I’m not sure how we all feel about JustGiving pages. Convenient, informative, efficient, an easy way to chuck some money at a charity? Sure, all of the above.
But, in reality, we all also know that there’s one popping up on our Facebook feeds far too often for us to possibly have time to read them all, and we certainly don’t have enough money to sponsor every friend or friend of a friend who does another 5k walk for charity. The truth is, there are a lot of worthy causes.
Hell, I know I don’t have enough money. As I write this, I’m cold in our student house, in which I stress about our inevitably mounting electricity bill, grumpy, as our internet and paid-for wifi extender yet again fails me, and cursing at the thought of having to fork out for birthday presents over the next couple of months. All very first world problems, I know, but God is it nice to stress about ordinary things for now (for those probably wondering, yes, I am still alive, waiting for a donor, but I’m also currently stable and fabulous).
Anyway, despite all these first world problems, I hate asking for money, and I think sponsoring is just a pretty awkward affair.
That said, I feel that frankly it would just be rude to not mention all the amazing things that my friends are doing for Anthony Nolan, because, although I have many first world problems, I also have some real ones, as you know, and so do thousands of other people, and hundreds of thousands across the world. That real problem is blood cancer, and as I’ve said time and again, the best thing to come out of this is raising awareness, and apparently, money, to help people like me, and those far worse off.
SO, waffling over, I’m just going to casually link some pretty great fundraising initiatives that my friends are undertaking below. You don’t have to sponsor them, just remember that you did read this page, and you do know about these initiatives, and I’ll know that you know. I think people feel like just giving a quid, literally, is too stingy. But a lot of the time, people seem to feel as if they have to give £10 or nothing. And a quid is better than nothing. Plus, if everyone who read this post donated a quid (or, you know, even two), to just one of the pages that I’m going to show you, think how much of a huge difference it would make to people’s targets. And Anthony Nolan. And me? Okay, the guilt trip is over now. Off we go. In chronological order:
My uni friends came up with the idea to climb Pen Y Fan, the highest mountain in the Brecon Beacons. Not only will this be done on a Sunday hangover and in Welsh weather, they also decided to make it a proper challenge by carrying the amount of weight we earn, in pennies. To give you some idea, one penny weighs 3.5g, which works out at about 20kg backpacks each, if we hit our target. Wouldn’t you like to help us meet our target? Put in a penny. Put in 100 pennies, if you’re feeling flash. Go on, break their backs.
Hopefully I’ll be there too. Maybe carrying a little less weight, but I’m determined to try. These are some of my friends. Don’t they look like nice people? (They are).
Sponsor them (US) here.
This is Will, who is perhaps taking on the biggest challenge. We all know how to run, and walk, but Will is learning a whole new skill to raise money, and he’ll be competing in Strictly Bicester at the end of the month, performing Ballroom and Latin dances, to raise money for Anthony Nolan. Some might see this as a hobby, but Will has another incentive. If he wins, the money raised on the performance night goes to his charity of choice, so please sponsor him here to motivate him! 
These are my friends Emily and Hayley.
Both pretty old friends. Both less partial to a carbohydrate and more to a salad than myself, and therefore both more likely than me to run a half marathon. Emily says she has enjoyed her training for the Bath Half in March so much that she’s considering running the London Marathon next year. What this says to me is that she’s obviously had far too easy a time of all this, so go and sponsor her to run it, and maybe she’ll realise that half marathons are not God’s gift to man. Do so here.
Hayley’s positive attitude to exercise is far better than either of ours will ever be, so I can’t even be surprised that she’s undertaking this challenge, AND she’s incredibly close to her target now, so I’m not sure what you’re still waiting for… Here she is.
Last, but certainly not least (they don’t really have much time left to train, after all), are Claire and Roberta. Claire is living proof that, apparently, the person who makes the best cakes is also capable of burning them off in the most productive way, and Roberta is proof that you don’t have to let a history of shin splints and dodgy knees hold you back. I think they’re both crazy, but whatever. They’re as terrible at asking for money as I am, so please sponsor them here, for the Hackney half marathon in May. 
Aaaand that’s a wrap. I know that juicy hospital details are often far more interesting to read about than people choosing to torture themselves, but, luckily for me, I’m running low on those right now. Everything’s ticking over pretty damn well, and I feel like complaining about not having any gory stories about being flat out on a gurney for my blog is just ridiculous and ungrateful to the MDS Gods.
Interesting or not, this is way more worthwhile to read about. Please sponsor my friends. They’re doing this for Anthony Nolan, but at the end of the day, it’s for me, too, and other than a few quid, there’s not much else I can do to thank them. I promise that it’ll be worth your pound. Seriously.
