Rib Around Britain in 9 days 9 hours 9 mins

[Boats&Outboards]

Please Help

A very good friend of mine is participating in this challenge. Basically it's a team of Fire Fighters trying to get around Britain using a RIB in just 9 days 9 Hours and 9 Minutes to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 atrocities. A team from around England & the New York Fire Department are doing the challenge with it being supported by media coverage too! Some are Novices so it should be quite a tough ask

Were looking for Donations please. I've started with £100 but even a fiver helps.

http://www.justgiving.com/999coastalchallenge

Get the word out there and if you can help in any way please do. It's all starting (and ending) in Southampton on the 10th September. The routes and details are attached

Once you've donated it would be great if you could post back here to show your backing (you don't have to state the amount)

If any traders can help further like donating items to auction etc even better.

Many thanks

Peter @ Boatsandoutboards4sale ~ askboatsandoutboards4sale@sky.com ~ 07930 421007

Peter @ Boatsandoutboards4sale ~ askboatsandoutboards4sale@sky.com ~ 07930 421007

[sirib]

Good Luck with challenge. What looks fun is that it looks like you will overtake us on your first day, when we go Plymouth to Penzance and you go Southampton to Padstow. I thought that we were pushing it with 100 mile days over a month, but your 300 mile days will be demanding. I look forward to seeing you on the water.

see blog Take Two Ribs
virgin giving Virgin Money Giving | Fundraising | Take Two Ribs

[Boats&Outboards]

Originally Posted by sirib

Good Luck with challenge. What looks fun is that it looks like you will overtake us on your first day, when we go Plymouth to Penzance and you go Southampton to Padstow. I thought that we were pushing it with 100 mile days over a month, but your 300 mile days will be demanding. I look forward to seeing you on the water.

see blog Take Two Ribs
virgin giving Virgin Money Giving | Fundraising | Take Two Ribs

And most of them have never seen a RIB before either!!!

Best of luck with your trip too.

Peter @ Boatsandoutboards4sale ~ askboatsandoutboards4sale@sky.com ~ 07930 421007

[Boats&Outboards]

Well disappointed to say the challenge starts this weekend and to date nobody has donated a penny....

Needless to say they will still be going ahead as planned and hopefully folk are more willing to donate at each port....

Peter ~ Boatsandoutboards4sale ~ askboatsandoutboards4sale@sky.com ~ 07930 421007

[SPR]

looks like a few donations to me - 1500 odds

[willk]

Originally Posted by SPR

looks like a few donations to me - 1500 odds

You're looking at the other Charity

[Boats&Outboards]

It has £130 of donations. £100 from me. To be honest I expected a little response at least from Ribnet.

Peter ~ Boatsandoutboards4sale ~ askboatsandoutboards4sale@sky.com ~ 07930 421007

[John Kennett]

There are a number of charities that I make regular contributions to, but I generally don't support this type of event. Sorry.

This is a jolly with a bit of a charitable excuse. If your friends really want to support the charity they would be better off staying at home and donating the fuel money.

[SPR]

sorry - if I got got confused maybe others did too! bit good having two different charity's in same thread, and you did not do yourself quoting the other one either...

i am all donated out, with other charities, maybe they big many Rib people in Manchester.

people tend to support local charities events...

S.

[Boats&Outboards]

Originally Posted by John Kennett

There are a number of charities that I make regular contributions to, but I generally don't support this type of event. Sorry.

This is a jolly with a bit of a charitable excuse. If your friends really want to support the charity they would be better off staying at home and donating the fuel money.

Let's hope the same does not apply to a "shout" - it's ok lads let's not bother. Stick the fuel saving into the charity

Peter ~ Boatsandoutboards4sale ~ askboatsandoutboards4sale@sky.com ~ 07930 421007

[Boats&Outboards]

Originally Posted by SPR

sorry - if I got got confused maybe others did too! bit good having two different charity's in same thread, and you did not do yourself quoting the other one either...

i am all donated out, with other charities, maybe they big many Rib people in Manchester.

people tend to support local charities events...

S.

The charity is nationwide hence why it's going "around the country" starting out from the "home of Ribnet" (well almost) being the south coast.

