Despite still living under the sword of Damocles, with my brain having stopped shrinking, I have a plan. Think Captain Tom and Eddy the Eagle!
There are millions of people either starving to death or dying of preventable diseases or lost to the brutal effects of warfare each and every day. As climate change gets worse, so the numbers of the world’s poorest fighting for life each and every day as a result of climate change-related natural disaster and warfare, will only increase. The Disasters Emergency Committee is saving the lives of millions every year and helping many millions more to rebuild their lives post-disaster. They need money, lots of money, each and every month.
My mission is to, as ‘Major Archie’, learning to play Golf and learning to play the pipe organ, raise as much money as I possibly can in order to save and help rebuild lives through the Disasters Emergency Committee.
Therefore I seek, to become, as a guest of the golfing community, the ‘Eddy the Eagle’ of the golfing world. To be invited to compete in those tournaments that have a significant media coverage in order for all to witness the benefits of my hard work and brain training though golf. To see me improve stroke by stroke, hole by hole, competition by competition. In so doing, as I play, escorted by my assistance dog, with my high vis tabard helping emergency services to find me in an emergency, and my broad rimmed sunhat to protect my skin made so sensitive by twelve monthly cycles of chemo, I become immediately recognisable. Missing and fluffing shots initially yes, but by keeping my chin up and keeping smiling and keeping trying, I hope to win many hearts and as my game improves, inspire them to sponsorship.
As I manage to learn to play organ tunes, to post them on my Challenge YouTube channel to demonstrate the fruits of my hard work. To seek the support of the musical industry to help me, in the amazing ways that they can, to add their delicious flavours to my story, and sell it to the nation through their music or perhaps, if I can ever become good enough, music made with me.
By coming and talking to the many businesses, many golf clubs, many musical groups, many rotary groups and many churches and many ramblers’ associations around the uk and abroad, I hope to seek their support in the raising of as much as they can, donating 1% of their monthly profits perhaps, or in the extraordinary ways that they can, for the sole purpose of saving lives directly by fundraising for my challenge with every single penny going directly to save lives through the DEC.
As I seek to secure an enduring sponsorship of £1 per month from as many people as I can, I seek the support of all banks’ in helping me to do so. I fundraise through standing orders as that protects me from having to deal with the cost of data protection. GDPR is enabled bank to bank through the standing order process. This helps me to guarantee that every single penny raised goes to the DEC. However, a significant number do not know how to do a standing order. Perhaps the banks could run an opt in campaign in which they give their customers the option to automatically sign up to £1 per month with the bank completing the standing order process to send the donation every month to my Challenge to save lives through the DEC.
It would be easier to run a just giving campaign, but that is one shot and then the enthusiasm is expended, and the monies raised spent. The need is for an enduring commitment.
The DEC will need to be saving millions of lives for years to come so has an enduring requirement for serious amounts of money. My initial target was, originally, to secure £1 per month from 1% of the 65 million active current accounts in the UK, so raising £650,000 per month for the DEC. However, with the banks’ support across the nation, coupled with significant media coverage enabled through participation as an invited player on the golfing circuit, along with extraordinary musical events, I would hope to secure sponsorship for £1 per month from every active current account in the UK and maybe even the world, so raising at least £65 million every month as an enduring commitment with which to save and rebuild lives through the DEC.
I hope to become immediately recognisable and to steal as many hearts as possible to raise as much as I can to save lives through the DEC.
My epilepsy is largely under control and, while my brain has now stopped shrinking, I still have a number of neurological dysfunctions, epilepsy and SMART syndrome. That is part of the story and with the help of golf and music and my balanced daily lifestyle, I hope to beat it entirely. I hope to stop my brain tumour from returning as predicted and to get neurologically and cognitively strong enough to become useful again. Please read on to learn more