People often ask me how I got into fundraising. It began with frogs. 🐸
As a child with a love for nature at Healey Primary School in Rochdale, a local farmer’s field full of frogs was due to be built on by a housing developer. It didn’t feel right that their home would disappear. So I decided to do something about it. Together with friends, and family, we formed the “Save the Frogs” campaign. We made frog-themed gifts to sell outside the school gates. Green bath salts. Green anything we could think of! And we organised a frog-themed family fun day. With the encouragement of our pioneering headteacher, Mrs Owen, we raised over £500. That was a lot in the 80’s!
Then something even more powerful happened. Groundwork got behind our campaign and opened up conversations with Rochdale Council. They negotiated with the developers to build around the pond instead of filling it in, preserving it as a community feature. They helped secure funding to create a wildlife pond on our own school grounds. Then they showed up with the tools and expertise to help us to create it. Thank you Groundwork!
Every week we counted the wildlife that visited, and there seemed to be something new. We watched nature return, and we saw the difference we made. Looking back, I realise we weren’t just fundraising. We were learning that we can shape the places we love. I learned that fundraising isn’t really about money. It’s about giving people the opportunity to care, to belong and to create change together. That experience stayed with me.
Today, I LOVE working as a fundraising professional, helping environmental projects grow and connecting people with causes that matter. It gives me a deep sense of purpose and feels so closely aligned with the values that took root all those years ago.
This week, the story came full circle. A young person contacted us at Tree Action after noticing the trees we’d planted at a community site near her home. She wanted to help plant more. Her fundraising idea? To gather friends for a sponsored challenge to see who can stand on one leg the longest amongst the trees. It gives me goose bumps just to think of it. Young people don’t need us to give them passion for the environment. They already have it. What they need are the tools, infrastructure and support to encourage their ideas and help turn their enthusiasm into lasting action. The pond we created is still full of frogs. And the one we saved is still at the heart of the housing estate.
Fundraising is so much more than raising income. It’s planting seeds of confidence that can grow into a lifetime of purpose. I’m really grateful that I now get to support the next generation as they raise funds for projects that will benefit our communities and our planet. And I can’t wait to share with you how her fundraiser grows. Sometimes, all it takes is one child, one idea and a community willing to believe that small actions can create lasting change.