In the footsteps of legends...?

[If you want recent posts: pls scroll down: this post is always on top]

Rowena ran the original Marathon to Athens route for the 2500th anniversary of the marathon event. The 26.2 mile route is a gruelling and lonely course through desolate stretches between the towns, along a highway, including a 13 mile relentless climb and steep descent to the finish at the Olympic stadium. And you can be a part of it without having to work up a sweat.

Over the years I have had a lot of generous support for big charities for big causes. This year I wanted to feel closer to the causes I am running for and for you as supporters to be closer to the causes you donate to. Living in London I see firsthand, work alongside and volunteer on a wide range of local issues. I see that there is so much that can be done on a small scale at local level that will have a knock on effect and long term impact that far outweighs the size of the donation.

East London Community Foundation (ELCF) is a grant-giving organisation that works to provide small amounts of money to grassroots organisations. For every pound donated, ELCF will obtain at least another pound in match funding from the government, increasing the value of your donation, without any cost to you. If you gift aid your donation, it will be worth £2.56 for every pound donated.

Your donation will be used to support many different small community-based charitable projects in East and North East London. You can have a say: use the comments section of the website or email me to tell me what causes you’d like to see the donations go towards. It could be working on domestic violence, a self-help group for people with disabilities and their carers, a sustainability project, social activities to bring older people out of isolation, or an activity to engage with anti-social children, to name but a few examples. Whatever it is used for, it will put local people at the heart of making a difference in their own local areas. And as the beneficiaries of that funding go on to achieve more, thanks to our support of their projects, so your donation continues to give.

I know times are tight, so I am not asking for big contributions, even the cost of a congratulation pint after a marathon will go a really long way. If I could get every facebook friend to buy me a pint then we’d have more than £1200 to spread across the community from those donations alone – not to mention giftaid and match funding. If you’re not able to donate, why not send this link to a mutual friend.

Thank you.

Donate here.

PS I did it! New posts will always be below this one so please scroll down to read on. Or back.

Why I run for charity

A columnist in yesterday's Observer newspaper explained far better than I, why I am running for this year's charity. He writes from Islington, the situation in East London is worse. Read the full article.

"I have become a small a part of David Cameron's "big society". Islington is my corner of London and, contrary to stereotype, latte-slurping, croissant-nibbling liberals do not fill its every street. Around the islands of prosperity laps a grey ocean of poverty. Islington is the eighth-poorest borough in England, with suicide rates that can match the worst in the country. About one-third of its residents are in social housing, although where they will be living after government commissars have cleared the poor from their homes is anyone's guess.

"Local charities had already done what Conservatives and Liberals want them to do and formed a campaign group, Islington Giving, to raise money and volunteers to fill the gaps left by the shrinking state. After writing a few press releases – as I said, my contribution was shamefully small – I have learned that there is little point in leftists denigrating volunteers, particularly if they are scoffing at those who are more willing than they are to give money and time to others.

"Public-school conservatives are in power, however, not the left, and their prejudices matter more. I accept David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Iain Duncan Smith are not members of a conspiracy of plutocrats but well-meaning men, who look at the billions spent to keep millions in idleness and wish to reform the system. The trouble is that they do not understand how the system mistreats the poor and inarticulate. Inadvertently or not, they are ensuring that the law will not hear their appeals when they protest against injustice.

"I doubt many Observer readers understand either. To be educated and middle class is to know how to raise your voice without losing your temper; how to ask in an icy tone for a bureaucrat's name and the contact details of his superior, while leaving the question: "Do you know who I am and how much trouble I can cause you?" hanging in the air."

Press release: East London charity runs historic Athens marahton

For immediate release

EAST LONDON CHARITY RUNS IN GREECE

East London community needs will have their profile raised this weekend when a Tower Hamlets office worker takes to the hills of the 2500th Athens Classic Marathon event to raise funds for the East London Community Foundation charity.

The East London Community Foundation (ELCF) is a grant-giving organisation that works to provide small amounts of money to grassroots organisations in Barking & Dagenham, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey, Havering, Newham, Redbridge, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest.

Local office worker Rowena Harding, 35, was inspired to run for the Foundation as a result of the budget cuts that she felt would have an effect on local people.

"Over the years I have supported big national charities but this year I wanted to feel closer to the causes I am running for, especially after the drastic budget cuts which will make life harder for so many East London residents. I work and volunteer in Tower Hamlets and have lived in Waltham Forest so I have seen firsthand that there is so much that can be done on a small scale at local level that will have a knock on effect and long term impact that far outweighs the size of the donation that these organisations and activities run on."

