Yesterday I was paid a visit by Andy from We Are Beams. Andy is responsible for fundraising and made time to come to my house to give me a certificate and gift for raising the most funds for the recent Fire Walk – £1,251.03 excluding gift aid. Andy and everyone at Beams are genuinely grateful for the funds everyone raised which will make a difference to so many families in the local area.
One thing I have learnt since taking up the challenge of the fire walk is just how generous my friends, family and colleagues truly are. When you ask for sponsorship you might expect a small donation from close friends and family, but I was truly humbled to receive donations from people I hadn’t seen or spoken to in months, years in some cases. Some I still consider good friends I’ve just not seen in a while, others were colleagues I have had little interaction with. The comments I received to these posts on Facebook did make me realise just how many people were touched by the cause I was raising money for. Some told me they had children themselves with autism or other conditions. For others the fact I was doing this for my daughter as much as Beams resonated. I did feel a little guilty (not really) when people said they had taken me to my target total, only for me to raise the target again! I couldn’t risk people not sponsoring because I’d already raised the amount I intended to (which originally was £100!).
I guess the point of this post is this: in a pretty uncertain time, with people struggling with a rising cost of living, worried about COVID, concerned about the people of Ukraine… people still have the ability to be generous with their time and their money for a just cause. It’s easy to forget the fact that people on the whole are generally alright.