1Your fundraising tips and ideas guide

Your fundraising tipsand ideas guideThe Silver Line is a registered charity in the UK. Registered Charity No. in England & Wales 1147330. Registered Charity No. in Scotland. SCO44467. Company No. 8000807

2Your fundraising tips and ideas guide

Your fundraising tips and ideas guideThank you so much for deciding to raise money for The Silver Line.

The great thing about fundraising for The Silver Line is that it can be as simple or as elaborate as you wish and whether you raise £5 or £500, every penny really does count.

Whatever you decide to do we hope you will have fun. And we would love to hear about it, so please do let us know how your event goes.

Our callers have said:“I have no family at all. I have one nice friend who washes my hair. The Silver Line is wonderful – now I have two hands to hold.”

“After using The Silver Line I felt so much better. I felt as if years had been taken off me. I’d never felt like that before.”

One million people in the UK are suffering the pain of loneliness. Friends and family may have died or moved away, or they may be caring for a partner. Loneliness can be a shock that few of us anticipate, intensely painful, and as damaging as smoking or obesity.

Until just over a year ago, older people had nowhere to turn if they felt frightened or isolated. Now there’s the “ChildLine for older people” available 24 hours a day, every day of the year. The Silver Line is a confidential, free helpline offering information, friendship and advice. Since our national launch in November 2013, we have answered more than 500,000 calls from older people and currently receive more than 1000 a day. We have recruited and trained over 1000 volunteers, known as Silver Line Friends, who call more than 1200 older people every week for a chat. Silver Circles, or group conference calls, is a new area of our work which enables several older people to socialise in a group.

“It’s the first time in years that I’ve been able to enjoy the company of several friends at the same time…..a sense of camaraderie and group support, and the happiest I’ve been for years.”

£5 will pay for a call with an older person who may not have spoken to another human being all week

£50 will pay to recruit and train a volunteer to become a Silver Line Friend

£100 will pay for one caller to be befriended for one year

£250 will pay for one caller to be supported by the helpline and their own Silver Line Friend for one year

The difference your fundraising will make...

3Your fundraising tips and ideas guide

Getting startedThere are plenty of fun ways to raise money, your imagination is the only limit!

Decide what to do Have a look at a few of our fundraising ideas to help you on your way if you haven’t already got an event in mind.

Set a date and locationDecide when and where the activity is going to take place. You could hold it at home, in a local pub, a restaurant, or perhaps a local business could help you out. Check the availability, capacity, toilet facilities and things like access and parking. If you let the owners know it’s a charity event, they might even let you hold it for free. Is it a public place or private – do you need to apply for any licences? See section on page 5 “Have fun and stay safe”. And if it’s an outdoor event don’t forget to have a Plan B just in case the weather isn’t cooperative.

Set yourself a fundraising target Let everyone know how much money you are hoping to raise and why The Silver Line is important to you. A goal always helps to keep you motivated and people will be more inclined to donate to help you reach it.

SponsorshipIf you would prefer to have a paper sponsorship form, you can download one: Click Here. Set the bar high and try and make sure the first person on the form to sponsor you is someone who will donate a larger amount, hopefully then others will follow their lead.

Fundraising materialsWe can send you collecting tins, and buckets (if it’s a big event), balloons, t-shirts, posters and leaflets on The Silver Line.

Email Fundraising@thesilverline.org.uk or call 020 7224 2020 to order materials.

Shout about itIt’s fantastic that you’re raising vital funds for The Silver Line, so don’t be shy in telling people! Send out invites and emails with a link to your fundraising page, put up posters (where you have permission to do so), post on Facebook and Twitter, or even approach your local newspaper or radio station. Ask friends to share it with their networks too. It sounds obvious but the more people who know about your fundraising, the more successful you are likely to be.

Set up an online fundraising pageAn online fundraising page only takes a few minutes to set up and it’s quick and easy to share with friends. Plus any money donated comes directly and safely to us so you don’t need to worry about collecting it.

MyDonate mydonate.bt.com/charities/ thesilverlinehelpline

JustGiving www.justgiving.com/silverline/

Virgin Money Giving uk.virginmoneygiving.com Search: The Silver Line

4Your fundraising tips and ideas guide

Collect your sponsorship Don’t be afraid of reminding people that they have sponsored you, and try to collect the money as soon as possible after the event.

Ask your employer about matched givingFind out whether your company has a matched giving scheme. For every pound you raise, they might donate a pound too!

Using our logo We want people to know why you are fundraising and would be pleased to offer guidance on how and where to use our logo. We would like to approve materials where our logo is included prior to use please.

Say “Thank you”Saying thank you not only shows the people who helped you raise the funds how much you appreciate their help, they might want to get involved again if you decide to do some more fundraising in the future.

PhotographsWe love to see photographs from our fundraisers’ events and, with your permission, to share them with our supporters on Facebook and Twitter. You may motivate someone else to do some fundraising for The Silver Line.

RecycleWherever possible, please arrange for rubbish to be recycled after your event.

Fundraising ideas to get you started

Quick and easy• Save your Silver – you’ll be

amazed at how quickly your loose change mounts up.

• Give something up - chocolate, smoking, tea, coffee, wine - get sponsored or simply put aside the amount you would have spent.

• Donations instead of birthday presents. • Bring and buy book sale.• Theme some fundraising around

existing events e.g. a Halloween event or Pancake Party on Shrove Tuesday.

