5 reminders from last night that will keep pinging me into action

Yesterday evening I was fortunate to attend an empowering event that was organised by 10x10 Philanthropy. I was representing the incredible charity I work for, Lifelites, in a Dragons Den style pitch for support, followed by an audience vote.

The benefit of spending much of my time advocating the incredible work of a charity like Lifelites, who donate life-changing technology to life-limited and disabled children, is that my focus is regularly on messages of hope, joy and doing something for someone else.

Wrapped warmly in this spirit of giving and support of others, the 5 things I was reminded of last night were: 

1.    If we speak positively about our hopes and need for help, theres a good chance others will listen and offer support. As well as voting to donate much of the fundraising from last night’s event to Lifelites, the audience also offered a huge amount of voluntary support, which we gratefully accept.

2.    Finding common cause is the source of collaboration, and it’s everywhere. As well as a supportive audience of fundraisers and volunteers, we also met two other fantastic charities who we are now talking to about finding ways of supporting one another’s efforts. 

3.    Offers of support is the seed that should be encouraged to grow. So many of the people I met yesterday offered help. Every offer gave me an opportunity to reflect on the work I’m doing and whether this can be done better or differently to support the children my charity aims to help. Every offer therefore had intrinsic value.

4.   There’s nothing better than breathing the same air as the people you want to work with. I believe that standing with the person you’re talking to is a surefire way of really hearing what they’re saying and understanding how you might be able to achieve something real, together.

 5.   Hope is powerful and needs to be kept pure. There was an honesty last night, in the conversations we all had about our hopes for a better world. Shared hope seemed to have a tangibility, an energy, which filled the room yesterday. It left my boss and I beaming as we headed off to catch our trains home. It’s stayed with me throughout today.

So thank you to 10x10 Philanthropy, and everyone I met last night. I’m determined to make the most of your support for children who really need it.