Highland Fling today!

Hello folks, sorry it's been a while but the team have been busy organising pub quizzes and baking cakes, and studying for exams and getting ill (me, mostly.  Must be a proper blog, we're beginning posts with apologies and excuses)

So, today is the day of the Highland Fling and I'll be running it along with four of my fellow Harriers in the picture above (taken at the summit of the West Highland Way route on Conic Hill).

No full fling for me this year sadly, the niggling in my leg (posterior tibialis inflamed through over use) wasn't clearing up after about 6 weeks of rest and it was too much time off to get fit for the full thing. 

So instead I'm part of the relay team, and because only running 13 miles along the West Highland Way isn't much of a challenge when you were planning on another 40, I decided it'd be more fun if I readjusted my fitness levels so it's still a challenge. (Ie too much time sitting in the library eating chocolate).

Before I go- a Big Happy Birthday to my old band mate and generous supporter Rob McCabe- sorry I had my head in books all week- Happy Birthday and all the best form Team Caley To Malawi!

Let's Get Quizzical: Pub Quiz 18th March

It always feels daunting when you've planned an event, and you're waiting for people to arrive. What if nobody shows up? What if everything goes wrong? What if... well, you get the idea. I'm a joy to plan things with.

Before people arrived, we got an email alert from Hubbub about a new pledge. Our classmate Kallen donated £150 to show his support for our project! It's not easy to express how touched we were by this, without seeming insincere. I'm not exaggerating when I say that we were speechless, and had to blink back tears to continue with quiz prep. This vote of confidence was exactly what we needed. Thank you Kallen.

Tables starting to fill up

We were utterly overwhelmed when the tables started to fill up around 8pm, and we even had to do some furniture moving to make sure we could fit everyone in! Our amazing friends and family meant we easily filled the whole top floor of Walkabout. You are all amazing.

Eve (left) and Corrinne (right) the giants, with Rachael (centre)

Walkabout provided free food, while we ran about collecting entry money and selling raffle tickets. It was exciting getting to see so many people who want to help us get to Malawi.

Our quiz masters for the evening

Corrinne and Jen, ready to mark answer sheets

Michael at the ready with the mic, ever zen Jen, and a very excited Eve

A big shout out goes to Eve, who originally pitched the idea of a pub quiz; And Michael, who liaised with Walkabout and helped Eve to put together the questions. Rachael inspired us all to ask around for raffle prizes, after she approached various Glasgow based companies and successfully secured donations.

Raffle donations came from Tunnocks, Sophie Daw of LyonDaw Jewellery, Jackie from Inner Peace Beauty, and generous friends and family.




We learned a lot from the night, and have plenty of ideas to make an event like this run a bit more smoothly. But overall, we're so happy with how it went and we hope everyone had as much fun as we did.

We raised a grand total of... drumroll... £400.55! 

That nudges us a bit closer to our fundraising goal, but we still have a long way to go. If you want to support our project, but are unable to come along to one of our events, don't forget that you can donate via PayPal or Swipe on our Hubbub page.

Hubbub fundraising milestone: £100!

We've passed the £100 mark on our online fundraising Hubbub page. Still a long long way to go, but it makes us so happy to see your support.

Thank you so much Russell Gibb, Robert McCabe, Euan Anderson and sullymanjero!


Only 7 hours to go until our Pub Quiz Fundraiser at Walkabout. Hopefully more good news to add tomorrow!

See you at 8pm, Walkabout, Glasgow.

The Bake Sale – 16th March 2015

So last Thursday (12^th March) the group got the devastating news that we would not be shortlisted for our application for the Magnusson award. The award would not have alleviated all of our money struggles with the project but would have helped a great deal. It was especially hard news for Corrinne as she had spent the most time and effort on the application (and for that we thank her for her efforts). 

After finding out this news there were a few ‘freak outs’, mostly from me (Rachael). Would I be able to afford this? Could I juggle working a lot in order to save, on top of my uni work? But with support from friends, family and each other we have all decided to carry on with the project. We aim to fund raise as much as possible and then pay for the rest ourselves.

 Our first big fundraiser was a Bake Sale on Monday 16^th March in the Students Association at GCU.

 Eve and I headed this fundraiser, spending all of our weekend either working or icing cakes!

I have to give a huge thank you to my mum, wee Kay, as without her there is no way I could have contributed to the Bake Sale! She spent all of her Mother's Day in an apron stirring, measuring and decorating the cakes, cookies and tablet she made! Another thank you has to go out to Eve's auntie Claire who worked in a team with Eve to make some of the best chocolate muffins, crispy cakes and malteser cake I’ve ever seen.

We sold every cake made and managed to raise an amazing £240.94. 

We would like to thank all of the students and staff who bought our cakes and helped make the Bake Sale a success. It was a boost in morale for all of us and we are now looking forward to our Pub Quiz on Wednesday 18^th March in Walkabout at 8pm!

    

Minor Setback

The university motto is "for the common good". That's what we are working towards with this project. Unfortunately, yesterday we received some disappointing news. Our application for support from the university Magnus Magnusson Fund was unsuccessful.

I'm trying to stay positive as I write this, but honestly I'm feeling pretty gutted. This news is disappointing for a couple of reasons. Obviously, securing that funding would have been immensely helpful for all of us. As I've said before, costs add up and it's a lot for a student to cover. However, we're all confident that the value of this project far outweighs the cost, so we're determined to do everything we can to make sure it can go ahead. We're working extra shifts, saving as much as we can, organising fundraising events, and relying on friends and family to invest in us. This funding would have got us considerably closer to our overall funding goal. But not getting it doesn't automatically prevent things from going ahead. We might just have to reconcile ourselves to sinking a bit further in to debt in the process...

