Fundraising Spotlight - Jonathan
In this blog, we're chatting to Jonathan, one of Snowdrop's amazing fundraisers. This spring, Jonathan is taking on an epic four half-marathons in four weeks challenge in aid of Snowdrop. We spoke to him about his motivations for taking part, and what he hopes to achieve through his fundraising.
What's your motivation for taking on this epic challenge?
"I've been raising money for charity for years and years - including Blue Peter Bring & Buy sales, sponsored walks, 24-hour fasts and silences, growing my hair and beard for nine months before shaving it all off, and running 10Ks, half-marathons and marathons.
This spring coincides with somebody (me, apparently!) turning 40 at the end of April. I had planned to run four marathons in four weeks to celebrate. I ran the Virtual London Marathon (my sixth marathon) during Covid, so the fourth marathon of this challenge would have been my tenth in total. However, we welcomed a new little chap into our household 12 months ago, and I realised I wouldn't have the time to do the training needed for four back-to-back marathons. I thought four half-marathons in four weeks would be doable, though! Maybe I'll have to do five marathons in five weeks when I turn 50 instead?
Just to make it slightly harder, I'm going to run the four half-marathons carrying the Olympic Torch which is currently behind our TV! I ran with it through Armthorpe, Doncaster back in July 2012, and I carried it while running the Sheffield 10K for Snowdrop in October. I had a few comments from the crowd and fellow runners, so thought I'd do it again!
What do you hope to achieve through your fundraising?
In keeping with the theme of four half-marathons in four weeks to celebrate 40 years, I thought I'd set myself the target of raising £40k for Snowdrop. How realistic that is, I have no idea, but I certainly want to try and get into five figures (£10k plus) rather than my 'usual' range of £5-1000. I've managed to get six or seven friends signed up to run alongside me to help reach that target. There's still plenty of space for others to join me too! Please do get in touch with Snowdrop if you'd like to run a half-marathon (or four) with me.
I'd also like to raise awareness of modern slavery and the work Snowdrop does, and will be sharing this with local media outlets nearer the time. Before having kids, my wife and I were Volunteer Drivers with the Salvation Army's Modern Slavery Team, which involved picking up victims of trafficking and taking them to safe houses across the country. We met first-hand the people that Snowdrop work with; we've had them in our car. We've chatted with them. That's part of our journey to doing what we can. And maybe one day, when our kids are a bit older, we'll get back volunteering with the Salvation Army again.
How has your experience of fundraising been so far?
I'm currently on £290 for this fundraiser, although I'm sure it will rapidly increase as we get nearer to April. I've done a few fundraising events for Snowdrop before, including cycling from coast to coast and running the Sheffield Half and 10k. I usually raise between £500-1000 each time. I've learnt down the years that most people genuinely do want to give and donate; my role is simply to provide them with a reason to do so. That doesn't mean that people always can give - maybe they're supporting another good cause or simply have other financial commitments. But 99% of people do want to give when they can. It's about providing people with the opportunity to do so, whilst making sure that someone saying 'no, not this time' or 'come back to me in six months' are acceptable answers too! (And I do go back to people in six months time...)
What are you most looking forward to about your challenge?
The atmosphere of the races is always incredible. I'm looking forward to experiencing different races - I'm running the Sheffield half on 7th April, the Cannock Chase half on 14th April, the Run Roche Abbey Run Run Run on 21st April, and the East Yorkshire Half Marathon on 28th April. I'm looking forward to a bath at the end of each day, and hopefully raising a fair bit of money and publicity for Snowdrop along the way!
What would you say to someone who's thinking of taking on a fundraising challenge?
The thought I have in my mind is, 'what's the gift, talent, or thing that you enjoy doing which you can use to invite people to make a donation to support Snowdrop?'. People want to give; not just money, but also their time, talents, voice...and quite often, they just need to be invited by someone else to give. So, to anyone who's thinking of fundraising, I would say what can you offer which you could enable others to give?
Anything else to add?
The fundraising page I've set up for this challenge is www.justgiving.com/page/jbandfriends. There's space for other people to join us on all four half-marathons; there's also a 10K route at all of them apart from Sheffield, if anyone fancies doing a 10K rather than a half-marathon. We'd love to have you as part of our team!
Thank you so much to Jonathan and friends for taking on this challenge to raise vital funds for survivors of modern slavery and exploitation. If you'd like to find out more about joining Jonathan in his fundraising, or to chat about organising your own fundraiser, drop us an email at fundraising@snowdropproject.co.uk.
We also have free charity places available for the 2024 Sheffield Half Marathon! Click here to find out more.