Any ideas for fundraising for my granddaughter's operation

Harrigran That is fine for some, but I suspect the majority of us do not have sufficient savings to pay out £50K in one go.

harrigran I'm pretty sure using savings is a given! Very few people will be able to give £50k! What world are you living in?

harrigran I haven't asked for any contributions, I've asked for ideas. Aren't you lucky to have the money to afford it! I would give her both my own legs to do it! You've really made my very angry and extremely upset.

maggie don't let this make you lose your focus. I at no time read your OP as asking for donations, as you say, you are asking for ideas. The justgiving page provides additional info to your post.

We have friends who did a huge amount of fundraising for the local NICU after their son was born extremely prematurely...around 25 weeks. This is the young man I mentioned in my earlier post. He's almost 21 now and at university despite some mobility issues. His dad always said that you need to hit people with big fundraising events as a series of small ones can result in 'giving fatigue'. Their most successful events were big ticket only black tie dinners with a good speaker. Sometimes speakers will do it free for a good cause and the venue can be 'persuaded' to offer a decent discount on the meal. A top notch auction with really good items is a must at the dinner. These things take time to organise but you can raise thousands especially if you get the local press and business community on board.

@ Harrigran,

Very few people can lay their hands on £50,000 without selling their home.
What on earth are they to do then?
We treat drunks and addicts,but cannot find the funding to allow a child the basic joy of walking,running ,kicking a ball.

@TheMaggiejane1

It is shameful that Bella and other children are ignored.
The NHS patients charter states that everyone is entitled to treatment in order to have a decent quality of life.
I think the ability to walk is a fairly basic quality of life.
Though many poo-poo papers like the Daily mail,they are very good at fundraising.
They successfully raised funds for a little girl some months ago who was unable to walk and was refused NHS funding....she is now going to ballet classes.
It may be worth a try.

@TheMaggiejane1

Your granddaughter is beautiful,I hope others will look at your justgiving page.

I think I would want to know a bit more about this if I was going to donate. Like, why can the operation not been done on the NHS? There must have been reasons given.

I suppose if you can get this post/request (and lets face it, it is a request for donations - nothing wrong with that)on enough forums like this one, you might be able to raise the money.

Good luck.

I think they fund this operation in Wales but not in England jingls.

It will be NICE again won't it (or NASTY as some people call it).

The National Institute for Curtailing Expenses

themaggiejane1 thank you for providing the link. I've made a donation and wish Bella all the very best of luck and hope the surgery is successful

Ditto. And please don't be upset by the one witless comment.

harrigran not every family is fortunate enough to have savings of that magnitude.

I would have said that not many families never mind not every family. It was a thoughtless and tactless remark.

MaggieJane , just a thought but some large companies provide a charity matching donation scheme if any of their staff raise money for a charitable cause like yours.

So if you raised $1000 they would double it. There's a ceiling obviously and the person raising the money needs to work for the company but its a good way of improving the amount you can raise.

I know this because I've worked for 2 companies that did this and my SiL works for one now and they not only match fund raising efforts that he does but also take on community projects . So he was able to get the nurses rest room refurbished at the hospital where his wife gave birth as a thank you.

Might be worth asking friends and family to check if they work for an organisation that does something similar?

Having read the Daily Mail article.and seeing how moved everyone was. Why not try the Mail again for a follow up story and fund raiser? I visit a little boy of nearly 3 through Homestart who has similar difficulties. It must be so frustrating not to walk when others can so easily.

Talk about out of touch,is this person for real? I bet she's a inner.

Marmark- which poster are you talking about here,

And what is an inner??? Please!

Marmark is not the only one to refer to a poster who was perhaps less than kind so read the posts carefully GJ and don't ask questions you can easily answer for yourself.

jingl has touched on a very important point though. Did the NHS refuse to operate for medical reasons?

Sorry for referring to inners and outters again.But these up themselves people sooo sooo annoy me.
I don't envy them,and wish them all the luck in the world,enjoy what you have,but a lot of us don't have.
Don't get me wrong folks,I'm very happy,if I had money I would probably give it to my son anyway.BUT the but again,don't get me started.
Anyway,good luck to the OP, it's a disgrace you have to beg for the operation in the first place,in light of where some of our money's spent.But good luck all the same.

I'm thinking now of the little boy who needed Proton Beam therapy. The parents raised the money for that. He has benefitted hugely from the treatment he had in the clinic in Prague. I would think this is a similar case. Sad if it is. And sad that the NHS has to make Hesse restrictions.

these not Hesse

Not all who you term inners are wealthy or unkind marmark1
Although I agree with your second paragraph.

The news media can be brilliant at highlighting this kind of story, as in the local press in my link, see my post above, and also the national press.
Have you lobbied your MP too maggie?

Sometimes consultants will join forces to lobby NICE too and shame them into changing their decision. If this operation is being carried out in Wales it must be feasible and worthwhile, especially if the consultant at Great Ormond Street is willing to carry it out albeit privately. I expect he/she is frustrated too at the lack of funding.

Marmark sounds a bit up him/herself as s/he is criticising others of being. Unpleasant and unnecessary comment.
Back to fundraising - my family have raised a lot of money for a particular charity in memory of my niece who died aged 16. money raising events which have been good - last weekend a Wimbledon strawberries / cream garden party with Pimms cakes/ plant and craft stall / huge raffle organised by one of her friends mums - lots of hard work getting it together and all the donations, but it raised over £2000 and they managed to get matched funding so that was £4000. Perhaps you could try social media Facebook/ Twitter etc, get a few people to retweet your appeal - well known people who have lots of followers, Steph and Dom from Gogglebox are big on Twitter and if they retweet your appeal lots of people will read it ( that's just one example)