Fundraise with friends • Karaoke night / Pub quiz / Musical Bingo.• Come Dine With Me – ask your friends to

pay a fee to enter and everyone brings a course. You get to enjoy the food and judge who becomes the winner.

• Do a good deed – offer to do errands in exchange for donations.

• Cleaning – you could do your friend’s cleaning and charge a fee.

• Car boot sale – once you’ve done all your friends’ clear outs you can take their unwanted possessions to a car boot sale.

• Donate your skills – are you a hairdresser, mechanic, cook? Do what you do best in exchange for a donation.

5Your fundraising tips and ideas guide

More fundraising ideas to get you started

At work• Hold a silver themed cake sale or bake

off – nominate your very own Mary Berry or Paul Hollywood to judge.

• Ask the boss to donate an extra day’s holiday and hold a raffle to win it.

• Put a collection box in the kitchen for a month and charge people for each cup of tea or coffee they drink.

• Encourage staff to donate an hour’s salary and ask your employer to match it.

• Hold an auction of promises – how high will people go for a week’s worth of tea making or taking over their early morning shift?

• Office Olympics – who’s the fastest typist? Quickest with a calculator? Charge an entry fee and crown the winner.

Paying in your donationsOnce you have raised your donation for The Silver Line, it is easy to get the money to us.

OnlineThe fast and secure way to pay in your fundraising. Visit: www.thesilverline.org.uk/donate

By phoneIf you would prefer to pay over the phone using a debit or credit card, please call us on 020 7224 2020.

Paying in chequesSend a cheque made payable to “The Silver Line” to 19-23 Featherstone Street, London EC1Y 8S. Please remember to include a cover note making reference to your event and telling us how much you have raised in total as we would like to thank you.

Paying in cashWe can send you a paying-in slip to pay donations directly to into our bank account at your local Barclays branch. Other banks may

charge you a small fee. Please note that for payment directly into the bank we may have difficulty linking the payment to you and thanking you. Please do contact the fundraising team if you would like to be thanked on 020 7224 2020 or email fundraising@thesilverline.org.uk.

Please remember to return all tins and buckets to us as they can be used by other supporters, which helps us to save money.

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6Your fundraising tips and ideas guide

Have fun and stay safeThere are laws governing all charity fundraising. Whatever you decide to do, please do it safely.

The Silver Line cannot accept liability for any loss, damage or injury as a result of fundraising for us. It’s essential you make sure your event is safe for all concerned and if you have any questions or want to check on anything, please do get in touch.

• Conduct a risk assessment to ensure you have planned for the safety of participants. There’s further information from the Health and Safety Executive at www.hse.gov.uk

• Participants should be fully briefed about the event, including (where relevant) any risks, fitness requirements, special equipment or clothing and standards of behaviour expected.

• Please take extra time to plan fundraising activities involving children. This includes providing adult supervision, permission from the child’s parents/guardians for the child to take part and background checks where adults are to have unsupervised access to children.

• You may need insurance cover for your event – for example, public liability insurance. This type of insurance protects you from unexpected financial loss like accidents or injuries.

Raffles and lotteriesA raffle is an easy and effective way to raise money as part of your fundraising. However depending on the type of raffle you may need a licence.

You don’t need a licence when a raffle is not the main focus of your event. The ticket sales and announcement of the results must be carried out during the event. No more than £500 can be spent on buying prizes, although there is no limit on the value of donated prizes, and no more than £100 can be deducted from ticket sales to cover overheads.

If you hold a larger raffle where, for example, tickets are sold over a period of time before the draw takes place, the raffle must be registered with the local authority. If ticket sales exceed £20,000 you must register with the Gambling Commission. As lotteries are governed by many rules, we recommend you speak to your local Licensing Authority for advice before organising one.

CollectionsPlease do not do house-to-house or street collections without permission from your local authority. If you plan to collect on private property (including shops, pubs etc.) you must have the permission of the owner.

Food hygieneMake sure food is stored, prepared and cooked hygienically. Visit www.food.gov.uk for further guidance.

AlcoholIf you want to sell alcohol at your event you will need a licence. If the venue already has a licence, then you will covered, but please do check.

7Your fundraising tips and ideas guide

Thank you so much for all your hard work and generosity. The Silver Line relies entirely on voluntary donations and we would not be able to support vulnerable older people without people like you.

Your donations will help us continue to be there for everyone who needs us.

How we can help youThis pack is intended as a resource for basic tips. We have kept it brief so that we do not overload you with information. We would be delighted to help you throughout your fundraising with advice,

signposting, materials and expertise, so please do call or email at any time for help or with any questions that you may have.

Phone the fundraising team on 020 3793 9182 or email fundraising@thesilverline.org.uk

Thank you

The Silver Line is a registered charity in the UK. Registered Charity No. in England & Wales 1147330. Registered Charity No. in Scotland. SCO44467. Company No. 8000807

Facebook www.facebook.com/thesilverlineuk

Twitter twitter.com/TheSilverLineUK

YouTube Search: The Silver Line YouTube

Our callers have said:“The hours are so long in the night – sometimes I’m frightened, sometimes unwell, so it’s always nice to know someone is there to give some sort of human contact.”

“The Silver Line is a marvellous thing. If you’re not joining clubs and activities, all you have left is talking. Talking is so important.”