Sankalpa got its fundraising campaign off to a successful start at the weekend in Ballymun.  While the last of the votes were being counted in the General Election, some members of the Sankalpa fundraising team organized a collection outside some of Ballymun’s catholic churches.  The people of Ballymun were very supportive and generous at a time when every euros counts.  The team raised 242 euros!  We really appreciate the support of the people from Ballymun.  Our next fundraising event will be our bag pack organized by our fundraising co-ordinator Joeann Byrne.  We are still looking for volunteers, so if your interested please contact us at hello@sankalpa.ie

Below is a list of fundraising activities complements of Enable Ireland (www.enableireland.ie).

A-Z Fundraising Ideas

A

Absailing
Aerobathon (sponsored per minute or charge those taking part)
Antique Fairs
Art Exhibitions
Astrology Evenings
Athletic meetings
Auctions

B

Baby-sitting
Bad Hair Day
Bad Tie day
Bag Packing
Bake sale
Baked beans bath
Balloon race
Barbeque
Barn Dance
Bazaar
BBQ
Beard Shaving
Bed push
Bike tours
Bingo
Blind Date
Bob a job
Book and Jumble Sale
Book sale
Breakfast event
Bridge drive
Bring and buy sale
Bungee Jumping

C

Cake sale
Car boot sale
Car cleaning
Car rally
Car Wash (suitable for all ages)
Carol Singing
Casino night
Casual day at work/school
Children’s sports day
Christmas Day Swim
Church Collection
Churchgate Collection
Cinema charity screening
Coffee mornings
Coin chain
Coin collections
Coins (fill a smartie tube/jar with coins)
Comedy Night - www.laughterlounge.ie
Concert

D

Dance
Dance-a-thon
Darts Tournament
Dinner Dance / Party
Disco
Do door-to-door collections – we can supply you with all you need!
Dog show
Dog Walking
Donations in lieu of presents
Donkey Derby
Drama
Dress down day at work
Duck race

E

Easter bonnet competition
Easter egg hunt
Egg & Spoon Race
Exercise Bike Marathon (complete ‘shifts’ over a set period)
Exhibitions
Expeditions

F

Face Painting
Fancy dress ball / competition
Fashion show
Festivals
Film show
Firm wide raffles, auctions and collections
Fishing Competition
Five-a-Side
Flower show
Football Match
Football tournament
Fortune telling
Fun run

G

Gala evening
Garden party
Gigs
Girls V Boys Day / Event
Give up something for Lent and get it sponsored!
Golf classic
Golf Day (invite local firms to organise teams)
Golf tournament
Good as new sale
Gourmet Raffle
Greyhound meeting
Guess the amount of sweets in a jar
Guess the Height / Weight / Amount…
Gymkhana

H

Halloween fancy dress party
Halloween party
Head and beard shaving
Head Shave
Hill Walking / Running
Hopscotch
Horse Race
Horticultural Exhibition (charge and admission or sell plants)
Human Chain

I

Individual Gifts
Indoor Games Night (board games, skittles, cards)
Inter-departmental quiz in your workplace
Irish Coffee Morning

J

Jamboree
James Bond event
Jelly Eating Challenge
Jigsaw Puzzle Challenge
Joke Competition
Juggling Challenge
Jumble sale

K

Karaoke Evening (ask a local pub to host a karaoke night for you and charge entry)
Karate Event
Kite Flying
Knit In
Knitting Challenge
Knitting Sprint (knit for an hour – provide regulation wool and needles!)
Knobbly Knees Challenge
Kris Kindle

L

Lawn mowing
Leg Waxing (good for the men!)
Line Dancing
Litter Collection (sponsored per item/black sack)
Little Italy party
Local Pub Quiz
Lottery
Lunch runs at the office
Luncheons
Lunch-time event

M

Magic Show
Marathon (get fit and run a marathon, get people to sponsor/guess your time!)
Marathons / Mini Marathon
Masque Ball
Matched giving from companies for employee fundraising
Mountain climbing
Mums Run (ask your local school to help)
Murder mystery evening
Music recital
Musical Chairs

N

New Year’s Eve party
Night In (stay in on Saturday night with your friends and donate the money you save)
No Smoking Day
No Smoking/No Chocolate Day (give up your vices for charity)
No uniform day

O

Obstacle Course
Odd One Out
Oiche Gaelach
Old Time Dance (sponsored per dance)
Open Gardens – garden parties around your neighbourhood

P

Pancake breakfast
Panto
Parachute Jumps
Payroll deduction
Penalty Shoot-out
Pet show
Pie Eating Competition
Pillow Fight
Pizza party
Plant sales
Poetry Competition
Pool Competition
Pram Race (babies not included!)

