Here are some ideas to help you decide on how to fundraise for The Amber Trust. Download our Fundraising Guide for more suggestions on how to make your fundraising a success.
Also see how some of our supporters have raised money to support the thousands of blind or partially sighted children across the UK, who have a talent or love for music.

Cakes and bakes
A cake sale or coffee morning is one of the easiest ways of fundraising – plus everyone loves a homemade cake! Why not invite a group of friends or neighbours to your house, hold one at work, at school or involve the wider community at your town or church hall?

Get musical
Bring music to your community and organise a battle of the bands (maybe involving local schools or music groups), a themed concert or a sing-along night. Charge for entry, sell refreshments and collect donations on the night!

Feeling sporty
Find a sport to fundraise through a sponsored run, cycle or swim (you could organise your own route or join a local event); organise a five-a-side football, netball, or rugby tournament; why not get the cricket club or local golf course involved and enlist teams from your social groups or local companies to enter.

Round the clock fundraising
Build a sense of excitement with a timed period of fundraising? For example, a 12 hour silence or sing-a-thon event.

Take the challenge
Always fancied conquering the UK’s highest mountains, trekking in Peru or climbing Mount Kilimanjaro? If so, then a challenge event could be for you. There are lots of open challenges to choose from. Have a look at www.globaladventurechallenges.com. You can even combine your holidays with your fundraising! Have a look at www.different-travel.com. Challenge yourself to something new and help change lives!

Musical Presents
Why not ask for donations to The Amber Trust in lieu of birthday, Christmas, wedding or anniversary gifts? Or if you have any unwanted gifts, why not sell them on eBay or Mission fish and donate a proportion (or all) of the sales amount to The Amber Trust.

Raffles and Prizes
Raise extra funds through raffles and auctions. Ask for local companies or friends to donate prizes to show their support.

Encourage the competition
Encourage that competitive spirit. Create sweepstakes for national events like the Grand National, Rugby and Football World Cup or popular television programmes. Friends and colleagues make a donation to play and pick a participant/team out of a bag – the player with the winning team/participant gets a prize. Create your own quiz/crossword and charge for each sheet and let the battle of the wits commence. A great way to fundraise at work, with friends or at an event.

Employer matching
Tell your employers what you’re doing and ask if they will match any money you raise – a great way to double your donations.

Come dine with me
Invite friends to your house for dinner, a party or an evening in. Ask them to donate the amount that they would’ve spent if they’d gone out instead.

Gift Aid it! If you’re being sponsored, ensure your sponsors sign up for gift aid on their donations (there’s a tick box on our sponsorship form). This increases the value of their gift by up to 25% at no extra cost to them or you!
Gift Aid can also apply to small donations of £20 or less from one individual – it is called the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme. To enable us to claim an extra 25% on each donation, all you need to do is send us the below information:
- Where the donations were collected, including postal address
- Date of when the collection took place
- Name of the person who collected it
- Total cash donations collected
- Confirmation that the donations were counted and witnessed by two unrelated people – dated signatures on a piece of paper