A round of applause please...

...Jenfer has finally achieved her BSc. Tell us Jen, when are you going for your Silver Swimming Certificate?

Jenfer, BSc

Well, it's official, the degree is over (assuming I don't have to go back for resits that is). So before I continue there's just one thing I'd like to say: (ahem)

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Right, now I've got that off my chest, on with business. I'm sort of mid celebratory drinking session at the moment, so only a few lines for now, just to say I haven't forgotten about my own fundraising thing and left it all to my sister ;) I am still paying attention and I do intend to put my full effort into getting all this dinero from this point on!

So, that said, I'd also like to thank people that have donated on the website thing that Kate set up at www.justgiving.com/sendjenferoverseasdonations

Right, so I'm off to get beer, but I'll be blogging a lot more regularly from now on :D

Oh my god oh my god oh my god

Firstly... If you have been re-directed from my blog or Jenfer's blog - Hello, Good Evening and Welcome in a David Frost Stylee! You are officially in our good books! Anyway... on with the post!

BREATHE.....BREATHE.....

I've just booked a band for a gig in August. A proper band. Not a tin-pot twosome, or a little bunch of bedroom-boys, like the Evil Sheep* were. No no no! These are a real lot! And now I'm losing it because I've never organised a gig before.

AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!.

If anyone out there knows how to organise a gig, can you please email me? Or at least reccomend some non-prescription drugs for stopping freak-outs?

*The Evil Sheep were the pinnacle of success in Covers Bands in the Oxford area from the period between 1997 and 2001. If you don't remember us, that's not really surprising because we only played about 4 gigs. If you want to know why we were called The Evil Sheep, email me, as these reasons are not about to become clear anywhere on here - it's too embarrassing.

Go me... go me....!

I am more than just slightly chuffed today as I have succeeded in both making it easier to donate to or sponsor Jenfer, and also more profitable! There is a great website called www.justgiving.com where you can set up a fundraising page. I have checked with Raleigh that they will accept anything we collect here, and the answer is a great big fat yes. So Yay For Me!

Also, anything donated is GiftAid-ed, which means that a £10 donation is actually £12.82. Good, eh?

So when Jenfer has finished her exams, and posted some more gubbins on here about the Brecon Beacons thingmajig, on which I understand she has some company in the form of some loopy student mates, you can use it to sponsor her. Any amount, large or small, is much appreciated. Hurrah! To visit the site, please go to www.justgiving.com/sendjenferoverseasdonations. Cheers!

So I've just got back from this party....

... more than slightly pished and I'm pleased to see that Jenfer approves of the bloggage so far. Also, at aforementioned party hosted by Hadrian (actually Adrian, but I think Hadrian is more hhhhhistorical if you know what I mean) which was absolutely wickeeeeeeed (am I too old to say that?). Said party has stimulated more than one idea regarding singing - there's a website called sing to the world dot com, or something similar which allows the host, assuming they have a fast enough internet connection, to have the fabbest karaoke machine in existence.... any song you choose is immediately brought up on screen along with backing track.... am thinking some kind of sponsored sing, or at least a sponsored shut-Kate-up-if-we-raise-enough-money-a-thon. It's not quite a proper idea yet, but it's getting there.....

And she says I make *her* look bad!

I must admit, I'm feeling slightly sheepish at the moment. After all, it was me who got myself into this pickle, and the "I'm too busy revising and writing pointless extended essays" excuse is only going to wash for another 12 days, what with my final exam being on 26th May after which I leave the realms of student-dom, bound full pelt and head first for real life (pffft). So, when I started moaning to Mrs Fundraising Genius Extraordinaire (hereafter known at Kate) about how I had less chance of raising all this money in time than a three-legged hedgehog has of suviving a trundle across a six lane motorway, I wasn't expecting her to actually do anything about it. I was expecting the usual "well get off your arse and stop winging" spiel. But I was mistaken. Much to my (pleasant) surprise, she gets all enthusiastic and starts muttering something about a clipboard...

Anyway, her infectious excitement at the prospect of list making kick started me into at least thinking about planning something. So, as has been mentioned, the mission-round-a-mountain walk in the probable rain is top of the list at the mo, and with a Summer fete of sorts hopefully in the pipeline (that's if the summer ever arrives), a bit of collection round a few pubs planned and a possible charity gig on the way, its all go.

So... tune in for the next exciting installment...

Ta-da!

Well hello there! I have finally managed, having spent numerous hours trying to find somewhere to upload that damned thermometer picture for free, to get it up here so that we can see how well (or indeed how badly) we are doing with the fundraising. Which brings me on to the first fundraising event!

The Brecon Beacons Walk-A-Long-Way Challenge!

Yeah, okay, I just tarted it up a bit so that it doesn't sound quite as boring as a sponsored walk, which is what it actually is. So, the basic premise is that Jenfer and a bunch of her mates are going to walk 13 miles in the wind and rain of deepest darkest Wales. Ha. Ha ha ha. Ahem.

For the moment, if you'd like to sponsor Jenfer, please contact us by using the email clicky on the right. I'm working on a page to make credit card sponsorations (well, what word would *you* use?) but I have to check that they will be accepted by Raleigh as part of Jenfer's fee. I'll get back to you.

Right, I'm off to tell Jenfer I've set this up and give her a login of her own so she can do some blogging. I'm not doing at all meself! I hope she likes it....

What have I done?

Bloody volunteered, that's what. After Jenfer has done soooo much stressing about her degree, at which I'm sure she will do absolutely fine (if not exceed all expectations and make me look like the dunce *again*) that she really didn't need any more stress. So what did I do? Yes, you've guessed it. I volunteered to be:

The Send Jenfer Overseas Fundraising Campaign Manager!

Ah yes, I was seduced by the idea of a shiny new clipboard and a checklist with lots of ticks in all the boxes. Except there's one problem. I don't know anything about fundraising, and I'm starting to get a bit worried that I'm not going to be able to think of anything sensible. I thought of auctioning off a date with one of Jenfer's everso-slightly famous mates, but then realised the implications of an axe-murderers with ebay accounts. Hmmm... am going to have to put the thinking cap on....