Fundraising ideas Want to raise money to support Children North East during these unprecedented times, but not sure where to start? Whether you’ve done fundraising before or it's your first time, it'll be quite different under the rules we're all living by at the moment. We've put together some virtual and socially distanced ideas to get you started: Virtual ideas: We've come up with a range of virtual ideas you can do from your own home. There are lots of sites you can use to connect with your relatives and friends including Zoom (around 40 mins of free contact for up to 100 people), Skype (unlimited time for up to 50 people) or Facebook Messenger Rooms (unlimited time for up to 50 people) are our faves. Quiz Night Hosting a virtual quiz night is definitely a popular choice during lockdown. It's easy enough to set up your own one - pick a time and date, choose your quiz (it could be general knowledge, sport, themed, or you could even choose different options for each round), and invite people along. Set up a fundraising page to get people to donate to take part and then choose some prizes for your winners. All that's left is to have an amazing night in! Talent Show Ask your friends and family to take part in a virtual talent show. Ask each of them to showcase a hidden talent they have and put together a schedule for the night. Decide how you'll choose your winners (it could be best dressed, funniest or even noisiest act) and send out the invitations. Set up a fundraising page to get people to donate to take part (and maybe even donate to just watch) and have a fantastic fun night! Book Club Find a group of like-minded individuals and host your very own virtual book club. Choose a book, schedule a time and date and get chatting. You could even make it a weekly thing with donations for taking part. To aid this rotate who chooses the book so you get a good variety of reading material. An alternative could be a recipe sharing book club - just find whatever you think would be fun! Fitness Challenge Set yourself a goal you'd like to achieve all whilst raising money. Take inspiration from some fundraisers who have already completed their own fitness challenge for Children North East (Tommy and Sophie and Will). Share what you're planning to do with your friends and family (and us) and ask for donations for completing the challenge. We'd love to see pictures/video of your challenge and of course, we'll support you all the way! Social distancing ideas: Street party Throwing a street party can help you feel close to your neighbours at a safe distance. Encourage people on your street to take part for a donation. Send invitations to everybody in your street detailing the date and time and if there's any theme to the party. On the day set up your own 'party' outside - decorate your house/garden, set up an eating area, play some music (at a respectful volume), play garden games and enjoy yourself. Don't forget to take a walk along the street to see everybody else taking part and to thank them. Offer your services If you have some spare time on your hands, why not offer your services in return for a donation. You could offer dog walking, car washing, gardening or shopping - just some of those things that someone who is still self-isolating may not be able to do. To help, you could print off flyers or cards and post them through doors so people know there's help available. Just make sure all your services are socially-distanced! These are just some of the ideas our fundraising team could come up with. If there's something you would like to do to support us during these strange times, we'd love to hear from you. You can set up your own fundraising page with JustGiving making it easier for everyone to show their support. Children North East relies on your help to raise important funds to continue its work to support children, young people and their families across the north east. Read our Supporter Commitment to you. Children North East is a member of the Fundraising Regulator which is the independent regulator of charitable fundraising.