We’d like to say… Thank you so much for choosing to help unlock the power of reading. Shannon Trust relies on

your generosity and support whether you’re a cake baker to a bungee jumper. Whatever

you’re doing we’re incredibly grateful for your support – welcome to our team.

Our impact Learning to read isn’t just a brilliant thin; it changes lives. It’s helping people stay in touch

with families and loved ones. It’s helping them mend broken relationships, nuture new ones

and share the joy of reading across generations. It’s also helping people cope better with

daily life. And for many, it’s helping create a future that includes more education and

training.

How your fundraising helps

We’re here to help We’re here to support you. Whether it’s setting-up your Just Giving page, sharing your event

on social media or talking through your ideas, we’re here to help. We’ve included important

information to get your fundraising off to a great start at the end of this pack. But please get

in touch with Sue and Alison at fundraising@shannontrust.org.uk

£8 could start

unlocking the power

of reading for

someone by providing

their first reading

materials.

£32 could provide

Turning Pages reading

books to help build

confidence and a joy

of reading.

£180 could cover the

costs of a Shannon

Trust volunteer

training, supporting

and inspiring mentors

for a year.

A-Z of fundraising ideas Would you like to support Shannon Trust, but not sure where to start? There are hundreds of

ways to support us, so we’ve come up with an A-Z of fun ideas which you can do by yourself,

with friends or with children. It doesn’t matter how much money you raise; raising awareness

of Shannon Trust is just as important to us.

At home

With friends

Great with the kids

Aerobics-a-thon

Non-stop aerobics for a

day (or a commitment to

7 classes a week). Join

online classes or use

videos/DVDs and get

sponsorship from your

friends and family to

complete the challenge!

Raise money for every

hour you work out. Don’t

forget to refuel!

Afternoon tea

Raise some money by

selling tickets to an

afternoon tea with your

neighbours and friends.

They could bring along

home-made cakes to sell

too!

Arts & crafts sale

Children are so creative!

Sell some of their

creative work to your

family and friends –

cards, ornaments,

drawings etc.

Bake off

Just as it says on the

[baking] tin! Compete

with your friends and

family for the best

sponges and sweet treats

with no soggy bottoms!

Then sell them all…the

edible ones!

Bike ride

Gather a group of cycling

enthusiasts (or beginners)

and start a weekly bike

riding club with different

routes each time.

Attendees may wish to

pay for the guided routes

or you might decide to do

a sponsored ride over a

longer distance.

Bug hunt

Eurgh! Sponsor the

children to find as many

bugs as possible on a

walk, in the garden, at

the local lake/pond! £1

per 1kg of worms?!

Coffee morning

Raise money by drinking

coffee and chatting to

friends! Combine this

with a fundraising

brainstorm session!

Come dine with us

One of you cooks the

starter, one the main,

and one the dessert, and

don’t forget to provide

the entertainment! If you

love the food, what would

you pay for it?

Car wash

Wash family and

neighbour’s cars, keep

the children busy and

raise money all at the

same time! £2 for a

windscreen wash, £5 for

the whole car?

Disco-a-thon

Dance, dance, dance, all

day long! The longer you

can dance the more

money you raise!

Darts competition

This can be done in

person or virtually/online

with your friends

Pay to partake (and even

charge people to watch!)

Dress down day

Get your children’s

school involved – any

excuse to not wear

uniform for a day!

Participants pay to take

part.

Eating competition

How many boiled eggs can

you eat in 10mins? Dry

crackers? Favourite

biscuits?

Get sponsored to feast!

Egg hunt

It may not be Easter but

kids love chocolate eggs

all year round! Get the

children in the local

park/field and get the

search on! (And it doesn’t

have to be chocolate eggs

they’re looking for – it

could be pirate treasure!)

Charge a minimal amount

for entry.

Fantasy football

Now that football is

back, predict the scores

of the weekend/s

fixtures, or guess the

highest scoring team.

Charge per category.

Fete

Suns out, stalls out! Set

up a small fete in your

street, or in your garden.

Lucky dip, tombola,

coconut shy – easy to set

up and lots of fun!

Fun run

Children running around

the fields – that will tire

them out! Add some

obstacles for more fun

and challenge and charge

a small amount to take

part.

Give up something

you love (for a day,

a week, a month, a

year!)

Give up milk in your tea

for a day. No sugar

allowed. Can you do it?!

Ask friends and family to

sponsor you.

Golf day

For those that love golf, a

whole day of it couldn’t

be better. Gain local

support and perhaps

receive local donations

for prizes etc.

Greeting cards

Get creative – start now

on the cards to sell for

Halloween and Christmas!

Head shave!

Do it! Get sponsored! A

drastic change but all for

a good cause!

