The All New Non-Official ‘Great Big Nothing’ is announced.
January 29, 2010 9:18 am
Hello and a hugely warm welcome to the on-line base camp for ‘The Great Big Nothing’ proudly sponsored by Flexifoil Kites and Aquapac.net
WHAT IS IT?
The Great Big Nothing will take place in aid of the Julia’s House children’s hospice’s Pyjama Appeal which is raising funds to provide overnight care to life-threatened and life-limited children in Dorset. This is your opportunity to help raise money by doing simply nothing. That is right, we want you to do nothing and raise money by doing it. The reason we have changed tack is that we have been sadly forced to cancel The Big Downwinder 2010 so this is how we are now going to raise money instead, and have loads of fun doing it, or nothing as the case may be.
WHAT ARE WE DOING NOW THEN? ? ‘The Great Big Nothing’ now comes into play. I am happy to announce that nothing will be happening from now on! Nothing will be taking place at any point in time. No one will need to be insured as nothing is happening. No one stands any chance of being injured by a rogue Hot-Dog or being viciously upset by a dangerous sandcastle whilst falling off the Promenade. I am also hugely pleased to announce that at no point during ‘The Great Big Nothing’ will anybody be eaten by a lightening spewing shark. If you read a book whilst doing nothing please be careful turning the page as injuries may occur.
SO WHAT CAN I DO? This is where I hope I still have your support. I would love it if you wonderful people would still donate to Julia’s House. I will still honour the £22 donation and you will still receive your Flexifoil Rash Vest. Additionally you will still be entered into the prize draw to win goodies. Seize this opportunity to be part of something incredible that could well be all over the news, and become a new phenomenon by beating the system by taking part in nothing and raising money for poorly children. If you want to go and kitesurf with your buddy and make a collection from work or friends in aid of Julia’s House then that would be just incredible. You do not have to even kitesurf you could help us by just simply having a whip round and raising £10 from the lunch queue, or even refusing to brush your teeth until someone pays you £5 to do so. Or even just sit at your desk for an hour and charge people to watch you doing nothing, (should be easy!) You get the idea.
WHY IS IT NOT HAPPENING?
A team of over 100 intrepid kitesurfers were planning to kitesurf from Sandbanks in Poole to Boscombe Pier in Bournemouth to raise money for Julia’s House. With huge regret we have had to postpone the event despite huge public support from all over the world, but it is not all bad news. This is why we have relaunched as The Great Big Nothing!! We are still in the game and are back hoping to raise even more money. So please read what we are doing instead.
The event grew beyond anything that we expected and was doing stunningly well until we were approached by both Bournemouth and Poole Borough Councils asking us to provide £5,000,000 worth of public liability insurance and provide Risk Assessments and Exit Strategies and a whole host of other stuff. Essentially, we were planning on having an event on Council Land and we had to meet their requirements which was just not possible to do in the time that we have before the event.
Call it Red Tape, call it European Health and Safety Law no matter what, we could not meet the requirements so we have had to postpone the event until next year when we will be back bigger, better and stronger than before. It is no ones fault and I really just want to raise money for Julia’s House. It is hoped that both Councils will actually help us to plan the next event so watch this space for what could possibly be the biggest kitesurfing event to ever been seen in the area sponsored again by Flexifoil our rock solid supporters. We will update you as we have news.
CAN WE STILL COLLECT MONEY ALONG THE BEACH?
Sadly No, this is against the Law and will result in Legal Action being taken.
HOW CAN I NOT BE INVOLVED?
To find out more and to not take part, please call Chris Skone-Roberts on 07970 000078 or email chris@lazyblueskies.com. A donation of just £22 secures you nothing, but you do get a sponsorship/donation form as well as free entry into the raffle and of course your Flexifoil rash vest.
WHY ARE WE DOING IT? (The Serious Part)
The Julia’s House Pyjama Appeal needs to raise £400,000 to run the overnight service for the coming year at the charity’s hospice in Corfe Mullen. The new service will allow families of life-limited children to access full weekend respite breaks and also round-the-clock end-of-life care.
Julia’s House is Dorset’s hospice dedicated to children with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions. The majority of the children that it cares for are unlikely to live into adulthood.
CAN I STILL DONATE?
We have a donations page set up at www.justgiving.com/thegreatbignothing Please donate to this incredibly moving charity.
WILL MY MONEY REALLY HELP?
£5 could buy a sensory toy for a blind child
£15 could pay for a bereavement box for a sibling
£25 could pay for a tactile game to aid sensory development
£60 covers the average cost of a Care session in a family home
£100 pays for an hour’s care at the hospice for a group of children
£500 covers the cost of a morning’s care at the hospice
£1,000 will pay for a night’s care at the hospice for a group of children
WHERE ELSE CAN I GET INFO?
Please go and see any of our incredible list of supporters below
Or visit www.juliashouse.org and remember to donate at www.justgiving.com/thegreatbignothing
Please do pass the word around and know that everything you do or in the case now ‘Nothing’ that you do helps us no matter how small even if you do nothing apart from donate. Thank you for the incredible support on email to all of you who are already not part of this Great Big Nothing.
