An even bigger Why

Why am I raising money for Seeing is Believing?

As I edge closer to my New Year target of £500 (£55 to go – help here!), I thought this might be a good time to say that I chose Seeing is Believing because I want your donations to have the greatest possible impact.

1.   Your donation will be doubled.  Standard Chartered will pay Just Giving’s charges and double every pound you donate.  Beat that!

2.     Your donation will be used to provide affordable eye care where it is needed most.  Seeing is Believing partners with leading eye-care expert non-governmental organisations and targets areas of high need.  Through years of experience, it has developed robust systems for project selection, development, and monitoring and evaluation.

3.  Your donation will have a far-reaching effect.  The issue of sight loss goes beyond health - it affects the livelihoods of individuals and the economic well-being of communities.  For many, going blind can mean the end of education, employment, and independence.  

Where will your money go?

The first of five major Seeing is Believing projects to enhance children’s eye health is underway.  The four-year project will strengthen children’s eye care across Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, reaching four million children.  The project will:

•          Help 4 million children directly benefit through screening and treatment;
•          Fund eye related surgeries for over 5,000 children
•          Educate 7 million children on the importance of eye-health
•          Enhance and establish 82 eye-care clinics in hospitals across the region
•          Train 8,840 people in child eye-care.

PLEASE NOTE: Obviously, the Mongol Derby is a total jolly.  I’m funding all the costs of the trip either personally or through corporate sponsorship – no money from any donation will contribute to the costs of my trip.  I don’t see why anyone should pay for me to have a good (or terrible!) time. 

The Adventurists do ask all entrants to raise at least £1,000 for charity, but I am raising money independently through JustGiving, as you will see from my pages (here and here).  The money doesn’t go through the Adventurists and both Seeing is Believing and Cool Earth are independent of the Adventurists.

There is one caveat: charities pay a 5% fee on donations to JustGiving (which JustGiving takes from reclaimed GiftAid).  If you donate to Seeing is Believing, Standard Chartered will pay this 5%.