Who's with me? Raising £3,500 for The British Horse Society!

[rachayray]

Hello!



I would like to tell you my story, and hope it would be something this forum would love to help me out with. My name is Rachel and I, like the rest of us, am a self-confessed horse addict. 2014 is the Chinese Year of the Horse and I'm determined to give something back to these animals that have been a part of me for my entire life - with the help of the British public, this could be their year by me doing something I will never forget for the rest of my life…


Between 17th and 27th October I hope to be riding across rural Rajasthan, India, in order to raise money for The British Horse Society and broadcast the valuable work they do. This will be a challenging trek in an area where the culture is as incredible as the scenery - I will be riding a Marwari horse, a breed descending from the war horses of the ruling families of feudal India which shall provide me a swift and bold mount for this epic adventure. The reason I say ‘hope to be riding’, is that it will only happen everyone's help – I can only raise this money for the charity by fundraising!!


Physically this trek is tough - we all know it is contrary to popular belief that the horse does all the work for you! I will have to endure a specific fitness plan throughout the following few months to make sure I am mentally and physically fit for what lies ahead. I have 150km to cover (around 93 miles) working out at at least seven hours a day in the saddle. Emotionally this event will be overwhelming and I need to focus; I will be dedicating the next eight months of my life to nothing but this trek and for those who know me personally they will confirm with no shadow of a doubt as soon as the word ‘horse’ is mentioned, my heartstrings are tugged. I am a keen equestrienne and will do anything I can to make sure I give this charity the money it needs to help out with its vital work. I will no doubt encounter an unforgettable experience of a lifetime in the process. You can find out a few more details about this specific ride here: www.bhs.org.uk/get-involved/challenge-rides/india


The funds I am trying to raise are in aid of a charity representing the interests of 4.3 million people in the UK who ride/drive and/or own horses. The BHS is the UK's largest and most influential charity, and with their status they provide support for smaller charities up and down the country. As a keen rider from before I can even remember, and having owned horses for years, I would be the first to put myself out for a horse that required help or aid someone that needed advice, so I am more than ready to help the charity on their mission. The BHS is seen as 'a strong voice for horses and people', spreading 'awareness through support, training and education’. A few issues the charity works nationally to improve are the horrendous conditions horses are sent to slaughter via live transport for human consumption and the ways they are treated when they are slaughtered, the awareness of strangles (a highly contagious and infectious disease in equines that I have sadly had personal experience with in the past), help with horses that have been abused and/or neglected and aid to those reported of being in distress, help with exotic equine diseases and prevention of them from contaminating the UK, advice for responsible breeding...the list is endless. I am sure you can see why this is so important to me and as a nation of animal lovers I can only hope others can empathise with too. Horses throughout history have provided so much for us and without them our world would be nowhere near how it is today - it's time to give something back.


As a guide, I require an initial £300 registration amount to the BHS to send off with an application form - this secures my place on the trip and is non-refundable if I cannot make the required fundraising amount. I then need to raise £3,300 to guarantee me going to India; this is more than achievable and have already received some money despite only fundraising for a few days. I am not forgetting my goal of £10,000, so even if my place is secured and I know I am going, I will continue to work towards this goal and get as much as I can for this charity. The goal would be outstanding to achieve but the £3,600 combining the minimum fundraising amount and the registration fee is essential. I also require a Visa to India and travel insurance for my trip which is not included in my fundraising. As the fundraising is of most importance my focus will be on this rather than the excluded.


I have set up a website on justgiving.com, and I provide updates on my progress on social media sites including Facebook and Twitter, and have set up a text-based donating system. My aim for the first 48 hours was to spread my challenge over the internet and to send it viral, covering every inch of the internet as fast as I can - numbers are key. I will be doing various ways and means in order to raise all of this money so I am encouraging people to talk to me on these sites and see what I am up to. I will do (almost!) anything to get this money, be it odd jobs or organised events to follow.


I hope you can see how much this project means to me and just how serious I am about working hard for it. I understand times are difficult and there are so many charities to give to at this present time. All I am asking is that people spread the word and if they can, to give as much as they could afford - literally, every pound counts. Many thanks - I have provided photos and links below for your perusal.


Kind regards,



Rachel Morris.


www.justgiving.com/rachelsmission

www.bhs.org.uk

People can text the code RRWK89 with a donation amount in figures (e.g. RRWK89 £10) to the number 70070

(Below: 'Ride with the Kings' trek 2013)

[brynsleigh]

Yes am with you have donated well done for doing this and hope all goes well x

[portiabuzz]

me too have donated for you, something ive always wanted to do, one day x

[rachayray]

Thank you my darlings, have just seen, so generous of you! I really hope I manage to, I've always wanted to travel abroad to help out with animals in some way and this seems the closest thing available to it - just hope people really understand how much the charity does and want to chip in. It's probably something I won't be able to do again too soon due to the amount of money needed to raise, I'm thinking the fundraising will be harder than the trek in some ways! Thank you both, may you win the lottery!!! xx

[wills]

OP I hope you don't take offence to this, but are you funding your travel and expenses? Or will this come out of the money you raise?

The reason I ask is I just don't understand how things like this can benefit a charity, when you take into account flights etc then £3300 doesn't go along way so how much would you have to raise before the charity started to see a return? (if that makes sense).

[Hannah]

I must admit that I would be much more inclined to donate to someone who was a regular poster! I am all for raising money for good causes, the BHS do some great work and I support the BHS in several ways, but I am afraid this rather looks like you want strangers to fund your riding holiday

[rachayray]

Hi guys, thank you for your comments. I am well and truly a newbie and am not on any other forums apart from Facebook pages. As all funds for my trip are entirely created by fundraising, I am doing whatever I can by any means in order to create awareness of what the charity does in order for people to realise how valuable they are, resulting in people wanting to donate. I was recommended this forum as is it clearly popular and was hoping people can help.

The BHS works alongside VentureCo which creates riding holidays and helps the BHS tailor this Ride with the Kings one among others, this means that the trip is fully organised and insured, and would be much more reliable than the charity going independently into it I should imagine. Obviously the BHS would have to fund the company to organise the trips but my fundraising amount includes a donation directly to the charity itself - it is also called a minimum fundraising amount for a reason...the aim is to raise for than the minimum required funds, because every penny after that amount goes directly to the charity, hence my whole target of £10,000. I also have to buy my visa, travel insurance and any injections not covered by the NHS as well as spending money, parking at airports, etc etc myself so I do have to make some input.

The BHS states that although an appealing and fun way to get fundraising, the Challenge Rides are by no means a riding holiday. This is listed several times in my paperwork from them. They go out of their way to stress this, state that you have to be riding/generally physically fit and you are required to self-certify yourself as fit and provide proof of that, or get a certificate from a doctor under certain circumstances. They stress that creature comforts are few and far between, so no this is by no means a riding holiday despite the fact that I am sure I will have a trip of a lifetime, encounter some fantastic scenes and people and know it is something I have always wanted to do. Please see further information about Challenge Rides here and my particular one in the list to the left (http://www.bhs.org.uk/get-involved/challenge-rides) or contact the BHS direct if you need further information or are concerned in any way about public requesting of funds in this case. It states on the page 'without the aid of our dedicated challengers our nationwide network of welfare officers would not be able to help anywhere near as many horses as they do', and they would not be running as well as they do if they were not providing an income. I am pleased to announce that due to the generosity of the public and a sponsor company that my place will shortly be secured when my form is received in the next couple of days