Fundraising Diary: Tori Oram

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Serial gapper Tori is preparing herself for her trip to South Africa with i-to-i, where she'll be working with some big cats. Before she gets on the plane and cracks open the cat food, there's a serious sum of money for her to raise - over £5000 in fact...

Hey Tori, welcome to the wonderful world of the gapyear.com Fundraising diary! Give us a bit of info on what you're up to at the moment?

Thanks guys! At the moment, I'm doing as much as possible to save money. I've completely given up the idea of a life. I have a tendency to "binge save", which is when I save 99% of my cash and give myself about a tenner a week to live on. It's difficult, especially as I have to pay housekeeping to my mum, but it's not impossible. At least living at home cuts down on a lot of bills!

Sounds like you are serious about this saving up malarkey then? What's it all for - surely not to spend a year enjoying the delights of Kent?

No, not at all. I don't think I could possibly spend a year doing that! The plan is that on July 17th, I'm due to be in Johannesburg airport where I'll be met by someone from i-to-i. They'll take me to the Lion Park that I'm volunteering on. I'm excited because I'll get to work with cats, okay, big cats but cats none the less. I grew up around cats as my mum's a registered breeder and I know quite a bit about them. I've handled births and weaning and cat sick and all manner of gross stuff. I know lions will be slightly different but the principal is the same.

Aside from the lions, the game park also has Hyenas, Giraffes, Zebra, Leopards, Cheetahs and those weird pronged animals I can't remember the name of! I'll be generally working with the cubs as I'm a girl and apparantly sexism is alive and well in Africa. Still, if you volunteer, they will let you deal with the bigger animals. I'm gonna do it alone. People let you down. My last travel buddy gave me the absolutely pathetic excuse that "she was allergic to cats so she couldn't work with lions!" I was kind of offended that she hadn't thought of anything more plausible!

After I've finished volunteering, I'm gonna overland Africa with Overland Club. I meet our trek in Johannesburg and we overland it up to Nairobi. We travel through eight seperate countries (South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya) and I'm really looking forward to it! I have a map of the world on my bedroom wall, and I love getting back from a trek and sticking stars on all the places I've visited and big stars on all the places I've worked.

I should finish my trek about the 20th September. Then I fly home. I'm planning a year in Oz for 2006 so I'm going to need to fundraise again after that!

Sounds like quite an ambitious and action-packed gap year you've planned yourself! But it must work out quite pricey - how much money do you need to raise to fund it all?

I ideally need £5000. That includes everything from flights to insurance and £2000 spending money. I'm over-estimating my budget, which at the moment looks like this:

Trek: £800 Volunteering: £1095 Flights: £1000 Insurance: £100 Vaccinations: £300 Spending money: £2000 TOTAL: £5295

I don't believe that it'll cost a grand for the flights or three hundred pounds for the injections, but if I overaccomadate, I know I'll succeed! Plus there's no chance of me getting caught out by the odd thing that I may have to cough up for.

Certainly looks as though you've got it all very well thought out. How much of the £5295 do you think you'll need to raise through fundraising?

The standard answer here is, as much as I can! At the very least I'd like it to cover injections and insurance. At best it could cover the flights as well. If I aim for my fundraisers to cover the costs of the smaller things on my 'To pay for list', if I manage to contribute towards any of the bigger items, it'll be a bonus!

How else are you boosting your gap year fund then? Slogging out a 9-to-5?

I currently work at my local petrol station doing all sorts of hours (starting from 6am and some ending as late as midnight). I also do other people's shifts for them. Everyone knows to call me if they want to swop! I've given up on having a life in order to raise money. Think of me this festive season, as I'm working Christmas Day, Christmas Eve until midnight, Boxing Day, both bank holidays, New Year's Eve until Midnight and New Year's Day. Still, I'll get £13.10 an hour for all that! It'll be worth it. We're open 24 hours, so I work weekends too!

So when you said you'd given up your life, you weren't kidding were you? You are literally spending every minute working to pay for your gap year. What an inspiration! So when you do manage to fit a spot of fundraising into your schedule, what have you got planned?