Horse racing night

A fun night with friends –

follow instructions online

and get betting and

racing – all for fun with a

small entry fee!

Hula-hooping

How long can you hula-

hoop? Gain sponsorship by

the hour & exercise at

the same time.

Ironing service

Love ironing? Raise some

money for charity by

offering to do family and

friends ironing!

Ice bathing

How long can you sit in a

bath of ice cold water

for? Or maybe cold baked

beans?!

Ice lolly making

So simple to make, but so

tasty to eat! Make all

kinds of fruity lollies and

sell them to neighbours.

Jam sale

Lots of fruit in your

garden? Enjoy picking

your own? Turn your fruit

into jam very easily and

sell it on your street or to

friends and family!

Jog with your dog

Dog Jog is a brilliant

chance for you and your

dog to get fit. Enjoy a fun

and friendly sponsored

event and meet like-

minded people at a Dog

Jog near you!

Jump-a-thon

Just like it says – jump!

And don’t stop all day!

How long can you keep it

up? Get sponsorship for

every hour!

Knit and natter

Gather friends to do what

you love most – knitting

and nattering! Sell what

you make too!

Karaoke

What a racket…for

12hours of the day! You

might decide to sponsor

them to stop!

Ladies luncheon

Entertain your friends

over lunch, or a picnic or

afternoon tea!

Litter pick

Doing good for the

community – how many

bags of litter can you

collect in a day!

Left-hand only day

Easy if you’re left

handed…but if you’re

not, this could be tricky

for a whole day!

Music quiz online

So many great ideas

online for quizzes – you

don’t need to go to the

pub!

Marathon

Get training and get

planning!

Mini Olympics

School sports day? A day

over the fields? Turn it

into a mini Olympics!

Nearly new sale

Been doing too much

shopping and forgotten

what you’ve bought? Go

through the cupboards

and wardrobes and sell

anything you haven’t

used in the last 6

months!

No make-up day

Leave the house without

make up?? Do it! It’s for a

good cause.

(Or if you don’t wear

make-up, try it for a day,

and lots of it!).

Non-uniform day

Yes! A day without having

to wear school uniform or

work attire.

Open gardens

Been pampering your

garden in the nice

weather? Show it off to

your neighbours and

friends

Obstacle course

Fun to set up and fun to

compete in!

Pamper party

Any excuse to spend the

day in your dressing gown

and pampering yourself!

Set you home up as a spa

and invite your friends to

partake in treatments and

gossiping!

Quiz of quizzes

The ultimate quiz, online

or in person!

Quirky hat day

Get creative and wear a

quirky hat to school or

work!

Running – treadmill

Got a treadmill at home?

Set yourself a goal and

get running! Weather

looking good? Get out

and about.

Row-a-thon

Enjoy the rowing machine

at the gym? Raise some

money with a 12 hour

row-a-thon!

Silent disco

Headphones on, zone out

and dance! Try it

virtually with friends and

try and guess what music

they’re dancing to!

Sweepstake

Big sporting event coming

up? Place your bets now!

Sponsored silence

What a treat! I’m sure

you’d pay your child huge

amounts to be silent for

even an hour 😉

Treasure hunt

What goodies have you

hidden in the garden, in

the local woods? Get

everyone along to follow

the clues.

Talent show

Children have got talent!

Let them show it off.

University Challenge

If you like the difficult

questions in the quizzes,

then this is for you!

Vegetarian day

Love meat? Give it up for

a day, a week or longer!

Vegan day

Ever tried it? Give it a go!

Variety show

More talent on show for

family friends to judge.

Walk a marathon

Running a marathon not

your idea of fun? Walk it

with friends!

Use a virtual trail to

make it more fun.

Wine tasting

A great event for friends

that share a love of wine.

Find local wines or try

new worldwide ones and

share your opinions.

Windscreen washing

One of those jobs you

never remember to do

until you’re in the car

and can’t see out of your

filthy windscreen! Pay

the kids to do it.

Xmas e cards

Donate what you would

have spent on buying and

sending cards.

Xmas cards

Make your own and sell

them!

Xmas cards making

Get the kids making them

too.

Yoga 20 day

challenge

With so many free classes

available online, there’s

no excuse! Get sponsored

to get fit!

Yellow outfit day

Only wear yellow for the

day, or the week! Get

people to sponsor you.

Yoga with puppies

Children and puppies,

what could go wrong? Add

some yoga and find out!

Zumba-thon

Any excuse to Zumba all

day long! (Or commit to a

Zumba class every day

for a month!)

Zombie run

Combine sport and

entertainment! Mark out

a route with safe zones

and obstacles. If you

don’t meet the

checkpoints, you become

a zombie and have to stop

the survivors in their

tracks!

