Fundraising Teamwork
In this blog Marta Koszo describes how she raised funds to support what will be her first visit to Chaparda.
I first learned about World Medicine and the Chaparda project during my second year of acupuncture studies when I attended the ACMAC conference in 2016.
I was amazed at the wonderful work they have been undertaking for several years and wanted to join them. However, I was not yet a qualified acupuncturist. The requirement is to have at least one year of experience as a practitioner before one could apply. So after graduating in 2018, I applied and was accepted to be part of the 2020 Chaparda team.
In January 2020, I will be going to Gujarat in India as part of a 12- member World Medicine team made up of 6 acupuncture practitioners and 6 interpreters, to provide acupuncture to local people of the area. We will be treating for 3 weeks and expect to provide in excess of 1500 treatments, using 30,000+ needles in that time, approximately 6000 needles per practitioner!
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World Medicine projects are often self-funded, meaning that we volunteers have to fund-raise to cover costs of travel and clinical supplies. As I was trying to figure out what I could do to raise funds for my trip, I realised that the best way to do it was to offer acupuncture and tui na treatments in exchange for donations! That way, people could receive a treatment whilst contributing to a good cause. And so, I reached out to several colleague practitioners and we set a date that worked for everyone, the 10th of November.
As I also work as a Teaching Assistant at the City College of Acupuncture where I graduated from, I asked for permission to use our clinic and one adjacent classroom for the fundraiser and they kindly agreed without any charge for rental. I also contacted Phoenix Medical and explained the purpose of the event and they generously donated acupuncture needles. I advertised the event on several social media platforms, as well as through my network of friends and colleagues and the acupuncture students at our college.
My team of 6 very enthusiastic practitioners for the fundraiser were graduates as well as acupuncture student practitioners from our City College of Acupuncture who are qualified in tui na and the NADA protocol. I had set up a booking schedule for tui na and body acupuncture treatments, whereas the NADA treatments were set up as drop- in. Tea, fruits and biscuits were offered as refreshments and treats in the waiting hall.
The response we had from people coming, and the atmosphere on the day, was amazing! We used the opportunity to talk to people in the waiting hall about Chinese Medicine and benefits of acupuncture and tui na, over a nice cup of tea. That resulted in having some of the people who came for the NADA treatment, wanting to wait and try tui na or body acupuncture, as they hadn’t experienced it before! Everyone attending the fundraiser made generous donations and some even asked if we are going to organise similar events, as they would recommend it to friends and family.
The outcome of the fundraiser was more than incredible - we raised a total of £450! I have also received generous donations prior to the event from people who wanted to contribute but were unable to attend. I continued to receive donations for a couple of weeks after the fundraiser, reaching the grand total of £800! These funds will be sufficient to cover my travel costs and clinical equipment.
Besides the needles we will need for the 2020 visit I will also purchase additional equipment that will remain in Chaparda for future use, such as glass cups for cupping treatments and one machine for electro-acupuncture.
I feel really humbled by the result of the fundraiser but it couldn’t have happened without the selfless help of my colleagues Anjulie, Kaye, Fleur, Annette and Sophie. I feel really grateful to all of them for being so enthusiastic and donating their amazing skills and time!