My fundraising plans start in the New Year. I want to get Christmas out of the way first. However, I'm getting a little ahead because tomorrow I'm up at 6am to go to a local boot fair. I'm not selling anything, because I sold all I own for my last trip. Instead I'm face painting! I've been trained in it, twice. I'm charging £2.00 a face. I'll go along and ask people who have stalls for a corner of their table to set up my paints. I'll offer to pay the stall price of £6.00 and it'll improve their sales because while little Johnny is having his face done, the parents will browse the nearest stall. It'll take some wheeling a dealing, Del Boy style, but I'm sure someone will say yes!

Sounds like a good way to kick off the fundraising - apart from all of that getting up early of course! Anything else planned?

I'm also gonna sit in a bath of....ready for this? Live bait! Yeah! I'm gonna start writing to local bait shops to see if they'll supply the bait. My local paper and radio station have agreed to cover it and I'll get sponsors to see how long I can stand it! I'm also selling cups at 50p each and the customer gets to scoop up some bait and tip it over my head or down my back or wherever! That's planned for May when the weather is warmer.

I also have other plans. I'm wrapping friends and families Christmas gifts for ten pound a time and I'm going to do some paintings to sell. Thank God for my art qualification! Other things will begin in the new year... when I've had a chance to put my thinking cap on some more!

Ewww. Live bait sounds truly disgusting - but no doubt, it'll be worth a bob or two. So how much are you hoping to raise from that awful ordeal, as well as the rest of your events?

I'm hoping to raise about a grand from all of this hard work. I'm not sure if I'll manage it, but I can try. A raffle may work as well, so there are loads of things that I can try to boost my funds. I'll let you all know how I get on in my diary! Wish me luck!

Tori's fundraising diary

Fund to raise: £5298

Money paid this month: £445 (deposits for trek and volunteering)

Money earnt from fundraising so far: £28

Funds left to raise: £4825

14.12.04

Well, my funds left to raise bracket is slowly going down even though my main fundraising won't start properly until the New Year. However, I'm not just sitting on my bottom. At the moment, I'm working as many hours as I can without having a psychotic episode! I didn't bother going to either staff party this year and instead covered the shifts so others could go. It's better to earn money rather than spend it, particularly at the moment.

Last Saturday, I grabbed my facepainting kit and headed to my local bootfair. I sat in the corner with a big sign offering facepainting for £2 a face. I started by facepainting two kids for free. This is the best advertisement you can have! Once children saw them, they all wanted it done. I did 14 kids and raised £28 which wasn't brilliant, but only about 16 children were at the bootfair, the rest were elderly people. I got absolutely covered, but I had fun. I got chatting to the people who had tables either side of me and they do bootfairs every week. One of them offered me a place on her table each week for half the stall price, which I thought was really nice. I also got people buying me orange juice whenever they went for refreshments. As I was the youngest stall owner, I think the others were looking out for me.

I started my letter writing today. I intend to write a cover letter about my project, followed by a short booklet about the placement. Then I'll send them to local businesses and employers. Even if I don't get anything, it will raise awareness of what I'm doing.

I'm also considering a quiz night in a local pub. A lot of landlords let you do this for free as it increases their profits. That's planned for January time as business hits a lull right after Christmas, apparently. I'm also considering a talent show for local children. I'm going to need to look into this though. The trouble with fundraising is you end up spending cash to make it happen and then you panic you won't see the return (though if you're careful, you normally do!)

Well, I'll keep you guys posted! I'd better go finish those letters!

Fund to Raise: £4825

Money Paid this Month: £890 (Flights)

Funds left to raise: £3935

06.01.05

Happy New Year to everyone! Hope you all had a good time and didn't get too pi...plastered. It's now 2005! How bizarre does that look? I got some cash for Christmas from my mother and my aunt which amounted to £70.00 total, so that's gone in my stash.

Well, the New Year isn't very old yet. Therefore, I haven't had much of a chance to do alot of fundraising. However, on the 2nd I did some facepainting for a friend's little sister's birthday party. As she was a friend though, I couldn't very well charge her. Still, she did give me £20 at the end of it and I had access to the free buffet all night.

I also went to the library and worked my way through the fundraising book. It was very frustrating as alot of them say "no funds to individuals". Plus, my libraries copy is two years old. I'm gonna make a point of heading to one of the other towns to see if thiers are any better. Still, I did manage to get three addresses so I sat down and sent off three letters. I sent a short two page booklet about my placement including photos with the letters. I'm now going to focus my efforts on local businesses.

