Jumping out of aeroplanes

Alas, one finally has internet. I have been planning to write a new post just before I go to India for a while now, but that happens to be difficult when the wifi at home is broken and I have ran out of 3G. Darn.

ANYHOW. Here I am. The last few weeks have been extremely exciting and I am now finally at the airport waiting to board my flight to London, where we will then be boarding our flight to CHENNAI. It's crazy how fast the last few months have flown by and the day is actually here when we're all ready to leave. After months and months of fundraising and preparation, Chennai Challenge 2014 has finally begun. (#deep)

A week and a day ago I did my skydive (which was my main fundraiser for Chennai Challenge) and it was literally the best thing that I have ever done. I loved it so much that I'm planning on saving up for the Accelerated Free Fall course so I can jump again, but on my own next time. How intense. I raised a good amount of money from the jump and it was makes things even better with the fact that I enjoyed it, so thankyou to everyone who has sponsored me! 

The year has been absolutely brilliant and so many good things have happened. I can't believe that I now have several things ticket off my bucket list (do a skydive, learn sign language, volunteer in India, etc) and all of this has happened within just under a year. I have now a raised a total amount of £1,911 for Chennai Challenge and I just want to make a final point of how grateful I am for everyone who has helped me raise THAG amount of money and to how many people have sponsored me. THANKYOU SO MUCH.

When I'm in India, I'll be blogging but through a different blog (dreadful, I know, how could I betray Blogger?) which is under the URL of www.franceselizabethcorbett.wordpress.com. The URL won't be working just yet as I haven't uploaded any posts yet, but as soon as I get to India I'm hoping to update it regularly to let everyone know what we're doing and how the project is going.

So from me, it's goodbye for the next three weeks. I am now sitting with everyone else who's playing UNO (I'm not being unsociable, I promise). 

Thankyou once again! Au revoir.

Chennai Challenge Fundraising Update/Ideas

So the last month and a bit has been pretty stressful with exams, hence the lack of blogging. Although, I have been up to quite abit and have been doing a lot in terms of fundraising for Chennai Challenge.

The big news is that I HAVE RAISED MY TOTAL OF £1,500! This is absolutely brilliant and I am eternally grateful to everyone who has donated and supported the cause. I've now raised my minimum, but this doesn't mean that I need to stop fundraising. As I haven't done my skydive or a carboot sale yet, I should hopefully be able to raise more for Chennai Challenge. I have pushed my target on JustGiving up to £1,600 which I'm sure that I'll be able to reach. Please carry on supporting me! 

I'm now going to list a few of the fundraising events that I've been doing to help raise my minimum amount so other people can get ideas if they're fundraising also.

1) Selling old clothes on eBay. This has been a great contributor to raising the money as I have lots of old clothes that I don't need and am more than willing to sell them and then give the money to charity. 

2) Selling Chennai Challenge wristbands. These have been highly popular as the person who's buying is getting something back for their money. To do this, myself and a few friends who are also going contacted a wristband company, designed the wristbands and then ordered them. I've been selling them for £1 each and have almost sold 300 of them. :-) 

3) Collecting spare 50ps that you have. My grandma has been doing this for me and she raised up to £100! 

4) Skydive. Although I haven't actually done this yet, I have received a number of sponsors. As this is something that is completely out of my comfort-zone then people are more than willing to sponsor me because of this.

5) Cake sales. A highly popular one. No one can say no to cakes.

6) Rabbit flannels. Myself and my two grandmothers made rabbits out of small flannels and then put Easter eggs inside of them. These were highly popular around Easter time, but now we're still doing this but with bath bombs instead as obviously the Easter eggs are now out of season.

7) Sweet jar. I bought a small jar and filled it with sweets and asked people to guess how many sweets were in the jar for 50p. This has raised quite a bit and I will be announcing who's won it on Friday! Woooooo! 

8) Carboot sale. I haven't done this yet, but obviously this is a good way of getting rid of old belongings whilst also raising money for charity. 

And that's about it, I think. I've thoroughly enjoyed fundraising and I cannot wait whatsoever to get to India already. Only 52 more days to go!

