I am brain storming away at a couple of things, but one event that is definite is my 'Christmas Morning Marathon & Dip!' I plan on organizing a 6k & 9k run/walk or skip starting from Old Dun Laoghaire Road and ending at Bullock Harbour for a much needed refreshing dip. The marathon is catered to all ages, families, friends, cousins, aunties & uncles are all encouraged to do it together! Christmas jumpers are mandatory as are Santa hats! Its all a bit of light hearted fun, getting into the Christmas spirit, giving to charity & also getting a little bit of exercise for yourself, so that Christmas dinner is well deserved!

At the finish point, the dip is optional! There will be hot whiskies, mulled wine, hot chocolate and many more treats! Along with carol singers and plenty of Chritsmas Cheer.

I will try and organise goodie bags and some surprises which I will be able to announce closer the time.

Registration will be 20euro per person, which includes your registration number & a santa hat.

More details are to follow!

What went from being a small intimate coffee morning with a few friends turned out to be an even bigger and better success than I thought. With persistence and a couple of hundred phone calls and emails later I managed to surpass my fundraising goal.

I have to give a huge thanks to all the sponsorships that I received, as my event wouldn't have been able to happen if it weren't for the kind people within the companies.

Not only has money been raised for Barnardos & Blossom Ireland I also gained so much experience in organizing and pulling off events.

One major aspect that stood out to me having gone through the experience is TO PLAN! No matter how big or small, to devise a plan and stick with it, is a fool proof way of avoiding failure. As simple as that sounds I managed to make it a lot more difficult for myself.

In my head I thought I had a plan; to organize a coffee morning, invite a handful of people and reach the fundraising target of 1000 euro. But in reality it turned into something quite different.

I got a bit carried away with myself, the positive responses and support that I received from a couple of local bakeries gave me the confidence to branch out to more companies, and in branching out I ended up expanding my ideas, and numbers of people I had planned on accommodating for.

There were positives and negatives with this. The positives; raising much more money than I had planned, producing larger volume of food while still retaining the quality that I had in mind & creating a more inviting and welcoming atmosphere. The negatives; the co-ordination and organization that it took to orchestrate all the collections and deliveries of food, wine, cups, plates, coffee machines, water boilers, jars, balloon, flowers and so much more. The setting up and the taking down of equipment.

But through all of the ups and downs of organizing the coffee morning I learnt more in a week and a half than I could have ever been thought in a year. If I were to take away three points from my charity event I would say:

Be patient yet persistent – Through all the phone calls and emails, I learnt that being patient (to a certain extent) while approaching the problem/query with a persistent mind helped me to gain so many sponsorships in such a short period of time. I managed to get over 45 companies to sponsor me in less than 10 days.

Be realistic: I think my over ambitious mind let me to think that I would have to have 200 cups/200 plates/2 coffee machines etc. I didn’t think it out properly in terms of how many people were realistically going to show up, and even still if 200 people did show up, 20% of them wouldn’t have touched the food (as I have learnt).

And lastly, PLAN: Make a plan from start to finish, an in-depth one. List numbers of people, who you’re inviting, the time people will (realistically) come at. Plan the quantity of products/food/drink you will need. Plan the budget, taking everything into consideration (even petrol costs).

But all in all, I am absolutely delighted to be apart of an organization that is so creative, beneficial and supportive. I don’t think I would have had the confidence to plan an event without knowing that I had the definite support of the fantastic mentors of 100 minds.

It has really made me believe that anything is possible if you put your mind to it. And look at what brilliant results 150 minds have achieved.

Unfortunately my plans in organizing the 5k run/walk on Christmas morning fell through as I got completely bogged down with exams and christmas preparations.

So, fortunately I have a come up with a different idea to gather money for Blossom Ireland and Barnardos. Either on the 7th or 8th of February I plan on holding a coffee morning/brunch in my house.

My doors will be open to every one from `10am until 2pm or until all the treats are gobbled up. I have already confirmed sponsorship with Camerino Bakery, Queen of Tarts, KC Peaches, Green Beards Juices, Pure Green Juices and I am waiting to hear back from many more.

I will also hold a raffling on the morning to bring in money for the charities.

I am in the middle of creating an event page on facebook. I will charge 20 euro at the door to eat as much or as little as you want, and extra donations are encouraged!

Thank you to all who have donated so far and to all who have sponsored the coffee morning.