Well, that's basically it at the moment. Tune in next week for another exciting episode of (cue dramatic music) Tori's Fundraising Diary!

08.02.05

Okay, okay, I know last entry I promised a new entry within a week but I've been really busy, mainly with work. We have alot of people off sick at the moment so I've been volunteering to cover all their hours. I've been working 12 hour shifts (starting at midday and finishing at midnight) and the times I haven't been working, I've been sleeping. The sad thing is I've been dreaming about work so I don't get any respite at night either! Still, the money will be worth it. "Think of the money, think of the money...." It's become my mantra.

However, I haven't been totally slack in the fundraising department. I recently got people to sponsor me to become a girl for the day. Yes, I know I AM a girl. What I mean is, I spend my whole life in trousers. I'm a complete tomboy. I don't own a handbag, I haven't worn a skirt since school when it was part of the school uniform, I own two pairs of comfortable trainers and no sandals, and if you showed me an eyelash curler, I would think it was some medieval torture device and run screaming for the hills. I have mates that have never seen my legs! I don't wear makeup or paint my nails or any other "girlie" things normal girls do. My hair is something that is just there and its lucky if I remember to run a brush through it every morning. I got my ears pierced on a whim at the age of 13 and I haven't changed my earrings since that day. As you can tell, I am totally NOT a girlie girl.

When I asked my best mate what I could do to raise money, she suggested getting sponsored to "become a girl". Her rules were:

I had to wear a skirt (therefore, I had to go and buy one!) I was not allowed to wear trainers (again, I had to buy different footwear) I had to visit a hairdressers and change both my hairstyle and colour I had to wear makeup I had to change my earrings (again, I had to buy new ones) I wasn't allowed to be called "Tori" or anything tomboyish and instead had to answer to Victoria! I had to go to a pub or nightclub and stay there beyond ten o'clock. (I'm not normally one for nightclubs. I don't like them. What is the point of going to a place where you can't talk to anyone and people bounce around like salmon at spawning time?!)

Anyway, I managed to collect pledges from 102 people willing to spend money to see me become a girl. My own mother sponsored me £20! It left me feeling more than a little perplexed.

The "girlie day" was awful. I felt uncomfortable the whole time. I didn't know how to react, I didn't feel like "me". My best mate Lou had a brilliant day. She got my earrings out (we had to use tweezers and the gunk that built up behind them!) and swopped them over, she made me buy a skirt and she told the hairdresser what to do. I now have straight, red hair! In the evening, we went to a local nightclub and this guy chatted to me. I had no idea how to react and blurted out the strangest things ("do you know dust is 90% human skin?") Still, I made £241 so it can't be bad.

Funds to Raise: £3935

Money Paid this month: £800

Money Earnt from Fundraising this month (and last): £241 + £709 = £950

Money left to raise: £2185

Wow! Looking at my totals, I've done a lot better than I thought I had this month. Okay, that includes the cash I raised for my "Girlie Day" but even so... kinda impressed! Still have a long way to go though but I'm getting there!

First up I let myself down really badly this month! I got sponsored to quit chocolate for lent. I was doing really well and I was avoiding chocolate like the plague which was hard as I work in a sweet shop. I'd managed two weeks and then, oh man, I'm so ashamed! I gave in! I had chocolate! I instantly regretted it but I don't have that many vices. I don't smoke or do drugs or drink alot of alcohol or go out alot, chocolate is my one weakness and I surrendered! I felt terrible! My sponsors were all happy as they didn't have to pay! I guess I was due to fail at something, all my other fundraising has gone so well but, even though I was really bummed for about a week afterwards, there was a little voice inside that was gleefully saying, "the chocolate was worth it!"

That is my last sponsored event because people are getting a bit annoyed because I keep hitting them with sponsor forms so I've had to try a few different things.

I went into my local pub and asked if I could put on an event there. I discussed it with the manager, Kevin, and we eventually decided to do a karaoke night. I have my own karaoke machine and CD's so I made a song list on the computer and got it laminated. I designed all the posters and stuck them around town and we agreed to charge £1 per song. The manager was sooo sweet, he said he wouldn't take any of the profit (but I think he trebled it in bar sales!)