I think what's bothering me more, is that we didn't manage to convince the judges with our application. It's the first application of this kind that any of us has put together, and we worked hard to convey what we want to achieve. But it wasn't enough. That's hard to accept, when we feel so committed to making sure that this whole endeavour is a success, both for ourselves and for the people we meet along the way.

By going to Malawi and working alongside nurses we hope to raise awareness of learning disabilities. By offering accessible information and training about HIV for people with disabilities, we hope to have a positive and long term impact on health and wellbeing. We recognise that our training as Learning Disability Nurses gives us a unique skill set. We want to use this, to support those who could benefit the most. To give something back. For the common good.

We're just going to have to work harder to make it happen.


For ways that you can help us, go to our Hubbub page.

About our project

A bit of background

Planning for this project began all the way back in 2013. In our very first week of first year, our lecturer mentioned that an international placement might be possible but warned that we would be responsible for organising it ourselves. Corrinne started plotting, and reading as much as possible to see if Malawi could be an option. She talked about it a lot. So much so, in fact, that by the end of first year she'd managed to convince a few more people that they wanted to get involved too. The team started to take shape.

There was a stack of paperwork to complete, and our weekly planning meetings began. Our lecturers were massively supportive and helped to set us on the right track, but let us take the lead. Over time, we began to get a clearer idea of what we wanted to achieve in Malawi. We knew we wanted it to be more than just a placement somewhere sunnier than Glasgow - we wanted to think of a way to put our skills to use, and specifically benefit people with learning disabilities in Malawi.

Here's what we've come up with...

The Team

Corrinne, Michael, Rachael, Eve and Jennifer.

We are currently in our second year at Glasgow Caledonian University, studying Learning Disability Nursing. We will graduate in October 2016.


Corrinne and Michael plan to spend 14 weeks in Malawi. Rachael, Eve and Jennifer will be there for 7 weeks.

About our project

We are going to Lilongwe, Malawi, between May and September 2015. Our project has 3 main goals:

1. Improve healthcare for people in Malawi, in particular for those with learning disabilities.


2. Raise awareness of HIV and AIDS. (With a focus on supporting those with learning disabilities or limited literacy to understand more about transmission, risks and testing.)


3. Develop ongoing links between Glasgow Caledonian University Nursing Department and Kamuzu Nursing College and the University of Malawi in Lilongwe.

We will provide nursing care for people with learning disabilities, and the general population, in both hospital and community settings.


We will also deliver training about HIV and sexual health for people with learning disabilities, and provide accessible information that is easy to understand.

Why this project? Why us?

According to the non-profit Enable Scotland, in Malawi only 25 per cent of people who have a disability and need medical treatment have access to necessary services. We will use all of the specialised skills, knowledge and experience we have acquired as Learning Disability Nursing students, to improve awareness and encourage local nurses to act as effective advocates for people with learning disabilities requiring healthcare. By sharing good practice, and working sensitively with local nurses and nursing students, we hope to have a positive impact on the lives of people with learning disabilities in Malawi.


In addition to our regular placement hours, we will develop accessible information and training materials about HIV and AIDS. In Malawi, people with learning disabilities are statistically more likely to have HIV. There are a number of factors which contribute to this. The Situation Analysis Report for People with Disabilities in Malawi (2011) highlights the lack of information available in accessible formats for people with learning disabilities or limited literacy skills. There are also a number of misconceptions about how HIV is transmitted, and HIV testing. We will deliver training to local nurses and nursing students, to support them to work sensitively with local people to raise awareness and address this serious issue. By offering training to local nurses, in addition to working directly with individuals, we hope that the positive impact of our work will be sustainable, and will continue well after we return to the UK.


The current climate of NHS funding freezes and increased burden on health services poses considerable challenges for nurses in the UK. It will be helpful to see how nurses in Malawi manage to remain positive and motivated in the face of even greater hardship. We will develop resilience and adaptability, and gain a greater understanding of culturally sensitive care, which will benefit us and the people we support throughout our nursing careers.


It is our ambition that we will establish an ongoing reciprocal link between Glasgow Caledonian University and the University of Malawi, so that future nursing students from both universities have the opportunity to gain international experience as part of the pre-registration programme.

Fundraising

For more info about fundraising events click on the links in the sidebar.

Or visit our Hubbub online funding page for more details about the project and ways that you can help.



Feel free to ask us any questions about our project. Just leave a comment below.

Hubbub Fundraising Page Goes Live!

We are very excited to announce the launch of our online fundraising page at Hubbub, a crowdfunding platform for education/non-profits.

We've been busy planning some exciting fundraising events, applying for various scholarships and grants, and working extra shifts to save up enough pennies to make this project a reality.

The costs quickly add up when you plan to spend up to 4 months over 7,000 miles away from home... It'll be worth it though.



And here's where you come in - you can help us in different ways:

•  Make a donation. Have a look at the page to see the various rewards (you can donate any amount over £1).

• "Become a helper" to share details of  the project with people you know. The more people who hear about the project the happier we'll be.

• Come along to a fundraising event! See the link in the side bar for more details about paintball on 2nd May. More details soon on the upcoming Pub Quiz at Walkabout (18th March), Bake Sale at GCU (23rd March) and more.

• Or get in touch if you have any handy hints or tips for us about Malawi.