Q

Quiz Night (general knowledge table quiz or themed quiz e.g. music/tv)

R

Race Night (horse/greyhound racing)
Radio Controlled Car Race
Raffle
Rag weeks
Read-a-thon
Role Reversal Day

S

Scrabble Tournaments (pay to play or sponsor points)
Shave- a- Thon
Shoe Shining
Sleep-out
Sponsored Bag-Pack
Sponsored bike ride for young and old
Sponsored Cycle / Walk / Run / Slim / Silence / ANYTHING!
Sponsored Dart Match
Sponsored Dog Walk
Sponsored Events, e.g. slimming
Sponsored silence
Sports day
Spot the baby photo competition
Street Collections (Don’t forget – you will need a Garda permit)
Street party
Supermarket Bag Packing
Swear box
Sweepstakes
Swimathon
Swimming gala

T

Talent competition
Talks and demonstrations – e.g. book readings, cookery demonstrations
Tea party
Teddy bear’s picnic for children
Tennis tournament
Theatre Premiere or Gala Evening
Theme evening
Themed event based on particular countries/cultures
Three-legged Race
Tombola
Treasure Hunt (sponsored/ask local firms to donate prizes)
Treks
Tug-o-war

U

Unwanted Christmas presents sale
Unwanted Gifts Sale
Used Book Sale (bestsellers at bargain prices)

V

Valentine’s Day event
Valet Services
Variety Show (sketches, song, dance, readings)
Vegetable sale
Veteran car rally

W

Walks
Weigh-a-thons
Welly-Throwing Contest (sell your tickets or ask for donations at the end)
Who wants to be a millionaire
Window cleaning
Wine & cheese party
Wine and chocolate night
Wine tasting
World record beating attempt

X

Xmas Pantomime
Xylophone Concert (?!!)

Y

Yacht Race
Yard Cleaning
Yodelling Competition
Yoga Demonstration
Your own thing!

Z

Zany Ideas
Zodiac Readings
Zzzzz – a sponsored sleep in or even stay-awake!

We are grateful for gifts and favours, and we don’t have to give something in return. It’s not one that quickly springs to mind when we think about emotions, but it may be important in our sense of well-being and in keeping us connected to others.

Robert Emmons and Michael McCullough did some research, starting in 2003, on gratitude. They asked a group of people to list five things each day they were grateful for, and found that those people were much happier that those who didn’t make lists. People who kept making the lists for a long time even started exercising more!

Here at Sankalpa we did our own version of the experiment, and found that keeping the list of good things helped some people to score lower on tests for depression!

Some scientists believe that gratitude helps us to form communities and relationships. When you feel grateful, you are more likely to do something nice for someone else. Then they feel grateful, and they are more likely to do something nice for someone else. Then THEY feel grateful…..well, you get the picture! Doing things for each other without asking for anything in return creates a sense of dependence in a positive way – we learn to rely on each other.

To try this out for yourself, get a small notebook and start writing! List five things each day you are grateful for. You’ll be surprised how quickly you start noticing more and more things that are making you happy.

Can something so simple really make us happier? Tell us what you think!

For further information, see http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/labs/emmons/ or check out “Thanks!: How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier” by Robert Emmons.

2oz dessicated coconut

6 tbs applesauce (approx 2 cooking apples)

3 tbs honey

2 tbs sunflower oil

• Mix the sunflower oil, honey and applesauce together.
• Stir in the oats and coconut
• Press into a baking tray and bake at 180° for around 30 minutes. The mixture will still be soft. Mark it into squares and allow to cool in the tray. It will become more crisp and crunchy as it cools.

You can create your own variations by adding chopped dried apricots or dates, raisins, seeds or nuts.

Enjoy!

I came through on the end of March and to be honest, I was in a bad way, but I had my arm. The MRSA ate a lot of my flesh but I’m a lucky one, I nearly died twice.

My brother Mark got on a course and told me about it and I saw so interested as the name is Sankalpa so I looked it up on the web site and had a talk with Tasha. I asked my brother to get an application form which he did and I filled it in. 3 weeks later I received a call from Sankalpa and got an interview which I went to and got a chance to change my life.

I’m in Sankalpa about 2 months now and I’ve started to drop on my phy which I will reduce 5ml each month. This place has opened my eyes to a different way of life. I really enjoy my days here as it’s well run and my goal is to leave here clean and have a better life as 2010 is going to be my year. I’m doing computers that I really like and I’ve made a lamp that I was so proud of.

I’ve to travel a good bit each day to get here and it’s worth it. The staff are very helpful and if you’re having a bad day and need to talk they will listen.

Well at the moment I’m doing very well and most of that is down to Sankalpa. I still attend hospital appointments but one thing to say is I had a slip and nearly died and it will never happen again.

I’m not in Sankalpa that long but I hope to complete the course and be free of phy and live my life as a normal person.