If you have the time, please like the Chennai Challenge page on Facebook. https://m.facebook.com/chennaichallenge

You can also still donate to my JustGiving page which you can visit by clicking this link here.

Au revoir. 

Decisions

WARNING: BORING POST.

As of late, I have found that absolutely everywhere and everything involves a large matter of decisions. I only recently noticed this the other day as I'm generally quite laid back about things, but all of this talk of university is beginning to seem extremely terrifying. I feel that sixth form has flown by incredibly quickly and I am no where near ready enough to be choosing where I want to spend three years of my life when I don't even know how to cook a suitable dinner. Nevertheless, I am still trying to stay happy despite the many decisions that I may have to face soonish. I'm considering a gap year doing volunteering work in a foreign country, but I guess I'll pass that bridge when I arrive at it.

My job is going reasonably well and I feel that I've settled in happily. My school-work and revision is going swiftly and I'm generally getting everything finished. 

With my next training weekend for Chennai Challenge next week, I have already topped my target of £1,000 by this meeting and I am now only £200 away from my minimum amount. This really is brilliant and I couldn't be more grateful to everyone donating and being so generous.

And here's a picture from The Railway Children seeing as you're THAT interested.

Don't lie, of course you are.

Thankful Thursday #18

It's quite shocking how long I've been writing this blog for and I've only done eighteen thankful Thursday's. Hmmm. Actually, it's quite shocking in general just how much I've been abandoning my blog. As exams are rolling along very soon, I'm not going to say that I'll try and blog more frequently as I just need to focus on the next month to get it all out of the way. 

As I haven't been blogging so much, there's many things that I'm thankful for but I'll try and just include a few. (Queue not being able to think of any now).

- GAME OF THRONES IS BACK. So is Bates Motel, but we all know that GoT is more important.

- The run of The Railway Children running entirely smoothly and successfully.

- Spending a wonderful birthday with Lewis, my family and getting the opportunity to see Henry IV Part One at the RSC.

- Finally purchasing a pair of Buffalo boots.

- Having my next project lined up; Animal Farm at the Lichfield Garrick in October. 

- Spending a lovely Easter with my family and finally being able to eat crisps and McDonald's again. 

- Starting my new part-time job at KFC and looooooving it. 

- Popping to Alton Towers on Monday with Lewis, Sarah and Anthony. 

- Raising £1,300+ for Chennai Challenge (only £200 more to go)!

The Easter holidays have treated me extraordinarily well but I feel that I haven't been working hard enough. Lacking motivation isn't too positive.

You can still donate to my JustGiving page for Chennai Challenge at: http://justgiving.com/Frances-Corbett

Tortured Life - Kickstarter

TPublications are now working on a new project (via Kickstarter) to create the next issues of Tortured Life, a thriller graphic novel by Neil Gibson. After reading the first issue of Tortured Life (which is free to read on their Kickstarter page and their website), it is very clear that what they have in store is going to be highly successful and completely enrapturing. After their Twisted Dark and Tabatha graphic novels that have already been published and were completely brilliant, Tortured Life is guaranteed to follow in their footsteps and keep TPublications' theme of excellence running along smoothly.

So, in a nutshell...

Tortured Life is about a guy named Richard Carter who has somehow developed the ability to see how each and every person dies. After firstly thinking that this ability was given to him to help save others' lives, he then begins to feel powerless as he is seeing the inevitable fate of all the people around him; resulting in Richard living an incredibly Tortured Life. 

I have loved all of TPublications' graphic novels so far and have thoroughly enjoyed supporting them through being a member of their street team. When first meeting them and trying out their comics in early 2013, it has been exhilarating to see how they have grown in just over a year. With the brilliance of Gibson, Wijingaard and Watters, Tortured Life is guaranteed to be a novel to remember.

Support TPublications on Kickstarter by clicking here.

Thankful Thursday #17

I really should apologise for not blogging this time, as it was purely down to laziness. I always think, "Hmm, maybe I should write that blog post now," but end up postponing it every. Single. Day. Nevertheless, I am here now and here is a new blog post. You're welcome.

