Fundraising Done, Now What?

So with fundraising now successfully done, what would be things that we needed to consider before embarking on our journey to Russia?

Work.

I am a teacher in a school and I needed to make sure that school were on my side in terms of the treatment I was going for and the legal aspects of time off work and pay. Luckily for me, the council that I work for entitles me to 6 months full pay in such situations. This was a massive burden off my back. However, I needed to communicate this with them and to explain my condition, as well as the proposed treatment. I probably didn't do this soon enough and would advise having this conversation at the earliest possible opportunity to prepare your employers as best as possible so that they can put things in place for you.

What We Did For Fundraising

People feel uncomfortable talking about fundraising let alone doing it. Here is, hopefully, a pretty detailed rundown of exactly what we did to raise money for the appeal:

One of the first things we did was to set up a Facebook group with a number of friends who could help coordinate activities and fundraising events. The whole point is that someone with multiple sclerosis is not in the best place to go about generating £40,000 worth of income when they have a condition to deal with, fatigue, physical disability and cognitive deficits. So, therefore, friends and family are exceptionally important for helping to do the fundraising.

The Choice: Russia; The Reality: Fundraising Like Hell

Choices made: Russia. The standard at the clinic, the brilliance of the team, the data and success rates, everything… I was 100% sure that Russia was the correct choice.

Of course, the problem is that this is was that I had to raise €45,000. The bigger problem was that it was Christmas and I had set myself 12th March for my treatment. That gave me three months to raise the money!

I didn't have €45,000. I think I had maybe €17 left over from a trip to Paris some months previously...