GOODBYE SCOTLAND!!

AAAAAH! My leaving date is finally here!! Tomorrow evening I'll be getting on an aeroplane and saying goodbye to the UK for a year!

I'm all packed, everything is in the right place (everything I've remembered anyway...) and I think I'm all set!

I can't believe it's come to fast, feels like only last week I was on my selection course, but it's really happening and I'm really going!

I'll be updating this when I can with news about how I'm getting on, and hopefully some photos too :)

Thailand here I come!!

Good and Bad News

Well the bad news is that the Can't Cook, Won't Cook fundraiser had to be cancelled because not enough people bought tickets, which is a shame because I think it could have been a really fun event.

The good news is that after putting leaflets in literally hundreds of newspapers at 5.45am about the charity shop I'm running at the end of April I've already had some donations of jewellery, clothes and books, and a few people have said that they are clearing out cupboards at the moment and will get back to me so that's great! I've also had another donation of £100 from a trust and a phone call from another trust saying that they would like to donate and are discussing it, so everything is looking up!

More good news!!

I've had an amazing donation of £1,200 from another charitable trust, so a HUGE thank you to them!! It's a fantastic boost and has made a huge difference.

I think that most things are sorted for my Can't Cook, Won't Cook - I've got the teams down, booking confirmed for Northmuir Hall, so just to sell tickets now! I'll be really advertising next week, going to try and get in some publications at the school to get people interested. Time goes by so fast when there's things to do...

Thank you!!

The interview in the Herald was really good, I was happy with it and the photo wasn't too bad!

I'd like to say a huge thanks to everyone who has donated after reading the article - it really means so much to me to have people's support!

I'm right this minute creating (or trying to) the posters for my Can't Cook, Won't Cook fundraiser, so should have those done pretty soon if the computer will play nicely!

Donation and Interview!

Got another £100 from a Charitable Trust, thank you! Very grateful. Also, the article for the Kirrie Herald will be in Inspire (the Herald supplement) on Wednesday! It won't just be in the Kirrie Herald, but it'll be in the Forfar Dispatch too along with other newspapers all over the place, so that's great! I'll get a lot of coverage from it. Unfortunately, I haven't seen the photo that they're using, so if it's awful then it's everywhere and there's no hiding from it!! Lets hope it's good!

Still all going well!!

I had another interview, this time with the Kirrie Herald. They also said that they wanted to do an article in a magazine called Inspire which should be good.

I am in the process of getting teams sorted out for the Can't Cook, Won't Cook - I'm thinking of doing it in a Teachers VS Pupils style, and already a couple of teachers have said that they'd be willing to do it, so that'll be fun!

All going well!

I am 99% sure that the Can't Cook Won't Cook fundraiser will be on 19th March, I just need to confirm booking Northmuir Hall next week and then it's all good!! I need to think of some clever ways to advertise it, if anyone has any ideas then let me know! naomiweir2010@gmail.com

I have also confirmed that I'll be renting out a shop for a week to try and sell any unwanted items that we have and that we get donated to us, but it won't be in Coupar Angus as there would be no way for us to stay there, and it's too far to travel to and from every day (especially with no car!). The dates for this are April 17th to April 24th, and I'll be advertising it and asking for donations nearer the time!!

My interview with the Courier went well, but unfortunately there was a bit of a mix up. The photographer came but the reporter couldn't, so I did the photos and then had an over-the-phone interview with the reporters co-worker. However, the co-worker didn't know that there were any photos, so it got put in without any photos, meaning that it's pretty hard to notice in the paper! I'll be contacting the Kirrie Herald though and trying to get an article with them. I've also been asked by the reporter for the Courier to let them know if I'm doing any events and they can advertise them in the paper to keep people's interest up.

Courier Interview and Trusts!

I've got an interview with the Courier tomorrow which should be a great way to get some more publicity! Not really looking forward to the photo though - lets hope they get me on a good day!

I've also had two more positive responses from Charitable Trusts which is fantastic - a huge thanks to them both!

I'm in the process of organising two more events - a "Can't Cook, Won't Cook" fundraiser and a Charity Shop in Coupar Angus (hopefully!), so let's hope they go well!

Huge thanks!!

A HUGE thanks to everyone in the family who donated Christmas money to my gap year fund! I really appreciate it, it's such a great help!

Trusts etc!

After my interview with the charitable trust, they gave a donation of £450!!! I was amazed at how much they gave, and very grateful! That was followedby a further £200 today from another trust!

Also, finished my week and a bit of Guess How Many Sweets In The Jar - made about £70 in total, not as much as I'd hoped for but still good! Combined with the money I already had, I've made my first £1000!! Doesn't seem that long ago that I was worried I might not make my frst £100, so things are definitely looking uuup!

Putting the FUN into Fundraising...

