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Your fundraising tipsand ideas guideThe Silver Line is a registered charity in the UK. Registered Charity No. in England & Wales 1147330. Registered Charity No. in Scotland. SCO44467. Company No. 8000807
2Your fundraising tips and ideas guide
Your fundraising tips and ideas guideThank you so much for deciding to raise money for The Silver Line.
The great thing about fundraising for The
Silver Line is that it can be as simple or as
elaborate as you wish and whether you raise
£5 or £500, every penny really does count.
Whatever you decide to do we hope you will
have fun. And we would love to hear about it,
so please do let us know how your event goes.
Our callers have said:“I have no family at all. I have one nice friend who washes my hair. The Silver Line is wonderful – now I have two hands to hold.”
“After using The Silver Line I felt so much better. I felt as if years had been taken off me. I’d never felt like that before.”
One million people in the UK are suffering
the pain of loneliness. Friends and family may
have died or moved away, or they may be
caring for a partner. Loneliness can be a shock
that few of us anticipate, intensely painful,
and as damaging as smoking or obesity.
Until only a year ago, older people had
nowhere to turn if they felt frightened or
isolated. Now there’s the “ChildLine for
older people” available 24 hours a day,
every day of the year. The Silver Line
is a confidential, free helpline offering information, friendship and advice. Since our
national launch in November 2013, we have
answered more than 275,000 calls from older
people and currently receive more than 1000
a day. We have recruited and trained around
850 volunteers, known as Silver Line Friends,
who call more than 1200 older people every
week for a chat, which generally lasts up to
an hour. Silver Circles, or group conference
calls, is a new area of our work which enables
several older people to socialise in a group.
“It’s the first time in years that I’ve been able to enjoy the company of several friends at the same time…..a sense of camaraderie and group support, and the happiest I’ve been for years.”
The difference your fundraising will make
£5 will pay for a call with an older
person who may not have spoken
to another human being all week
£50 will pay to recruit and
train a volunteer to become
a Silver Line Friend
£100 will pay for one caller
to be befriended for one year
£250 will pay for one caller to be
supported by the helpline and their
own Silver Line Friend for one year
3Your fundraising tips and ideas guide
Getting startedThere are plenty of fun ways to raise money, your imagination is the only limit!
Decide what to do Have a look at a few of our fundraising
ideas to help you on your way if you
haven’t already got an event in mind.
Set a date and locationDecide when and where the activity is going to
take place. You could hold it at home, in a local
pub, a restaurant, or perhaps a local business
could help you out. Check the availability,
capacity, toilet facilities and things like access
and parking. If you let the owners know it’s a
charity event, they might even let you hold it
for free. Is it a public place or private – do you
need to apply for any licences? See section
on page 5 “Have fun and stay safe”. And if it’s
an outdoor event don’t forget to have a Plan
B just in case the weather isn’t cooperative.
Set yourself a fundraising target Let everyone know how much money you
are hoping to raise and why The Silver Line
is important to you. A goal always helps to
keep you motivated and people will be more
inclined to donate to help you reach it.
SponsorshipIf you would prefer to have a paper sponsorship
form, you can download one: Click Here.
Set the bar high and try and make sure the
first person on the form to sponsor you is someone who will donate a larger amount,
hopefully then others will follow their lead.
Fundraising materialsWe can send you collecting tins, and buckets (if
it’s a big event), balloons, t-shirts, posters and
leaflets on The Silver Line.
Email [email protected] or
call 020 7224 2020 to order materials.
Shout about itIt’s fantastic that you’re raising vital funds
for The Silver Line, so don’t be shy in telling
people! Send out invites and emails with
a link to your fundraising page, put up
posters (where you have permission to do
so), post on Facebook and Twitter, or even
approach your local newspaper or radio
station. Ask friends to share it with their
networks too. It sounds obvious but the more
people who know about your fundraising,
the more successful you are likely to be.
Set up an online fundraising pageAn online fundraising page only takes a few
minutes to set up and it’s quick and easy to
share with friends. Plus any money donated
comes directly and safely to us so you
don’t need to worry about collecting it.
MyDonate mydonate.bt.com/charities/
thesilverlinehelpline
JustGiving www.justgiving.com/silverline/
Virgin Money Giving uk.virginmoneygiving.com
Search: The Silver Line
4Your fundraising tips and ideas guide
Collect your sponsorship Don’t be afraid of reminding people that they
have sponsored you, and try to collect the
money as soon as possible after the event.
Ask your employer about matched givingFind out whether your company has a
matched giving scheme. For every pound
you raise, they might donate a pound too!
Using our logo We want people to know why you are
fundraising and would be pleased to offer
guidance on how and where to use our logo.
We would like to approve materials where
our logo is included prior to use please.
Say “Thank you”Saying thank you not only shows the people
who helped you raise the funds how much
you appreciate their help, they might want
to get involved again if you decide to do
some more fundraising in the future.
PhotographsWe love to see photographs from our
fundraisers’ events and, with your permission,
to share them with our supporters on Facebook
and Twitter. You may motivate someone else
to do some fundraising for The Silver Line.
RecycleWherever possible, please arrange for
rubbish to be recycled after your event.
Fundraising ideas to get you startedQuick and easy• Save your Silver – you’ll be
amazed at how quickly your
loose change mounts up.
• Give something up - chocolate,
smoking, tea, coffee, wine - get
sponsored or simply put aside the
amount you would have spent.
• Donations instead of birthday presents.
• Bring and buy book sale.
