Motivation

As promised I’m finally here to announce that my chosen charity is Motivation – an international charity support people with mobility disabilities. They raise money to give people high quality but low costing wheelchair specifically designed for developing countries and their sometimes difficult surroundings and environment. I felt that not only was I moved by the stories and their work the fact that they’re called Motivation – kicked me up the butt!

With chronic pain it’s so easy to become insular and a selfish, forgetting that is always someone worse off that really needs your help!

Since I’m becoming housebound I plan to start small; specially designed seat cushions that relieve pressure (and helping prevent sores) are £15, spare wheels are £25 and a full wheelchair with motivation is £135, so I would like to start by raising enough money for 1 cushion, 1 set of wheels and 1 wheelchair = £175 to ease us in.

Who’s with me?

Now when I started to discuss raising money for wheelchairs (when I found out that up to 100 million people need one!) I asked you all for idea’s;

There were the simple classics sent in: bake sales, sponsored silences, swims, sports & fasting. Offers of; Pub quizzies, gigs, raffles, pamper parties, make overs, tea parties, body shop, Ann Summers, Pamper Chef and Vie parties have been very popular choices too! I cannot wait to be involved with all of the above and plan to do as many as we can possible fit in!

The more unusual suggestions were surprising; sponsored diets, both Mike and I have done them in the past, they completely motivational – your charitys money is held hostage by your scales – I’m only 3lb away from my goal weight but does anyone want to volunteer?

From where I sit – the idea being that if you are completely able bodied that you’ll be sponsored to spend a week in a wheelchair – going to work, socialising and living your daily life seeing what it’s like from where I (and millions of others) sit. I very interesting idea, as those who did these would be offered a guest post on Diary of Freedom – almost a social experiment.

It has been suggested that I compile a booklet/PDF of my favourite blog posts or write a completely new piece for this project. Would you guys pay to read my work?? It’s something I’ll have to think about!

For all the wonderful suggestions above there were some damn right odd and frankly disturbing; one anonymous reader suggested I walk for a day, now I thought it was a sarcastic message, but the tone of the message and reasoning “I would appreciate my wheelchair” makes me think they were deadly serious. If I could spend a day walking around I wouldn’t be writing this blog and I’d be travelling the globe walking miles and miles and miles writing about this wonderful world!

Another wrote in that after seeing Cherry Healey’s how to get a life documentary on prejudice and finding out that disability is a niche’ in the adult entertainment industry that I “could make a killing for yourself and the charity”. Surprisingly this is not the first time this has been suggested!

So, thoughts? What do you all think about these ideas? Tweet me here, Facebook me here, E-mail me here or leave a comment below!

L x

For more information on Motivation go here, Tweet them here or see their Facebook here