...Or not. So the panic and stress of fundraising really begins! So far the Library is trying to get in the Directory of Grant Making Trusts (and has been trying to get it for about 2 weeks now...). Hopefully it'll come in time for me to actually use it! I have managed to find a good list of Scottish charities, trusts and funds etc. online though, so I've been ploughing through that.

I've also been making Christmas decorations and button bracelets to try and sell at Christmas fairs (or fayres?), and apparently I'm the messyest person ever at doing crafts. Considering my glitter-glue covered jeans, I think my mum has a point.

I'm also making up some quizzes and things to try and sell, and will be looking into getting som prizes donated.

For more information or to donate please visit my justgiving page or drop me an email!

http://www.justgiving.com/NaomiWeir

Thailand, wheeeeeeeee!!

Unfortunately whatever I had on Coll either mutated, or I got another infection, but I ended up with viral gastroentiritus and have been off school for the past 2 weeks. longest I've ever been off school, but the good news is it means I have a lot of time to think about fundraising because I heard from Project Trust, and I'm going to Thailand!! Well, 95% sure I'm going to Thailand! They give you 3 placements, and it's 95% sure you'll be going to the first but, my second and third were Uganda and Malaysia - all amazing! I'm probably going to be teaching English to schoolchildren in Thailand for the year, and I can't wait. I'll also get the opportunity (and take it) to work at a local orphanage, elephant project or other project during the school holidays. Got lots of fundraising ideas, hopefully going to be arranging a bag-pack at Tesco to raise some money, along with arranging some events at school along with much more, so I'll keep updating this. Even if no on reads it it helps me to keep organised, and I need all the help I can get with that!


For more information or to donate please visit my justgiving page or drop me an email!

http://www.justgiving.com/NaomiWeir

Selections!!

After sitting staring at a blank screen for 15 minutes unable to think of what to write, I figured I'd best just write something. So I did!

So, got back from a selection course with Project Trust last week, and it was amazing. For those of you who don't know, Project Trust is an educational charity (No. SCO25668), that sends 17 - 19 year olds overseas to work on voluntary placements for their gap year. They're based in the Isle Of Coll, and that's where the selection course was. The course was from Tuesday 27th - Saturday 31st, and the ferry to Coll left Oban at 6.45am on the Tuesday so I spent Monday night at Oban Backpackers. There were loads of other volunteers there, and it was great to meet them all before the course began, and took the opportunity to play many games of Japanese Snap and Twister!


The ferry was awesome, didn't get sea sick so was happy about that. We arrived in Coll at about 10am, and went straight to the Projeect Trust centre. Over the course of the day we were told about the countries that they send people to, and played a building game in our groups involving straws, pins and a huge (larger, and heavier, than you'd think) dictionary. We also had 30 minutes of dance practice for the end-of-week ceilidh - interesting how when you're one of only two Scottish volunteers in the whole selection course, everyone expects you to know the danced. Interesting also how little I know about ceilidh-dancing... At the end of the day we were taken to our hosts house, where we'd be staying for the week. I'll say now a HUGE thank you to Maria-Luce and Yan for your hospitality throughout the week, and to Chess for being an awesome roomie!

Wednesday was much more physical, climbing Ben Hough and then digging lazy beds (and sprinkling them with dreams!), but I realised I'm stronger that I thought. Also got a talk on how to give a lesson, and then got the opportunity to give a lesson to the rest of our group on a topic of our choice. I chose HIV/AIDS, and it went okay. Could have gone better, but I was quite happy with it.

Thursday was an inside day, and we got a lot of talks about fundraising and finance, and we also played a trading game which was a lot of fun. Cutting out shapes and selling them for money against other groups who are trying to buy your equipment really brings out the evil child in you...

Friday was again a physical day, as everyone was split up and went around the villiage to do tasks. I was helping move rocks from a ruin so it could be rebuilt. I should mention that by this point I was starting to feel a bit rubbish - managed to get flu while I was on Coll and it started to get bad on the Friday, but a huge thanks to everyone at PT for being so nice! After the rock lifting we had to give a 10 minute presentation on the Isle of Coll, and I was really happy with how mine went. Everyone in my group gave really good presentations actually, and I really enjoyed them. The rest of the day was filled up with finding out more about the countries and filling out our final placement application, before going back to our hosts.
That evening was the ceilidh, and as I drugged myself up on paracetamol before going. Managed to do most of the dances, but admitedly got a bit lost in some of them...

I felt awful when I got up on Saturday, so the day began with me being taken to see the nurse on the island and was given some antibiotics and stronger paracetamol before going down to the ferry terminal. The trip back was a lot of fun as the medication kicked in, and a group of us went to sit by the sea and then went to a pub while we were in Oban. The train back was interesting - turns out it's hard to ceilidh-dance in a very narrow moving vehicle. Possible though! Got back to my sister's at around 11'ish.

The course was so much fun, and I met so many awesome people!!