The event was due to start at 8.00pm so I got there for 7.00pm and set up all the equipment on the stage. I put the song lists out on the tables and then waited. At 8.00pm there weren't that many people there and no one had volunteered to sing. I felt really worried that no one would show. Kevin suggested starting it off so I headed up on stage to sing "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina". I felt really nervous. My knees were shaking so much I could barely keep my voice steady! People tell me I can sing and I guess I'm not terrible but that night I'm convinced I broke all the glass in the place!! People said it was good but from my point of view it was awful. Still, it did open a flood gate and soon everyone was up doing songs. I soon learnt I should have charged £1 per person, not song as groups as large as six were doing songs together. On the bright side though, alot of them also did single songs and many people went up more than once. I made £259 which Kevin rounded up to £300 "as a donation".

At the end of the evening, Kevin suggested doing the event again the following week. This time I charged £1 per person and we did a karaoke competition at the end of the evening with prizes for the best singer and the worst. Kevin donated the prizes from the bar. A bottle of wine for the worst and a crate of beer for the best (a group of lads). Everyone seemed to have a good time and I made £409 which was a big improvement on the week before.

That's all the fundraising I've done but I've also done alot of hours at work. Last weekend I did two twelve hour shifts in a row, one ending at midnight and starting the following day at 6.00am! I'm glad I did it but it nearly killed me! I was exhausted! Today is supposed to be my day off but I'm at work again this evening. My mantra of "think of the money, think of the money" is still keeping me going!

I only have four and a bit months now before I go. I've paid off volunteering this month (£800) and I'm also hoping to deal with insurance. Then all I need is vaccinations and spending money.

Fingers crossed for me, okay?

8th March 2005

Oh My God! Oh My God! Oh My God! Am I crazy? I must be absolutely nuts. Guess what I've agreed to do? At the end of May this year, I have agreed to climb into a bath of catfood! Yeah, seriously! Not the dried stuff either. The other kind that's made from ground up horse or whatever.

I was at work the other day and I was thinking up fundraising ideas when I thought of this one. (I work in a 24 hour garage shop) I ran the idea by a couple of workmates and they agreed it could work if I could convince my manager, Mr Morrison. I went in to see him and he agreed to let me do it on the forecourt! I'm going to get the papers involved and the radio and I'm considering Meridian TV as well. I'm going to do a sponsor form and I'm also making collection tins (from cat food tins, cute, huh?) and I'm allowed to put those on the tills. Alot of the customers are interested and I'm hoping to convince the marketing department to sponsor me the catfood. I have a few practical concerns though. Number one, what if it's a hot day and the meat really smells? Won't that drive people away? Number two, where the heck can I get hold of a bathtub? Number three, what do I do afterwards with a bathtub full of cat food? Still, I'm sure there's answers to these questions somewhere.

I have so much to sort out! I need to decide on a date, I need to make the collection tins (my cats can only eat so fast), I need to make the sponsor forms and ring the papers and the radio and the TV stations and let them all know....Am I insane doing this?

I'm still working at the moment, I don't get a day off for two days so I'll do alot of stuff then but tonight I e-mailed i-to-i. That's the company I'm volunteering with. I've asked them to send proof that I'm working for them and any information they can spare on what I'll be doing. I've also asked them the question that's bothering me the most. What the heck do I do with the cat food when I'm finished?

I've also e-mailed the RSPCA local branch. I've asked them if they could use the cat food to feed the animals they rescue. Hopefully they can because I don't want to waste it. If that doesn't work, I'll have to think of something else. (Give it to the school canteen....no one will know any different!)

I adore cats so it'll be great if my fundraiser will help the local animals too!

I'll let you know how I get on.

March 20th 2005

This fundraising lark is a lot harder than I thought it would be! I imagined it would be 1) Have an idea, 2) Collect money and then 3) Go. It's not like that at all! I didn't realise how many practical things I'd have to sort out. I'm not that great on practical ideas - I'm more of an ideas person!

Still, I've begun getting Mum to save cat food tins. These are going to be my collecting tins. My manager, Mr Morrison, has agreed to let me put them on the counter. Hopefully, a lot of people will put in their loose change.