• Theme some fundraising around
existing events e.g. a Halloween event
or Pancake Party on Shrove Tuesday.
Fundraise with friends • Karaoke night / Pub quiz / Musical Bingo.
• Come Dine With Me – ask your friends to
pay a fee to enter and everyone brings
a course. You get to enjoy the food
and judge who becomes the winner.
• Do a good deed – offer to do
errands in exchange for donations.
• Cleaning – you could do your friend’s
cleaning and charge a fee.
• Car boot sale – once you’ve
done all your friends’ clear outs
you can take their unwanted
possessions to a car boot sale.
• Donate your skills – are you a
hairdresser, mechanic, cook? Do what
you do best in exchange for a donation.
More fundraising ideas to get you startedAt work• Hold a silver themed cake sale or bake
off – nominate your very own Mary
Berry or Paul Hollywood to judge.
• Ask the boss to donate an extra day’s
holiday and hold a raffle to win it.• Put a collection box in the kitchen for
a month and charge people for each
cup of tea or coffee they drink.
• Encourage staff to donate an hour’s
salary and ask your employer to match it.
• Hold an auction of promises – how
high will people go for a week’s
worth of tea making or taking
over their early morning shift?
• Office Olympics – who’s the fastest typist? Quickest with
a calculator? Charge an entry
fee and crown the winner.
Paying in your donationsOnce you have raised your donation for The Silver Line, it is easy to get the money to us.
OnlineThe fast and secure way to pay
in your fundraising. Visit: www.
thesilverline.org.uk/donate
By phoneIf you would prefer to pay over the
phone using a debit or credit card,
please call us on 020 7224 2020.
Paying in chequesSend a cheque made payable to “The Silver Line” to Minerva House, 42 Wigmore Street,
London W1U 2RY. Please remember to
include a cover note making reference to
your event and telling us how much you have
raised in total as we would like to thank you.
Paying in cashWe can send you a paying-in slip to pay
donations directly to into our bank account
at your local Barclays branch. Other banks
may charge you a small fee. Please note
that for payment directly into the bank we
may have difficulty linking the payment to you and thanking you. Please do contact
the fundraising team if you would like to
be thanked on 020 7224 2020 or email
Please remember to return all tins and
buckets to us as they can be used by other
supporters, which helps us to save money.
Your fundraising tips and ideas guide 5
6Your fundraising tips and ideas guide
Have fun and stay safeThere are laws governing all charity fundraising. Whatever you decide to do, please do it safely.
The Silver Line cannot accept liability for
any loss, damage or injury as a result of
fundraising for us. It’s essential you make
sure your event is safe for all concerned and
if you have any questions or want to check
on anything, please do get in touch.
• Conduct a risk assessment to ensure you
have planned for the safety of participants.
There’s further information from the Health
and Safety Executive at www.hse.gov.uk
• Participants should be fully briefed
about the event, including (where
relevant) any risks, fitness requirements, special equipment or clothing and
standards of behaviour expected.
• Please take extra time to plan fundraising
activities involving children. This
includes providing adult supervision,
permission from the child’s parents/
guardians for the child to take part and
background checks where adults are to
have unsupervised access to children.
• You may need insurance cover for your
event – for example, public liability
insurance. This type of insurance
protects you from unexpected financial loss like accidents or injuries.
Raffles and lotteriesA raffle is an easy and effective way to raise money as part of your fundraising.
However depending on the type of
raffle you may need a licence.
You don’t need a licence when a raffle is not the main focus of your event. The ticket sales
and announcement of the results must be
carried out during the event. No more than
£500 can be spent on buying prizes, although
there is no limit on the value of donated prizes,
and no more than £100 can be deducted
from ticket sales to cover overheads.
If you hold a larger raffle where, for example, tickets are sold over a period of time before
the draw takes place, the raffle must be registered with the local authority. If ticket
sales exceed £20,000 you must register with
the Gambling Commission. As lotteries are
governed by many rules, we recommend
you speak to your local Licensing Authority
for advice before organising one.
CollectionsPlease do not do house-to-house or street
collections without permission from your local
authority. If you plan to collect on private
property (including shops, pubs etc.) you
must have the permission of the owner.
Food hygieneMake sure food is stored, prepared
and cooked hygienically. Visit www.
food.gov.uk for further guidance.
AlcoholIf you want to sell alcohol at your event
you will need a licence. If the venue
already has a licence, then you will
covered, but please do check.
7Your fundraising tips and ideas guide
Thank you so much for all your hard work
and generosity. The Silver Line relies
entirely on voluntary donations and we
would not be able to support vulnerable
older people without people like you.
Your donations will help us continue to be there for everyone who needs us.
www.facebook.com/thesilverlineuk
twitter.com/TheSilverLineUK
Google+
Search: 104746814556882154426
YouTube
Search: The Silver Line YouTube
How we can help youThis pack is intended as a resource for
basic tips. We have kept it brief so that
we do not overload you with information.
We would be delighted to help you
throughout your fundraising with advice,
signposting, materials and expertise, so
please do call or email at any time for help
or with any questions that you may have.
Phone the fundraising team
on 020 224 2020 or email
Thank you Our callers have said:“The hours are so long in the night – sometimes I’m frightened, sometimes unwell, so it’s always nice to know someone is there to give some sort of human contact.”
“The Silver Line is a marvellous thing. If you’re not joining clubs and activities, all you have left is talking. Talking is so important.”
The Silver Line is a registered charity in the UK. Registered Charity No. in England & Wales 1147330. Registered Charity No. in Scotland. SCO44467. Company No. 8000807