Here at UPSU we want to recognise and celebrate the incredible fundraising events sports clubs and societies are organising and getting involved with for a whole variety of causes throughout the community. Each month we will be selecting both a sport club and a society to be our fundraiser of the month and to share their story.
For the month of October we are delighted to announce that the Sport 'Charity Fundraiser of the Month' is University of Plymouth Netball Club. Why not take a moment to read about their fundraising:
Who was involved?
Our fundraising efforts started with 24 of our members taking part in Plymouth’s 10K in October. The girls did an amazing job with their training towards the event and managed to raise a group total of over £3,500 (already smashing the club’s target for the year!) For second fundraising event, we teamed up with the UPRFC boys for our Annual Charity Netball Tournament. Together, we raised just over £200 which will be split between us and rugby.
What did you do/what was your event?
24 of our girls across teams and superleague took part in Plymouth’s 10K in October. We also had just over 100 netball girls and rugby boys playing their hearts out for our two chosen charities and buying a slice of cake, baked by some of the best bakers in UPNC!
Who were you fundraising for?
This year, we decided to let our members chose from a small selection of charities, and the one that resonated with the club most was PAPYRUS. For those who don’t know, PAPYRUS is a national charity who work to prevent suicide in young people and believe that many, if not all, suicides are preventable. PAPYRUS operate HELPLINEUK, a confidential call, text and email hotline for young people with suicidal thoughts or for those concerned about a young person. Every £5 could raise enough funds for one call, text or email to HOPELINEUK.
How much did you raise?
So far, we have raised just over £3,700! We cannot wait to raise some more money for an amazing charity as the year progresses!
Testimonial/Quote - What inspired you to fundraise?
"With this being my third year, I feel the club has never resonated with a charity as much as we have with PAPYRUS. Allowing our club to choose the charity was a fantastic way to involve everyone, and the passion for the charity shows as we beat our fundraising target for the year within a month of returning to uni! PAPYRUS has opened my eyes to the huge problem our country has with the social stigmas regarding mental health and suicide, and I will continue to support the charity once the academic year is over. Being able to tell our members that they helped PAPYRUS facilitate one call, text or email is incredible and just builds the momentum to raise even more for a charity which helps combat the biggest killer in the under 35 age bracket - suicide.”
Grainne Roberts, Chair
“I have never enjoyed running or seen the point, and everyone knows it! However, this year I decided that I would run the Plymouth 10K in order to raise awareness and fundraise money for PAPYRUS. The charity is simply amazing. They aim to reduce the number of young people taking their own lives by shattering the stigma around suicide. It is so important that people are aware of mental health issues and feel they can talk about it - it is much more common than people think! Crossing the finish line of the 10K was an unbelievable and incredible feeling as I had no training prior to the day! I will be continuing to fundraise for PAPYRUS this year so I can relive the feeling of success and achievement all while supporting such an important charity."
Ellie Batley, Vice-Chair & 10K team member
“Many things inspired me to run the Plymouth 10K. I was mainly inspired by all the people who have overcome their struggles with suicidal thoughts - if they can overcome something as big as suicide, I was sure that I could run 10K in order to help those in the darkest of places. I am excited to raise so much more money for PAPYRUS because when I finished the 10K, I was so happy that I was a part of helping people that what to facilitate support and help for those who need it most. It was such a rewarding experience."
Chelsea Lewis, Superleague Coordinator & 10K team member
If your sport club would like to be considered for next month's 'Charity Fundraiser of the Month' just ensure you have logged your fundraising totals via the UPSU website. Each month a panel will convene to select the sport club based on a range of criteria including creativity, innovation, dedication, external reach of the fundraising, and the number of members involved. The sport club will not just be selected based on the total raised.