Last Thursday, the Community team joined a Macmillan-wide attempt to raise as much money as possible on the streets of London. We had special permission from the Met police, buckets and tins aplenty and of course, our green T-shirts. I’m usually quite desk-bound, so I was extremely excited to get a couple of hours out in the sun, raising some money and hopefully getting to hear a few people’s stories. Here’s roughly how pleased I was:
Some teams picked tins, but I was feeling confident that the people of Victoria (my team’s allocated patch) would be generous. So I asked for a bucket:
I was pretty sure I’d fill it right up.
Victoria’s a bustling, busy part of London. There’s a broad mix of workers, tourists, shoppers and school-trippers. I picked a spot outside Westminster Cathedral and began collecting money and being helpful to passers by (or as helpful as I could be – couldn’t help the lady who was looking for the Albanian embassy, but could help the gentleman looking for Buckingham Palace).
Lots of people stopped to give money and some stayed for a brief chat, or to offer some words of encouragement.
After 2 hours were up, my arms felt very sore from all the bucket wielding. I carried it back to the office to the counting room, but just before I handed it over I had a quick peek:
Not quite full to the brim, but in my bucket was a magnificent £81.
Altogether, staff at Macmillan collected over £16,000! A fantastic amount.
If you’ve been inspired by my bucketeering and would like to have a crack at beating my total, you can! To find out about collections happening in your area, contact your local fundraising team.