This week I am thankful for: 

- Going to London this Saturday and seeing 1984.

- Getting a B in a Psychology mock. B. I GOT A B. (Big thing for me).

- Finally deciding to give up reading Emma by Jane Austen. I'd decided to force myself to read it as it's "one of those classic books you need to read before you die" but eventually abandoned it as I've never read anything so pretentious in my whole life. Holla at Jane for being one of the first women writers, but damn her writing is dull. Gah.

- Finally having a good clear out in my wardrobe. 

- Selling out for the run of The Railway Children. 

Now the big one. I AM HALF WAY TO MY TOTAL AMOUNT FOR CHENNAI CHALLENGE. HALLELUJAH. 

 

Well I am 53%, so I guess that's even better. I am so thankful to everyone who has donated and supported the fundraising as it completely means so much to me. Quite soon I'll be holding an Open Mic night at school as it'll be a good opportunity for people to sing in front of others and to do a little more fundraising. 

And on the subject of fundraising, I'm now selling these babies: 

It was difficult to find a decent angle of these, but myself and my grandma have been making little rabbits out of flannels with creme eggs in the middle. It was a sweet little idea, and they're ideal at the moment as we're rolling up to Easter. I'm selling them for £2 each, so if anyone wants to buy one and would prefer a certain type of egg/colour flannel then please let me know.

You can still sponsor me here at: http://justgiving.com/Frances-Corbett

Perhaps I'll blog again next week if I don't put it off AGAIN. 

Imogen Finkle Appreciation. 

Thankful Thursday #16

Today I have realised how many pointless things that I buy and how I'm not thinking much about what I spend my money on. For example, last night I spontaneously bought a shirt from Urban Outfitters (which is uncommon for me to buy from as it's so pricey) without really thinking about it much. I liked the shirt, but it's just another item of clothing that would someday end up at the back of my wardrobe. Thankfully, my order was cancelled for some reason (which I don't really care why) and my card hasn't been charged. After thinking about it, I'm going to spend that money on sponsoring a child in a third-world country instead. I feel that this is an extremely positive way to be spending my money instead of pointlessly throwing it about on expensive clothing, as someone will be greatly benefitting from it and I will be helping to improve someone else's life. Just a thought.

This week I am thankful for:

- Being alive

- Booking my ticket to see Macbeth for the first time! It's one of those Shakespeare plays I have been dying to see for ages, so I'm so thankful that it's being performed in Birmingham.

- Going out for small meals with my Grandma occasionally each week

- Discussing with my parents about the skydive that I'm planning to do for Chennai Challenge. Fingers crossed it'll be happening, but I don't blame them for being hesitant. Jumping out of a helicopter 10,000 feet above the ground is kind of a big thing.

- Beginning BSL classes yesterday with Elizabeth and now knowing how to fingerspell the alphabet. I'm finding it incredibly difficult to stop. 

- Somewhat beginning to be a little more organised.

Coming back to school this week has been lovely as it's always nice to catch up with people I haven't seen for a week and it's always surprising to find out how much has happened within a week. As it's Lent coming up soon, I've been thinking a little about the things I should be giving up. I'm swinging towards the classic chocolate, crisps and McDonald's idea as I quite frankly have too much of those in my life and I could definitely do with giving them up over Lent as it'll be both challenging but rewarding. 

So that's that. I just had a terrifying moment where I thought I clicked "Cancel" instead of "Done," so I guess I'm thankful I clicked "Done" instead. What are you thankful for this week?

On a final note, here's two TOTALLY arty shots I took with my iPhone of the Chennai Challenge wristbands I have been selling recently for £1 each. You should totally buy one if you see me around. Au revoir. 

ADDED: I completely forgot about this. I am thankful of Callum Steventon buying a Chennai Challenge wristband. That's correct, ladies and gentlemen, our dear Callum has stopped being rather self-absorbed and has actually donated to charity. I think this deserves a round of applause. *vigorous cheers from a stadium filled with twenty thousand people with a cheerleader celebration in the centre of the pitch.* Happy now?