So things have moved on a lot since I posted my last update about heading out to Tanzania. We now have a team of 9 embarking on The Great (Ad & Media) Football Giveaway. Leaving with me in early November will be: Willem, Hugh, Matt, Steve, Darren, Thomas, Bjorn and Justine. I am still in awe of these people – it is no insignificant personal commitment, both financially and in time, to be a part of this – so they deserve all the props and support you can give them.
Once we arrive in Dar-Es-Salam, we will be picking up our vehicles and our drivers and heading out into South Eastern Tanzania, into the Pwani and Lindi regions, and possibly as far south as the town of Lindi itself.
All the touristy parts of the country (Ngorongoro, Kilimanjaro) are in the North and this part of the country is remote, undeveloped, and sees little benefit from Western tourism, so it makes sense to go there. We'll be driving off the main routes to visit schools and orphanages in the remoter villages and our aim is to visit suitable NGO projects whilst we're there. Which brings me to my first request: if anyone reading this knows of any appropriate NGO projects in the region, or knows someone who might, it would be great if you could please get in touch.
The whole team has been working hard on the fundraising and the great news is that at time of writing we have raised over £5,100 to help pay for the footballs, netballs, and puncture repair kits. So I want to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of our supporters (many of whom I know are readers of this blog and a lot who likely aren't) who have been so generous. But we still have some way to go to reach our target, so if you haven't donated yet and you'd like to, you can do so here.
Which brings me to my second request. Tom Farrand from The Pipeline Project got in touch with me early on to say that his agency (check them out, they do some great things) would like to sponsor our project by making a £500 donation to buy footballs and help us create some content to tell the story of some of the children we encounter. Which is brilliant. And gave us an idea – in a Kickstarter-type-way, we would like to offer the opportunity for other agencies and businesses to join Pipeline and become an official 'friend' of The Great (Ad & Media) Football Giveaway. For a minimum donation of only £500, equivalent to 50 footballs, your business can become a select partner of the trip, and will be listed on our blogs, and alongside any content that we manage to blog direct from Tanzania on the site we are planning to put up to house it. We'd also be happy to discuss any particular ways in which we could deliver value back – perhaps you could sponsor a group of schools in a particular region and we could deliver back some film and photo content of your footballs being given out. It's up to you. The good news is that we've already had significant support from the guys at Dare Digital and also from CNN (through good work done by Hugh and Darren) so if you'd like your company to join that list and become an official friend of the project, do get in touch. It only takes £500. And you'll be spreading a lot of happiness
So, the last thing for me to let you know about is that Willem has organised a fundraising event for the evening of the 27th October, in the City Tavern in Farringdon, so do come along if you can (details here). Thanks again for all your support – it really does make a difference.
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