I've got something for you!" and promptly disappeared behind the bar. When she emerged she was carrying a large basket of loose change.

She explained that a friend had been moving back to the UK and didn't have time to sort it out or bank it before she left, so she asked Mel to give it to charity for her.

Mel remembered my Arctic challenge and bought the basket along to her celebration so she could give it to me. Before I took it home she even passed it around all her guests asking them to add to it to help me.

The total I took away eventually totalled a massive 250 euros! So thanks to Mel, her friend and all her guests at the Kariba Lounge for this unexpected and very generous donation.

May 8, 2009

Celebrities Help on Twitter

I've begun using the social networking site 'Twitter' over the last few months. For those of you not familiar with it, it invites users to share and connect with other users all over the world in statements of only 140 characters.

Until I began using it, I couldn't really work out what it was all about, however, it's proved to be, not only a fun way to connect with people all over the world, but also beneficial for my fundraising efforts.

There are also lots of celebrities using Twitter. While many of them choose only to post statements about themselves and what they're doing to keep fans updated, there are also those who actually engage with the people who follow their 'tweets' and respond to the messages they receive.

Clearly, it's impossible for them to respond to everyone, especially as some have literally thousands of followers all messaging them as soon as they're online, so I've been very grateful for the help of some celebs who've taken the time to promote my challenge and ask their followers to help.

I'd like to say a big thank you to Russel Grant, Marc Bannerman, Jonathan Ross and Beverley Knight. Their help has not only encouraged people to find out about my challenge, but has also raised awareness about the Willow Foundation and what they do. If more people apply for a Special Day as a result, then that in itself is an achievement, as more families benefit from their work.

April 20, 2009

Fancy Dress Night at Arfurs Bar

Arfurs Bar in Magalluf were the first to offer their help with my challenge by holding a Fancy Dress Night. They love an excuse to get dressed up!

All the staff joined in to make it a great night of fun and laughter. There was Batman and Robin, a hatching chick, clowns, Little Bo Peep and her sheep, Minnie Mouse, a surgeon and a french maid, to name but a few. I'm not sure if I should be pleased or disappointed to have missed the tourist who arrived very late in a Borat style Mankini though!

It was a great night and raised a total of 450 euros towards my Arctic challenge fund so huge thanks guys for all your hard work!

See the photos!

April 13, 2009

Since going public with this challenge it's been a busy and exciting week. Arfurs Bar in Magalluf have been the first to offer their support by hosting a Fancy Dress Night on Saturday 18th April to help boost my fund.

Ian Pickles from Pickles Ballroom and Vicki McLeod from Luna Radio have also kindly offered to help and together we are busily planning two more events for May that I'm looking forward to telling you about in the coming weeks.

I've also got something very exciting in the pipeline for Arsenal fans out there, so keep watching for more info coming soon.


April 6, 2009

Going Public


After several months of just talking about this challenge within the confines of home and the security of family, I've actually found it quite scary finally making it public last week. It's not that I now feel I can't back out (I've absolutely no intention of doing that!), it's more a feeling of vulnerability having openly announced my once personal secret mission, to be judged in public.

With the website going live, Facebook page up and running, Tweeting like a woman possessed and press releases going out, the story was picked up quickly by the local press and I found myself on the front page of the local newspaper on Saturday, I couldn't have asked for better coverage to start my campaign. However, as a usually quite private person, it's the publicity that's turning out to be the most daunting part of this challenge for me. Maybe I'll have changed my mind by the time I'm standing in a blizzard, drilling through the ice for water in the dark!

The encouragement I've received this week from well wishers has been fantastic. I've even received messages and offers of help from complete strangers. Some of the most touching were from recipients of Willow Foundation Special Days who had taken the time to share their experiences with me. Having heard their stories, I realise that actually my fears are pretty inconsequential and I'm so thankful for their inspiration.