You’re probably expecting some commentary on the weather? Well, it’s extremely hot…
Which makes the work of promoting and creating interest in our autumn events all the more challenging. It’s hard to imagine the discomfort and cold of sleeping outdoors in early October when you sweat sitting still and can barely hear yourself think over the noise of a fan 3 inches from your face.
This past week I have been doing a lot of what the business world calls “reaching out” (and you may well have already been reached out to, hello again!) in the hopes of building our community of fundraisers to the unstoppable army I know we can be.
Several wonderful people have got back to me very positively, and I’m so grateful to them, my heart fills as new connections are created.
There is the phrase that “it takes a village to raise a child”, which I take to mean that a broad range of people, experiences and attitudes are essential in helping someone grow into their potential, but when it comes to my work I see it more as “it takes a borough to change a community”.
Every person in RBK has the capacity, and some would say the responsibility, to reach beyond themselves and their immediate unit and lend something of themselves to the wider community.
My job is to create the moments that make it easier to do so, whether that’s by talking to you here every week, plastering my face over social media (watch the feeds tomorrow night…), making new, meaningful connections with individuals and their organisations or planning events, the underlying thread is that we are already all part of the solution.
We just have to take a leap, make a commitment to something bigger than ourselves and hopefully enjoy ourselves along the way.
The 24 Hour Challenge registration page is live, the Big Sleep Out (central site) registration page is live, and if you can’t make either of them, we invite you to hold your own Sleep Out in your garden, I’ll put all the links to how to get involved at the bottom.
If none of that floats your boat, consider the fine work of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Women’s Association, New Malden branch as well as Everyday Church Kingston Lifegroup, who between them gathered together literally hundreds of pot noodles, a musician who’s always looking for a way to be involved, or one generous soul, whose regular donation creates the potential pathway off the streets for 2 people every year.
If you have a school fair coming up, or a church fete, or if you’re a small business looking to partner with a local charity, talk to me. Let’s build something brilliant together.
