Fundraising ideas

Each year fundraising events and challenges help us raise vital funds to help us teach people how to look after their mental health

From delicious bake sales to a Cani-Trail, from facing 260 cricket balls in a row to pedaling the Atlantic (yes, really), we’ve seen our fair share of brilliant fundraising! There’s no end to the imagination of our supporters when it comes to raising money for the Trust and we are grateful to each and every one.

Contact our fundraising team to tell them about your fundraising event or challenge, and they will support you all the way!

Need a little more inspiration? Look no further...

A

Art competition/exhibition

Get your friends and family to produce the finest piece of art they can and them put them all on display. You can charge people a small fee to see the exhibition and even get a local artist or art teacher to judge the best work of art!

B

Bake off

On your marks… Get set… Bake Off! Get people to pay a small fee to enter a cake into the Bake Off then offer a small prize to the winner. You could even sell leftover slices (if there are any left!) at a Cake Sale to raise even more!

C

Car wash

Get a team of people together and offer to wash cars for your friends, family and neighbours for a donation. You could charge more for hoovering the inside!

D

Dog walking

Especially good if you and your friends are animal lovers! Offer your services locally (maybe put an advert in your local Post Office) and then charge customers per dog per walk.

E

Eating baked beans with a cocktail stick competition

Probably harder than it sounds! You’ll need loads of baked beans and loads of cocktail sticks. Then you can charge a small entry fee and keep a record of how many beans each entrant has eaten in a minute. You can then give a small prize to the winner – maybe a tin of baked beans!

F

Five-a-side football tournament

Challenge your sporty friends and family to a five-a-side tournament as part of a football fundraiser. Then each team has to pay to play.

G

Guess the weight/amount of the cake/sweets in a jar

Get a load of penny sweets and put them in a big jar. Charge people to have a guess at how many are in there. The person who gets it right (or the closest to getting it right!) wins the sweets.

H

Holiday help

Offer to look after people’s pets and/or gardens when they are away on holiday. They may even find other things for you to do whilst they’re away… all for a small fee of course!

I

International day

Have a party of barbecue and get people to dress in clothes and bring in food from their favourite country and enjoy experiencing some slightly different cultures. Get everyone to pay for the privilege of being involved of course!

J

Jumble sale

Have a root around for any old clothes/books/games/bric-a-brac that you don’t use any more and organise a good old fashioned jumble sale with friends and neighbours!

K

Knitathon

Knit, knit and knit some more. Get some friends together and maybe have a knit-off – who can knit the longest scarf in a set time. Or you could all work together in shifts knitting the longest scarf you can and try to get sponsored. Whichever you choose, selling the final product is a good way to boost your funds!

L

Learn something new

Take the challenge of learning a new skill, like speaking a foreign language or playing a musical instrument. Ask people you to sponsor you to reach a key milestone, such as ordering a meal in French or playing a Mozart sonata.

M

Musical evening

Organise an evening of musical entertainment and show off your talent with your friends! Sing or play instruments … or both!

N

Netball tournament

Get as many teams as you can made up of friends, family and colleagues. Then organise it so every teams gets a good number of games and charge an entry fee.

O

Outgrown clothes sale

A great idea if you know lots of families with young children. They bring clothes that their little ones have grown out of, and buy clothes that others have brought along.

P

Photography competition

Everyone pays a small fee to enter their best photograph on a particular theme, such as 'Wonderful Wildlife, Glorious Gardens, or Happy Holidays and the winner receives a prize. You could combine the best entries into a wall calendar and sell those too.

Q

Quiz

Use the internet to put together a load of tough quiz questions. Get people into teams and charge an entry fee with a small prize for the winners.

R

Recipe book

Get all your friends, family and colleagues to submit their favourite recipe and put them all together into a book. There should be some great stuff in there so sell the book at a decent price!

S

Sports day

Organise a sports day at your workplace, local pub, or village green. Give it a retro theme so that the grown-ups have the chance to re-live their childhood with egg and spoon, obstacle and three-legged races.

T

Teddy bears picnic

Get families to pay for tickets and don’t forget your teddy bear!

U

Unwanted gift sale

One person's unwanted gift is another's treasure! Have a sale of all those unloved items and see how much they can raise.

V

Valentine’s Day event

Is love in the air? Give it a helping hand by arranging a Valentine’s Day event. If there aren’t any loved up couples around then maybe hold a singles event!

W

Walk

Sometimes the classic fundraising ideas are the best. Why not organise a good old-fashioned sponsored walk and get people to pledge money per mile.

X

X-Factor

Have any of your friends got the X-Factor? Find out by getting people to pay a small fee to show off their singing talents. Hire a karaoke machine for accompaniment.

Y

Yogathon

With yoga growing ever more popular this could be a path to peace, prosperity and plenty of fundraising opportunities.

Z

Zany tie/hat day

Have a gathering, get everyone to wear the most zany, exotic or funny tie or hat they can find - or several if they wish. Charge a small fee per tie. Award a prize for the best.