Chris and Karl King
What inspired you to fundraise?
Karl (my brother) and I have both done a bit of fundraising in the past, but only smallish things. Karl (who's a chef) did once do a whole Pudsey-themed dinner at work - all the food was yellow! But neither of us had ever done anything on a scale like this before.
We have sent off for fundraising packs for Children in Need in the past and then never got round to using them, so this year we decided we really had to think of a good idea that would be interesting and a bit different.
What did you choose to do and why?
We chose to be the first people in the UK to travel from Sunderland to London and back using only public transport (and wearing Pudsey ears.)
What was involved and did you get much help from the organisation/people you were supporting?
What was involved? 940 miles, 89 hours travel over 4 days, 2 x metros, 2 x tubes and 38 buses.
Yes, we got a lot of help, both from BBC/Children in Need and from all of the bus companies involved. Our local BBC/Children in Need team were brilliant, and helped a lot with publicity both before our trip and after. They sent Pudsey to wave us off and featured our story on the Children in Need TV roundup on the night (you can see a clip on our website.)
All of the bus companies we used agreed to sponsor us by reinbursing our fares, and one even included a sponsorship cheque for £200! All of the bus drivers and inspectors we met were really helpful too.
Premier Travel Inn allowed us to stay overnight free of charge with them, and (we didn't realise at the time) made a collection on our behalf - so yes, a lot of people went out of their way to be helpful.
How many people were on your volunteer fundraising team and how did you get your team together?
There were just the two of us.
What was it like planning for it?
We only had the idea about six weeks before, so it was all a bit of a rush! Planning the route was a bit offputting at first, but then luckily we met somebody from our local bus company who was able to help, and the rest just seemed to fall into place.
Asking for sponsorship was a bit disheartening as well. We wrote a lot of letters to potential sponsors, and it was disappointing how few companies actually bothered even to get back in touch. On the other hand, the ones who did were brilliant.
The biggest difficultly we had with planning was with making public collections. Because we would be travelling through so many regions and each one would need us to be applying for a license a month in advance, we just didn't have the time to make all of the applications, and I think that red tape cost us a lot in sponsorship. Still, next time, we'll be ready for it!
How long did it take, including everyone's time
Six weeks planning by two of us. Four days travelling.
What was it like asking for donations, any top tips?
We didn't really ask people for donations apart from family and friends, although we do have an online donations page: www.justgiving.com/pudseychallenge
We did have to ask for a lot of sponsorship though, and a top tip would be simply that if people haven't responded to your letters, you should ring them. At least that way, you're more likely to get a definite answer one way or the other.
What was your target?
Karl was hoping for £500 - I thought we might just manage to scrape £1,000
How much did you raise?
£1266 - and it's still coming in.
Would you do it again?
We're already planning it! Maybe not quite the same though, and we've got a couple of ideas how to make it different next time round.
2009 UPDATE!!!
Last year we only had 6 weeks from coming up with the idea to actually doing the challenge. This year we have given ourselves a bit more time to get organised.
This year we aim to travel to the 10 major Cities of England whilst visiting the BBC Radio studios in those Cities using only buses - mainly public transport.
Our aim this year is to try to raise £1500.
You can see on our home page what we did last year www.pudseychallenge.co.uk and you can check out the media publicity we received last year by going to www.pudseychallenge.co.uk/2008
Ouronline donation page is www.justgiving.com/pudseychallenge2009
What advice would you give to someone wanting to do the same thing?
Leave plenty of time for planning!
This year, we could have done with more time to get the public collection side sorted for example, so next time we'll start earlier.
Have fun! Not everyone will be prepared to join in, but just ignore the ones who won't - it's their loss.
And if you're doing something similar to us, it might sound obvious, but be sure to leave yourself enough regular breaks for food, drink and using the toilet!
Where can I read more about your fundraising?
www.pudseychallenge.co.uk
