Diving into an I Can Moment: Making a Splash with Community Fundraising

I joined the Board of Trustees at ECL six years ago because I could see what a fantastic charity it is and what a positive impact it has. Outcomes for people with learning disabilities and/or autism are worse by almost every metric when compared to the general population. They face poverty, discrimination, complex health issues and a shorter life expectancy. At ECL, we enhance the lives of people with autism and/or learning difficulties in a wide variety of ways and it is important and rewarding work. However, times are hard and, like many other small charities, ECL is feeling the pinch and as a trustee, I want to do something to help raise desperately needed funds.

My fellow trustees have completed impressive community fundraising challenges such as an Iron Man, a half marathon and a parachute jump. Unfortunately, my arthritic knees aren’t fit for running long distances and I’m too chicken to leap out of a plane so I was feeling a bit dejected. But then I remembered ECL’s theme for this year which underscores everyth

ing we encourage our members to believe: I Can.  We’re encouraging our members to believe that they can achieve more than they think. So, instead of worrying about the activities which I can’t do, I decided to focus on something which I AM able to do instead.

I’ve been swimming regularly as rehabilitation after surgery on my shoulder and it occurred to me that I could kill two birds with one stone: strengthen my shoulder and carry out a sponsored swimming event. However, in order to really challenge myself, I’ve decided to swim the equivalent of a marathon which is just over 40 kilometres or 2000 lengths of my local swimming pool. (I know wild swimming is all the rage these days but my strong preference is for warmth and chlorine.) It’s a long way and so I have given myself two calendar months (March and April) to complete this challenge.

It would mean so much to me and everyone at ECL if you could sponsor me in my community fundraising efforts. Every little makes a difference so please help ECL to continue enhancing the lives of people with learning disabilities and/or autism in Elmbridge. Thank you so much.

To doante to Lisa's fundraising event please visit our Local Giving page by clicking the button below

Donate Here