If you'd like to raise money for Reflect - we would love to support and encourage you in your fundraising! We've had people help us raise money in a variety of ways, from baking cakes to walking 100 miles (in a month!) and even selling Christmas cards and crafts. Whatever you'd like to do, please consider doing it for Reflect so that we can keep on providing our much needed service for free!
Karl - Leeds 10K
'After Reflect had helped turn my life around I decided to take up running to help keep fit. I wanted to give something back to Reflect so I registered to participate in the Leeds 10 kilometre fun run as a way to raise some funds. It was a great way to motivate myself with the goal of supporting Reflect.'
Karl’s company also matched the full amount of donations he raised, doubling his impact!
Jill - Birthday party - tea & cake
'Approaching a 60th birthday can be a daunting prospect and I did consider I ignoring it altogether. However I decided instead to embrace it and hold an afternoon tea for friends and family so I could enjoy the day and celebrate the event but without ending up with lots of small and possibly unneeded presents. I wanted everyone to feel free to come without having to buy cards and presents so I decided to make it clear that there was no need to bring these things but instead if anyone wanted to they could give a small donation to Reflect. Having lots of generous friends meant we were able to raise £250 for an amazing charity. It was a really great afternoon!'
Ruth - Half marathon
'I found Reflect early in 2014, thanks to a referral from my doctor. At the time, I was badly depressed following a miscarriage the previous October, and really needed specialist help to cope with the confusion and grief that I felt. The support I received at Reflect was absolutely crucial in helping me understand and deal with my feelings, and to get my life back on track. One of the things we discussed was the worry that the baby would be forgotten, because there is no official way to mark a loss so early in pregnancy, and so few people had known I was pregnant prior to the miscarriage. I also wanted to break the taboos around pregnancy loss, to acknowledge how often it happens, and to let others know that help is available if it is needed. Therefore, I decided that on the one year anniversary of the miscarriage, I would run a half marathon to raise money for Reflect. I’m quite a keen runner, but didn’t want to enter an official race as I wasn’t sure I would want to be in a crowd that day. Instead, I mapped a route and tracked it on my RunKeeper app, with my partner cycling alongside me to take photos. I uploaded these onto a Virgin Giving page so that sponsors could see how I got on. The run was hard work, and my partner was forced to drop out part way round due to multiple tyre punctures, but we felt like it was a great way to honour our baby’s memory and to do something for others at the same time. Altogether, we raised £411.75 to help Reflect continue to offer non-judgemental support to men and women who experience difficult emotions due to an unexpected pregnancy, miscarriage, or termination, and were pleased to be able to mark such a sad day by doing something so positive.'
Rebecca - Christmas cards
'Christmas was a time of year we weren't looking forward celebrating given the year we had faced, instead of sending cards as we usually did we decided to put the money we would have spent on cards and stamps as a donation to Reflect.
We sent a Christmas text to all our family and friends letting them know we had made a donation instead of them receiving a card. We even had friends come back to us saying they would also make a donation on our behalf, I think we raised about £150 through our own and others donations.'
If you have any ideas for fundraising events (perhaps you have use of a venue, or could provide catering, or you are in a band/music group etc) then please do get in contact!
