Congratulations to Wiki Solly, our Fundraiser of the Month in January! Wiki is MACS' only fundraiser running the London Marathon 2019 with a guide runner. This month, not only has she organised a successful fundraiser but she has also been invited to give a speech as an inspirational role model for those in the VI community. We caught up with Wiki and asked her about her very successful month!

Congratulations on being our Fundraiser of the Month! Could you tell us a bit more about what you’ve been up to?

Earlier in January I organised a Quiz and Raffle Evening held at a local pub. A friend kindly offered to be the quizmaster and we had a variety of rounds, including a music round connected to vision and an anagram round based on the London Marathon route!

The event was advertised beforehand, but someone (I have no idea who!) contacted the local radio station who promoted it - and ended up with a cracking turnout.

It really took me out of my comfort zone asking local businesses for prizes - and I was astounded by the generosity of so many local companies. I’d managed to sell a number of raffle tickets before the event with my husband selling a lot at his work. On the event night my mum did an incredible job selling even more. Overall I managed to raise £779.61!

I also raised £40 from a Guess My Name competition held at a local primary school where I’d been invited to speak as an inspirational role model for those in the VI community.

That sounds amazing. It’s great that so many local companies supported you! Do you have any advice to others who are considering doing something similar for their fundraising?

My advice for those fundraising would be: 1) Don’t be intimidated by what other people have got for their raffles! Try sourcing your own prizes and you will be surprised what you can achieve.   2) Having a wide range of prizes will increase interest in your raffle, for example a signed rugby ball, whisky and Scalextric were the most popular. 3) Think outside the box!

Could you tell us a bit more about the school talk and the Guess My Name idea? How did your talk go?

My Guess My Name competition came from a discussion with a friend who teaches at a local primary school. They have a VI pupil and I said I’d be happy to go in and do an assembly on being VI, participating in sport and running the Marathon. I was also willing to run the Daily Mile with each class (7 miles in total). I had a fantastic day with the pupils asking questions, having a go at guiding me, being guided themselves and guessing the handmade teddy’s name (kindly donated by a friend). I’ve said I’ll go back with my medal to show them. This was my favourite fundraising activity as the pupils benefitted the most, especially doing the Daily Mile with me.

You are our only runner who will be running with a guide this year. Do you have any advice to other visually impaired runners who might be considering running the marathon in the future?

Having a VI doesn’t mean you are limited - you just have to adapt. Having Paul as my eyes during the marathon will be paramount to my safety. My aim is to enjoy this experience as much as possible. Paul is a fantastic guide, really positive and encouraging. I’m really honoured to be running with him and running for MACS.

How do you feel ahead of the marathon later this year?

I’m feeling a little nervous about the marathon, especially the start. I’m going to find it overwhelming on my other senses, so if you do see me at the start, please come and tap me on the shoulder and introduce yourself as I won’t see you if you wave! 😄 Team MACS 2019, let's do this!!!

We are delighted to announce our Fundraisers of the Month in December, Danny Barthorpe and Marcus Tyler. Danny and Marcus have been writing and hand-delivering Letters From Santa in their local area, as well as catching the attention of the local newspaper, Gloucestershire Live, which has further helped attract interest allowing them both to raise an incredible £1,168 for MACS so far! We caught up with Danny to find out a bit more about the letters.

Hi Danny, Congratulations on being our Fundraiser of the Month! Could you tell us a bit about your fundraising idea?

For years I have been hand writing my children’s letters from Father Christmas with personalised content and full of Christmas magic. I thought it would be nice to offer this service to others in return for a small donation. Even better than this, I managed to persuade my friend to do it too! As we are both training for the marathon, all letters are hand delivered and will form one of our training routes!

That sounds amazing! What is it like to be Santa?!

When a parent comes to us we ask them to tell us about the child's achievements and milestones over the past year. We also ask names of pets and family to add that in too. Sometimes if I know the parent of the child, I have written and told them that their mum or dad was once on the naughty list and give a comical reason as to why. It is a bit of added fun.
Sometimes the parents have also asked me to remind their child it is not all about what they will get and to remember that Christmas is a time for family. There have been some really very heartfelt requests of messages that the parents have wanted to get across to their children and no one has been disappointed.

How many have you written so far? Did you notice a rush of requests after the newspaper article has been published?

We noticed a lot more requests from further afield after the newspaper article. So far we have sent letters all over Gloucestershire and Cornwall, some have even gone as far as Wales!

In total we have produced 103 letters to date between us both. Sadly, because every letter takes about an hour to produce from start to finish, we have had to stop the service to ensure all letters are ready in time for Christmas.

What was it like to have the reporter at home interviewing you and filming? Would you encourage other fundraisers to try and contact their local newspapers? Do you have any tips?

The reporter was fab! They made me feel very at ease. They made me feel so at ease that before I knew it I was dressed in my running gear, wrapped in tinsel with Reindeer antlers on my head. We were all laughing.

They were very professional and helped so much with what to do and say. I would 100% recommend contacting them, they were more than happy to do anything to help raise awareness and money for the charity.

Well done again and congratulations! We wish you all the best for the London Marathon and look forward to seeing you at the finish!

This has been a very strange experience. I never expected just a few letters to raise so much! People have been very generous and willing to donate extra which is a testament to the good work and help you provide at MACS. Can't wait for the London Marathon now!

You can find out more about Danny’s letters here: https://www.facebook.com/santaletterforMACS
Read the full newspaper article here: https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/gloucester-news/meet-man-delivering-letters-from-2255198

Special mention to Jude Ackerman and Anna Butler, who also stood out in their fundraising this month! You are all amazing and everyone at MACS is grateful to have such special fundraisers supporting us.
If you would like to enter next month's competition please email fundraising@macs.org.uk with your story.