One of the things I’ve been hearing a bit over the last month is… “it looks like things are really taking off for Status Row!”, and you know what, I’d agree. Thing is, whilst this is all going in the right direction, we still have a lot of money to raise if we’re going to make it to the start line this year, and we need your help to do it.
This last month has seen our public profile significantly ramp up. We’ve been speaking at events, taking our First Aid and Radio exams, been featured in a number of publications and making a conscious effort to share more of our journey with you on Instagram and Twitter. It all sounds fantastic, and you know what, we’re really enjoying all of it!
But whilst we’re moving in the right direction, the 2018 start line is looming ever closer, but our ability to reach it is just as far away. A fact that was really brought home to me when I spoke to my sister who said this…
“From an outsider's perspective, the image you’re portraying right now, is one of a team who seems like they’ve pretty much got all their sh*t together already and don’t necessarily need much more help financially. Like, the whole event is a sure thing.”
This stopped me dead in my tracks. She was right. In trying to share more of our journey with you all, we’ve been portraying a positive image and haven’t been sending the message that we need your help if this is going to happen this year.
I say ‘this year’ because this we are 100% going to row across the Atlantic and we are doing everything in our power to ensure that is happening this year, but if we don’t raise the funds we need in time, we’ll be forced to defer to next year. We need to buy a boat, and we need to buy it soon, because, there aren’t many second-hand ocean rowing boats for sale.
The only way things are going to change is if you do something to change it, so we’ve decided to be completely honest with you guys about the current state of our funding - something we’ve been nervous to share before. We’ve redesigned our donations page to give you visibility on our running total, and are asking each of you for your help, financially and through personal connections. Our aim is to raise £100k to enable us to do the race, then sell our boat and equipment with the proceeds going to the MCS.
How you can help
In short, we need introductions to companies. We offer corporate sponsorship packages to get your logo on the boat from £250 to £60,000 but we need your help to get in front of the right people to make this happen.
- Can you introduce us to someone at your company?
- Do you know someone who might be interested in sponsoring us?
- Would you be interested in sponsoring us?
We’ve put together a short PDF that you can share with anyone you think might be interested in our mission which you can download using the button below.
We also know that many of you have said you’d like to sponsor us personally - that’s so amazing to us. The truth is, however, that your generosity won’t have the impact if it comes too late- the time we need contributions is right now! If you are planning on sponsoring us then firstly a huge thank you, we would be so grateful if you would consider making your donation before we (literally) miss the boat.
An enormous thank you to all of our wonderful support-oars who have already given to help make this dream become a reality, and to those incredible people who are introducing us to individuals and organisations through their networks. It really is because of you that we’re going to get there.