Peter ~ Boatsandoutboards4sale ~ askboatsandoutboards4sale@sky.com ~ 07930 421007

[Mike B]

Originally Posted by John Kennett

This is a jolly with a bit of a charitable excuse.

Peter,

I know this is not your event but if you want to feed this back to the team it may help.

I not so long ago did a charity motorcycle ride through europe and encountered similar views to John's. (which I can quite understand John - not getting at your view in any way!)

How we countered this was to make it very clear on our website that the cost of the trip was coming straight out of our pockets (and we would have done it anyway with or without the charity association) and the value of any donations received went straight to the charity - having had a quick look at the justgiving site there is very little information about the challenge itself, why people are doing it and what hardships they will encounter. All of this goes someway to justifying the donations that people may make.

We were also lucky enough to get a reasonable amount of corporate sponsorship (partially due to media coverage) so this may be something the team could consider, if they haven't already.

I personally have no problem with people having a "bit of jolly" but also doing what they can to raise some money for a good cause, if they can demonstrate that the effort they are putting in justifies my donation.

Hope this is of some help to the team and I would be happy to make a donation if I knew a bit more about the challenge, motivation and funding of the trip etc.

Cheers

Mike

[Boats&Outboards]

Originally Posted by Mike B

Peter,

I know this is not your event but if you want to feed this back to the team it may help.

I not so long ago did a charity motorcycle ride through europe and encountered similar views to John's. (which I can quite understand John - not getting at your view in any way!)

How we countered this was to make it very clear on our website that the cost of the trip was coming straight out of our pockets (and we would have done it anyway with or without the charity association) and the value of any donations received went straight to the charity - having had a quick look at the justgiving site there is very little information about the challenge itself, why people are doing it and what hardships they will encounter. All of this goes someway to justifying the donations that people may make.

We were also lucky enough to get a reasonable amount of corporate sponsorship (partially due to media coverage) so this may be something the team could consider, if they haven't already.

I personally have no problem with people having a "bit of jolly" but also doing what they can to raise some money for a good cause, if they can demonstrate that the effort they are putting in justifies my donation.

Hope this is of some help to the team and I would be happy to make a donation if I knew a bit more about the challenge, motivation and funding of the trip etc.

Cheers

Mike

Points well raised. The team do have sponsorship etc but the main funds would come from donations. Never mind. I'm sure they will do what they can.

Peter

Peter ~ Boatsandoutboards4sale ~ askboatsandoutboards4sale@sky.com ~ 07930 421007

[Poly]

Peter,

Like John I don't usually sponsor events like this which are really about the "adventure" for the participants rather than the charitable cause, and certainly not when the participants are complete strangers. Such events can be good for the charity just through the PR, but whilst what they are doing sounds like a fun challenge (from the limited detail you shared in the hard to read attachments) nothing about it sounds "that" hard.

Sadly your "outburst" above won't help convince me to donate, quite the opposite. However the following suggestions might be useful for you or anyone else trying to raise money in the future:

(1) Tell us about the charity and why it matters. I do know what the Firefighters Charity does because they helped one of my suppliers' sons after an accident attending a shout that very nearly killed him; and I've donated to them in the past. I'd guess not everyone understands what they do.* I can also understand why UK Firefighters might feel a special association with their colleagues in New York, but I think you need to be realistic that ten years on, in times of financial prudence, the UK public are not necessarily going to be overwhelmed with generosity to help out the richest country in the world.

(2) If you are fundraising as a team a single team just giving page will probably get more attention. Whilst the link you've put up only has £130 of donations another page linked from their twitter feed has nearly £5k worth. I don't know if there are others. Generally people are like sheep and like to do what others do. If I was going to donate and saw than only a tiny number of people had gone before me (in fact fewer than were on the team) then I'd be a bit suspicious that the challenge wouldn't be completed.

(3) If you want people in the "boating" world to get behind a boating challenge - tell them about the boats, the equipment, the people, the training, the planning etc. People are more likely to give money to people they "know". Firstly to people I actually know, then maybe to people I feel I know on-line, and then possibly to inspiring people who have told a good story.

(4) If there are commercial sponsors (the Manchester Fire Service Page suggests that Humber and Suzuki are lending equipment) then you really want to mention their help on your promotional material - since good publicity will attract other commercial donations which is where the real money is. But also because if people see companies associated with the 'challenge' it adds credibility that this is maybe more than a jolly.