If you’ve come up with an idea for one of the gaps in the A to Z, let us know so we can share

your idea with others.

Getting started with your fundraising Let us know how you’re planning to fundraise. We’d like to say thank you and help you get

started. And we’d like to make sure we’re supporting you in the best way.

The simplest way to manage your fundraising is to set-up an online fundraising page. This will

help you explain why you’re supporting us, promote your event and track your donations. If

possible, we’d like you to use Just Giving. If you head over to our page here, you’ll find links

to set-up your own fundraising page. It’s easy to do but we’re here to help and chat this

through in more detail.

You may prefer to use a sponsorship form. If you do, you can download one here.

Publicising your fundraising Here are some ways to spread the news about your fundraising.

Email you colleagues

Go social - share your Just Giving page on social media and let people know how your

fundraising is going.

Ask your followers to share your posts

Create posters to put up in pubs, shops and cafes.

If you’re a student, ask your school or uni to advertise.

Go local – talk to us about approaching your local radio station.

If you’re fundraising as a team – that’s great. The more people involve, the more it can

be promoted.

We’re very happy for you to use our logo. If you’d like to, please get in touch to so we can

give you a good quality copy of it and talk through how to use it. Any fundraising material you

create must include the following legally required information

Charity name Shannon Trust

Registered charity number 1117249 Registered office address Studio 1.15

Edinburgh House

Kennington Lane

London

SE11 5DP

Maximising your donations

There are some simple ways to boost your donations. Ask your sponsors to Gift Aid their

donations. It’s easy to do this if you use Just Giving. If you’re using our sponsorship form, just

remember to get your sponsors to tick the gift aid box and provide their details.

Talk to your employers about match-funding you.

Ask family and friends to donate first. They tend to sponsor higher amounts that could

encourage others.

Ask a few times. It’s easy for your first request to be missed so don’t be afraid to ask

again, especially as your event gets closer.

Make it personal by sharing why Shannon Trust is important to you. You can do this on you,

Just Giving page, when you’re talking to people or through your social media.

Getting social Tell your followers about your event and include the link to your Just Giving page. Get people

excited about it. If you’re training for a run, share how you’re getting on. Post pictures of

your efforts or share details from fitness apps such as Strava. Before you share fitness app

information, make sure you review your privacy settings – you don’t have to share maps but if

you do, make sure to set the setting so your home address isn’t shown on the map.

As your event is getting nearer, post reminders remembering to include the link to your Just

Giving page.

If you tag in our accounts, we’ll share your posts and encourage people to support you.

Twitter @Shannon_Trust

Facebook & Instagram ShannonTrustCharity

Collecting cash We recommend that you count cash with another person who can confirm the amount you’ve

collected. Keep cash in a safe place and bank it at the earliest opportunity. If you’re

collecting money by cheque, they’ll need to be made payable to Shannon Trust.

Sending us your sponsorship money Setting-up a Just Giving page is a great way to manage your supporters’ sponsorship. But if you’ve used a sponsorship form you may also send or transfer your sponsorship to us.

Online via our Just Giving page

If you’ve used a sponsorship form, it’s possible for you to send the money you’ve raised via

our Just Giving page.

Post

Cheques made payable to Shannon Trust should be sent to

Shannon Trust

Studio 1.15

Edinburgh House

Kennington Lane

London

SE11 5DP

Bank transfer

Directly into our bank account. Please let us know that you’re sending it.

Account name Shannon Trust

Account number 00014866

Sort code 40-52-40

If you’re send transferring your sponsorship money or sending in a cheque, please remember

to send in your sponsorship form as well.

Fundraising guidelines Fundraising events must comply with the law. These guidelines will help make sure your event

complies with the law. We’ve included links to more detailed information. If you would like

these in more detail please speak to Sue or Alison @fundraising@shannontrust.org.uk

Legal requirements

If you’re holding a public event, you may need to consider legal requirements such as a music

or alcohol license. You will also have to consider health and safety law and food hygiene

regulations.

Public raffles will need to comply with the Gambling Act 2005. A full list of the requirements

can be found at Institute of Fundraising here and the governments guide to voluntary events

here.

Liability

Shannon Trust cannot accept any responsibility for accidents or injuries. Please consider first

aid, child protection, personal security when carrying cash, health and safety and, if needed,

insurance.

And finally… Thank you once again for helping unlock the power of reading; we hope you have fun

fundraising for us. Don’t forget to let us know about your event or to get in touch if you need

any help.

Thank you.

Shannon Trust is a registered charity England & Wales 1117249, Scotland SCO43470. Shannon Trust is a registered company – registration number 5906258.