Our community fundraiser Amanda has been flying the GNAAS flag in the Isle of Man recently and she’s certainly been a busy bee.
From radio interviews to cheque presentations and even a photo with Deal or No Deal legend Noel Edmonds.
We caught up with Amanda after she returned back to the North East of England, and she shared the following about her trip to the Island.
Friday
On Friday I left my accommodation early enough to have a nice walk around the park in Ramsey beforehand.
I then spent the day servicing our collection boxes at several businesses including a barbershop, coffee shop, DIY shop and gift shop.
During my rounds a lovely lady stopped me in the street as I was by the GNAAS van and sung our praises before giving me a £5 donation.
I also visited the Ramsey Baptist Church and picked up a cheque for £350, which was raised from a two-hour coffee morning during the TT at Ramsey Town Hall.
Afterwards I dropped off a set of jump leads that were kindly lent to me by a lovely gentleman called Brian.
During my previous trip to the Isle of Man I had visited to collect one of our vans to bring it back to the North East and I was aware it would have a flat battery. Brian helped me jump start it a couple of times so I could get the van on the ferry home and he gave me his jump leads in case I needed them once I was off the ferry.
After returning the jump leads Brian joined me for some servicing calls, helped get some extra collection boxes out, and got me an interview on Manx Radio on Monday morning to talk about all things GNAAS.
Saturday
On Saturday the weather was lovely which was ideal because I was at the Southern District Agricultural Show helping to raise awareness of our charity.
I had two volunteers called Roxy and Barry helping me out at our stall, and during the day we met several people who showed their support for GNAAS.
One man generously donated £300 as our critical care team rescued his brother a few weeks ago.
Noel Edmonds also visited our stall and we had a nice chat and I got a pic with him.
Energy FM were at the show and interviewed myself and Barry about the work of GNAAS and how people can support us, including volunteering. The video is on their social media and I was invited to be interviewed at the studio before I returned to England.
Sunday
On Sunday I was back at the Southern District Agricultural Show with volunteers Barry and Roxy and we spoke to a few different businesses who are willing to support us. In addition to some positive conversations with current and potential future supporters, we were able to get our collection boxes on an icecream van, a fish bar and in a tearoom.
Monday
On Monday I visited the bank to process all the money from the collection boxes that we have in the Isle of Man. It wasn’t as straight forward as I’d hoped and I ended up spending two hours getting the banking done, but I am full of praise for the girl who served me and had a smile on her face the whole time.
The following day I went back with one more donation and got her to serve me and rewarded her with a GNAAS pin badge which she was going to put on her lanyard.
I also did an interview with Manx Radio to help raise the profile of GNAAS and discussed the importance of our critical care team being able to respond to incidents on the Island.
Tuesday
On Tuesday I did another radio interview with Energy FM, which was a more in depth conversation about the work of GNAAS, compared to the interview I carried out on Saturday.
I also met Des Kinsella, the Isle of Man retail sales manager at Ellan Vannin Fuels (EVF), who have been incredibly supportive of GNAAS. Last year throughout the duration of the TT races, 25p from every Coffee Mann hot drink sold at participating EVF sites was donated to GNAAS.
More than 4,000 hot drinks were sold during the TT at participating EVF sites culminating in a donation of £1,026.50.
After the success of the hot drinks donations, EVF continued to support GNAAS by donating 25p from every Coffee Mann hot drink sold during the Manx Grand Prix last year and the TT this year.
The total donation from money raised from MGP and TT and four collection boxes in EVF stores was £1,630.22
Des has confirmed EVF will give a donation per cup again for the MGP this year and we plan to have a catch up in the future to discuss further ways EVF can support GNAAS.
Although my time over in the Isle of Man was brief, it was very productive, with lots of positive conversations and interest in our charity.
I’m looking forward to going over again and meeting more of the community on the Island.
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