(5) If people decide not to donate, accept that this is their choice and politely move on. Barracking people to support a charity is never a good idea. Some people just don't do it, others can't afford it, and others already are giving lots either in time or in money to their own "pet projects". Whatever their reasons for not giving - it is not a tax and they should be free not to donate.

(6) If the team are paying for fuel, accomodation etc themselves then make it explicit. Otherwise people will assume this is a "cost of fundraising". Then make sure that the people you are asking really see this as a challenge. Stand out from the crowd. There are three people all raising cash on here at the moment with "long distance rib trips".


* I'll save for another day the debate about whether supporting the charity actually removes an obligation from Governments to support public servants injured in the line of duty.

[sirib]

Hi
Just a quick note on a different line to say we have just started our Round Britain Today. We we looking at your Humber when we left Southampton this morning. We had moderate to rough seas today and decided to call it a day when we got to weymouth. I think it will be a fantastic achievement to get round in 9 days, I look forward to seeing you all storm past on Saturday. PS the weather is not looking great, but we too will be out in it so give us a call when you go past.

Do watch our progress on Take Two Ribs
Our fundraising is going well

Thanks Everyone and keep a look out for us

[Boats&Outboards]

Can I point out it's got nothing to do with me in any way shape or form. I just know one of the guys on the team

I'm not the fundraiser so it's just an opinion. Not an outburst by any means.

Peter ~ Boatsandoutboards4sale ~ askboatsandoutboards4sale@sky.com ~ 07930 421007

[HUMBER P4VWL]

Originally Posted by Boats&Outboards

Points well raised. The team do have sponsorship etc but the main funds would come from donations. Never mind. I'm sure they will do what they can.

That kind of validates John's view. I'm not saying it is the case here, though evidence suggests so. But i hate it when people think, let's do something cool, bungee jump, drive across europe, rib around britain etc and then think oh, how on earth will we fund it........ I know, Charity! We will raise enoug to pay for the trip and then whats left we will donate. That justifies it, as if we didn't do it, the charity would get nothing.

Well no, the only way i'd part with my cash to someone doing something (as i give to charities of my choice anyway) is if they fund it themselves and they are just promoting the charity () or they are doing something they hate as people will pay to see it. eg I'd love to see Willk skipper a Ribeye on the next Ardbeg trip with a flag saying, "Redbays are rubbish, Ribeyes rock".

[Boats&Outboards]

Originally Posted by HUMBER P4VWL

That kind of validates John's view. I'm not saying it is the case here, though evidence suggests so. But i hate it when people think, let's do something cool, bungee jump, drive across europe, rib around britain etc and then think oh, how on earth will we fund it........ I know, Charity! We will raise enoug to pay for the trip and then whats left we will donate. That justifies it, as if we didn't do it, the charity would get nothing.

Well no, the only way i'd part with my cash to someone doing something (as i give to charities of my choice anyway) is if they fund it themselves and they are just promoting the charity () or they are doing something they hate as people will pay to see it. eg I'd love to see Willk skipper a Ribeye on the next Ardbeg trip with a flag saying, "Redbays are rubbish, Ribeyes rock".

Listen they are not out on a jolly. I'm not involved in it at all just trying to raise some funds to help. It seems to have backfired. I'd not want to have an adverse effect on the fundraising so please can a MOD remove this thread.

The costs are not coming out of the money raised and it's not a couple of guys out for a free rib ride. It's a serious attempt to travel the UK raising awareness of the charity, their work and raising some much needed funds at the same time.

Anyway it's falling on deaf ears so please remove this and let them do the fund-raising in a proper manner with me giving the wrong impression.

Peter ~ Boatsandoutboards4sale ~ askboatsandoutboards4sale@sky.com ~ 07930 421007

[Poly]

Peter you have a PM - but I've discussed it with the Administrator and we can't see any reason to remove the thread. I doubt it is doing the charity/fundraising any additional harm in leaving it and may serve as a useful reference for anyone planning a future long distance rib trip for charity.

[Boats&Outboards]

Fair enough. I disagree. End of discussion

Peter ~ Boatsandoutboards4sale ~ askboatsandoutboards4sale@sky.com ~ 07930 421007