How to Fundraise £2350 for Your Overseas Healthcare Placement

I'd spoken to some other nursing students in the year above me about a trip they took to Tanzania with Work the World. They'd travelled the year before, and it sounded like they had a great experience.

They told me they raised the funds by themselves, so my friends and I thought we'd give it a go.

So, we got in touch with Work the World and registered for an elective placement in Kandy, Sri Lanka.

"I ended up making a LOT more than I thought I would!"

As soon as we got our confirmation emails, the fundraising began.

The aim was to raise as much towards my placement as possible.

I enjoyed the fundraising itself, and I ended up making a lot more than I thought I would.

We found fundraising so fun that we just kept going!

We knew our balances had to be paid one way or another, so that helped push us on, too.

What did I do to raise the money?

I did various things to fundraise.

The fun day

During the summer, I held a fun day at my house. We made stalls, such as a hook-a-duck and a tombola. We also had a bouncy castle and a BBQ.

We invited as many family and friends as we could, and made about £700 ($ 1276 AUD / $ 863 USD ) from that day alone!

The bake sales

I did two bake sales at the university. All we had to do was speak to the uni about setting up a stall on campus and bring loads of cakes in!

We got our course leader to advertise the bake sales for us by sending emails out to the student body. We also set up Facebook groups and posted flyers around campus.

I even did a couple of Facebook raffles!

The GoFundMe page

I had a GoFundMe page running the whole time. I just shared the link on social media and via email with everyone I knew.

I updated it each time I did a fundraising event, or when I booked flights so people could see my progress.

I got friends and family to share my page with their friends, and I was surprised to see that people I didn’t even know were donating towards my goal.

The Abba Night

My family held a fundraiser for me.

It was an Abba night, and they raised another £100 ($ 182 AUD / $ 125 USD ) towards my trip. They had all the girls round at my auntie’s house, and they had prosecco, games, and raffles.

The funding hub

Work the World's Funding Hub was really useful as well.

It had loads of info about applying for grants. I applied for a couple and I ended up getting awarded £450 ($ 820 AUD / $ 555 USD ) towards my trip. It was simpler than I thought it would be.

keep plugging away.

If you're considering fundraising for your elective placement abroad, start as early as possible and continue. I began raising funds in November, around bonfire night. I wasn’t due to travel until about July, so it took me about nine months to save all the money.

Just keep plugging away, and make sure you enjoy it while you’re doing it - I ended up raising £2350 ($4380 AUD /  $2900 USD)!