The marathon, which takes place on October 31, traces the original 26.2 mile route from Marathon to Athens, as run by a solider Pheidippides to announce Greek's victory over Persia in the battle of Marathon in 490BC. The foot solider ran the distance, announced victory, and then died from exhaustion.

“This is going to be a tough run,” said Harding, “because of the hills and the threat of warmer temperatures. This is the same marathon that Paula Radcliffe stopped by the road side and cried. I hope I don’t end up like that and most of all, I hope I don’t finish like Pheidippides!”

Rowena is challenging East London's high profile and wealthy businesses to join in her marathon effort on her return by organising an office fundraiser. ELCF Director Anja Beinroth says this is a fantastic opportunity for local businesses to give back to the community. "East and North East London is the most exciting part of London: it is the site of the largest regeneration programme in Europe, including the planning and construction projects linked to the Thames Gateway, the Olympics, the extension of the M11- Cambridge corridor, Crossrail, the extension of the DLR, and the new international terminal for Eurostar at Stratford. Yet the area is marked by deprivation: Newham, Tower Hamlets, Hackney, Haringey, Barking & Dagenham and Waltham Forest are all within the 28% most deprived areas in the country, and parts of Redbridge and Havering experience similar but unrecognised levels. This is where local community activity can make such a huge difference."

Rowena is hoping that staff in locally based big businesses such as Royal Bank of Scotland, Nomura and Aon will consider wearing their gym kit in the office for the duration it took her to complete the marathon, and contribution a donation or "penalty fine" as a result. Businesses interested in taking part can visit http://bit.ly/athensmarathon

ENDS

Notes to the Editor:

1. For more information on ELCF or for case studies of the charity’s work contact: Anja Beinroth (Acting Director) on 0300 303 1203 or e-mail anja@elcf.org.uk .

2. To speak to Rowena contact: 07985 198 770 rowenaharding@gmail.com

3. To donate visit http://www.bmycharity.com/rowenaharding

4. Community foundations are experts in revitalising local communities through effective charitable giving. Over the last 16 years well over 15,000 private sector donors have used the services of a community foundation to ensure that their giving has been invested to make the lasting difference that they want to see. Community foundations now manage over to £250m of committed endowed giving and it is estimated that most people in London will live or work within 2 miles of a charitable project that a community foundation has supported.

5. East London Community Foundation, a registered charity and a company limited by guarantee, works with donors who can be companies, individuals or organisations such as private charities and faith groups for example, to promote local giving to support local community and voluntary groups.

6. A grant-maker in Barking & Dagenham, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey, Havering, Newham, Redbridge, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest and the City of London, the Foundation is working to establish a range of charitable funds to meet the needs of its local communities.

7. This year the Foundation will make approximately 150 grants totalling approx. £0.5m to local community and voluntary groups. Over the next 3 years the Foundation is aiming to develop endowed funds with a value of over £1m by working with donors who appreciate that by preserving the capital value of their gift and using the annual income for grant making a permanent community fund can be built which will support local voluntary action for ever.

8. Under the Grassroots Endowment Match Challenge, an individual’s donation of £10,000 could become a personally named fund worth more than £25,000, which will support local community needs in perpetuity. For Higher Rate taxpayers, the net cost of such a donation will be £7,500 or less. The donations of local business and other organisations can also be doubled.

9. For more information please go to: www.elcf.org.uk

Little charity: big gains

I'm so excited to be running for East London Community Foundation this year. It appeals to the social entrepreneur in me to give to a grant giving organisation that supports grassroots activities. It's also an absolute joy and challenge to work with a charity that doesn't have a special marathon fundraising team or infact any special fundraising team and get made to feel like they really value what I am doing.

Currently, the director, who probably has very important things to do, is still making sure the charity gets on an online giving website for me. I knew some of these online giving sites took a lot of fees and upfront payments from charities but I was shocked to learn quite how much. So ELCF are making sure they get the best long term deal for the charity, which is a nice reinforcement that they don't throw away a penny.

I was very disappointed with some of the big charities who didn't reply to my requests for information over the last six months. I think ELCF could make a few bob training some of those charities about how to make a supporter feel valued! But seriously, if I ever felt like the pressure was on, it's now, fundraising for a target of £1500 for a foundation I really believe in and that I think is very important for the future. No one has asked me to do it and no one has set the limit. But I figure if I can run 26.2 miles and I'm not a runner, surely I can get £1500 out of people who might not normally give to this charity...