STA Ferret Rescue

Organising your own event is a hugely valuable and fun way to support STARescue, but it can often seem a bit daunting at first. To give you a helping hand, we have provided ideas below so you can make the most of your event. Make sure that whatever event you embark on that you make sure it is safe and legal, there is some good information on "Keeping it Safe and Legal" on the Meningitus Trust website

Arrange your own Pop Idol or Eurovision Song contest - All you need is a karaoke machine, a room and you can encourage people to dress up for more fun.Art Exhibition - If you are particularly creative or know someone who is, why not hold an art, sculpture or photography exhibition and charge an entrance fee or give a percentage of the sales to Meningitis UK?Auction - Contact local companies, shops and all your friends to see if they can donate a prize or offer their services, eg a day's gardening, cooking a meal for two, or even babysitting.Bucket Collection - Ask your local supermarket, pub, football club or shopping centre if you can hold a bucket collection to raise money and awareness for STARescue (see "Keeping it Safe and Legal" for further information on getting permission to do this).Car Wash - Ask friends and neighbours for donations to brighten up their cars with a good wash - they will love you for saving them having to do it! You could also ask to do this at your local supermarket or petrol station, or offer to do it for your work colleagues at lunch time.Coffee Morning - Invite friends and family for a coffee morning and charge an entrance fee.Concerts - Encourage budding singers and musicians to put on a concert in your local hall or church, and invite friends and family for an instant audience!Dinner Dance - This is a great way to raise funds if you know lots of people and could be for a special occasion such as Christmas or Mid-Summer. It's a great opportunity to hold a raffle, auction and casino and it’s often easy to get a venue for free or at a discounted rate.Donations in lieu of gifts - If you are having a housewarming party, celebrating a birthday or wedding anniversary ask friends and family to donate to your fundraising instead.Easter Egg Hunt - Hide eggs at various locations and give hungry youngsters clues to locate them, in exchange for a donation.Ebay - A great way to auction unwanted items from the comfort of your computer!Face Painting - Set up a stall at a fete or event and test out your artistic skills.Garage sale/Car boot sale/Jumble sale - Get together with friends and neighbours and sell off all your unwanted belongingsHobbies - See if you can make money out of existing hobbies (eg if you like crafts, why not make your own birthday cards, keyrings etc to sell?)Ladies Evening/Day Out - Arrange talks and demonstrations by health and beauty experts, who will often be only too willing to help promote their services for free, then charge your friends admission.Murder Mystery Evening - Charge your friends to come round and encourage them to dress up in character and watch the mystery unfold. Murder Mystery kits can be bought from shops, found online or if you are feeling creative, you could plan it yourself.New Year's Resolution - Ask friends to sponsor you to give up smoking, lose weight or go 24 hours without swearing etc.Odd Jobs - Offer to help a neighbour by taking their dog for a walk, mowing their lawn, or doing their shopping in return for a contribution to STARescue.Open House and/or Garden - Charge an entrance fee for people to look around your house and garden. Why not encourage your friends to do it too and make a day of it with refreshments?Party - Organise a themed party such as Christmas, Hawaiian Night, New Year's Eve or James Bond, and include entertainment such as a cabaret, disco, live band, magician or comedian and ask everyone for a donation of £5 to cover the costs and raise money. You could organise a raffle as an added extra, and for a work-based party, you could get the boss to offer a day off work as the main prize!Pub quiz - If your local doesn't run a pub quiz, set one up. Test the regulars on pop, trivia or sport.Race Nights  - organise a race night, with cost of entry including a supper, and raffles, reverse bingo and other fund raising entertainment taking place. This could be a horse/greyhound video based night or live entertainment with ferret racing!Raffle - Ask local businesses for prizes and hold a raffle at an event or your local pub or workplace, and sell tickets.Safari Supper - Serve a starter at one house, then move on to someone else's for the main course and finish up at another for dessert!Sports Event - Organise a hockey, netball or five-a-side football match or even a penalty shootout, and get your friends and/or work colleagues to make up groups and charge them to take part. This is an excellent way to encourage team spirit and you could even run a sweep stake on who will win!Tug of War - Arrange teams from your local pub or sports group etc. and hold a competition.Valentine's Day - This is the perfect opportunity to sell flowers, serenades, cards and kisses, or to hold a speed-dating evening or Valentine's Ball.Whist Drive - Charge each pair of players to take part and let the competition commence!Wine and Cheese Party - Invite your friends round to test out various wines and cheeses from across the world in return for a donation.Young Entrepreneurs - Encourage your children to fundraise themselves, organise their own event or use their skills and creative talents to make items to sell.

Abseil - Scale the dizzy heights of a local landmark or office block. http://www.charityabseils.com/Arm Wrestling Event - Challenge those strong people you know and run a competition or sweepstake on who will be the winner!Endurance Competition - Challenge people to see who can dance the longest, eat the most pies or endure almost anything!Grub tucker pub trial: Arrange a sponsored event at your local eating exotic food!Head Shave - Get sponsored to shave off your locks!It's a Knockout - Arrange a competition with some fun events and wacky obstacles, with the winning team getting a prize (or a soaking)!Parachute jump - Daredevils only, get sponsored to take the plunge http://www.skydivezone.co.uk/.Sponsored Run - A 5k, 10k, Half Marathon or for the very brave a Full Marathon!Swimathon - Get sponsored per length, mile, minute, hour!Virtual Climb - Find out the height of a noteworthy building or mountain (eg Everest) and get sponsored to climb the equivalent amount of metres in your school or workplace.Walkley Midnight Walk - a twenty mile section of the Wiltshire Ridgeway Path that is converged on by charity fundraisers on 11th & 12th June 2011 to raise monies on mass for their own charities - for more information visit the Rotary Club of Swindon Thamesdown websiteWaxing - A hair-raising experience for the boys get sponsored to wax your legs or chest!

Bake a cake! We all love a cake stall! So why not encourage colleagues to bake some cakes and biscuits to sell at work.Dress down day - Charge your colleagues a pound to come in themed dress. Offer a prize to the best!Charity of the Year - Speak to your employer to see if it they could adopt STARescue as their Charity of The Year.Golf Match - Organise a golf tournament and charge participants to take part.It’s A Knockout - Revive the 80s game show by inviting teams to compete in silly games in silly costumes.Jailbreak- Dump teams in the middle of nowhere with no money or transport. See who gets back to base first. Charge entrance fees and offer prizes.Raft Race - Teams compete by building their own rafts and racing over a set distance. Teams pay to compete.Sweepstakes - Have an office sweepstake for major events such as the FA Cup Final, Grand National or Wimbledon or something closer to home like the name and weight of a colleagues newborn baby.Sports Event - Organise a hockey, netball or five-a-side football match or even a penalty shootout, and get your work colleagues to make up groups and charge them to take part. This is an excellent way to encourage team spirit and you could even run a sweep stake on who will win!Tournament - Organise a social evening such as a bowling, skittles, pool, snooker or darts tournament.Match Funding: Whatever you choose to take part in ask your employer to match what you have raised - or at least to make a generous contribution!