The main problem with this is gonna be what to do with the cat food after the event. I've rung everyone from the RSPCA to Cats in Crisis, but they won't take it. Personally I think this is rather picky. I'll only be in it for an hour and stray cats aren't gonna be fussed about what they eat!

It seems an awful waste to just dump it, but even then I don't know HOW to dump it. It's not something you can leave out for the bin man, is it? Even if I bag it up, the neighbourhood foxes will be at it! Our local dump is closed for refurbishment, so I can't take it there. Even if I just leave it in some country lane (not that I ever would) people would know its me. I've been advertising this fundraiser all over town! They're gonna know if a load of cat food is dumped somewhere!

I get the feeling that if I can just solve this part, the rest will easily fall into place. However, it seems to be unsolvable. I've asked everyone I know and no one has come up with any ideas. At night, I'm dreaming about cat food. Every thought leads back to it. Even the most random ones. Here's one of my internal conversations:

"Remember that time in Australia? Oh, that was cool! I remember camping on Fraser Island....Then we saw that wild dingo. Dingoes are just big dogs, aren't they? Dogs hate cats. Cats like catfood. What will I do with all the catfood?!" or another one...."Work was good today. I wonder when pay day is? I could go out somewhere with my mate, Bex. Bex keeps birds. Cat's eat birds. They also eat ca tfood. What will I do with all the catfoood?!"

I'm sure there's an answer, I just haven't found it yet. I will though. You watch!

23rd March 2005

I tried everywhere but no one wants the stupid cat food! Not even the big zoos. I've tried everything I can. Maybe I've been a little too ambitious? Why didn't I go for something easier to organise? It's not too late. I can still back out. I haven't started collecting any money yet. No one would think any less of me...

I can't back out. I want to do this. I've told everyone at work about it. People will think I'm flaky. It just seems so impossible. Why did I agree to do this? Why am I always putting so much pressure on myself?

Okay, lets think this through calmly and rationally. The zoos and local cat homes can't use the cat food. Okay, fair enough. What else is there? Hmmm, farms? Do pigs eat catfood? Pigs eat all kinds of slop. They're not fussy! Okay, so I can try farms.

What else? I could take it to the dump, but the dump is closed. The nearest other one is miles away. How would I get the food there? I don't drive. So, still farms then.

I could flush it down the toilet. No, Tori, that's stupid. I couldn't do that. Could I...? No! Okay, we have one idea here. Lets go ring some farms.

24th March 2005

I rang round a few local farms. Only two keep pigs as we're mainly dairy down here in Kent. One owner was interested but couldn't collect the food herself and I have no way of getting it to her. The other never even returned my call. I'm back to square one. Worse because at square one I still had enthusiam and optimism.

It's no good. I'll have to swallow my pride. I'm sorry everyone. I give up. This fundraiser is not going to happen. I just can't sort out all the practicalities. The phonebill this month will be skyhigh and all I've done is give myself alot of sleepless nights and ridiculous ideas! The cat tins I was going to use as collecting tins have been sitting empty on the sideboard for ages and Mum's beginning to bug me about throwing them out. I guess I can now. I had a dumb idea and I jumped in too soon. My best friend, Lou, is always telling me to look before I leap!

Guess this is it for the fundraising diary. I feel awful. Like I've failed. At least I hadn't collected any money. That would have been even worse.

27th March 2005

I got an e-mail from my mum's friend over in Ashford. She owns a cattery and would be willing to take the cat food. Yeah, great (!) Now all I need is to phone Santa and ask him to make an early Christmas present delivery in his sleigh! Actually, no, forget Santa, just give me the sleigh. It was nice of her to e-mail, but I still have no answer to the cat food problem!

31st March 2005

I had a browse through the paper at work. There's a number of people in the advert section who say they will deliver anything, anywhere. Hmmm, even cat food all the way up to Ashford? If not, a workmate suggested ringing the council. Apparantly the catfood can be classed as industrial waste! But that's not even the best news today!

I got an e-mail from Nik at Gapyear.com telling me about a TV program that Channel 4 are doing. It's about money and Nik thinks I should pass along my details. I did and they rang me. I spoke to the woman, Becky for half an hour. She wanted to know all about my fundraiser and even though I've cancelled it, I found myself telling her all about it. She was really interested. She wants to know if I would let Channel 4 do a documentary on it! Would I?!?

This encouraged me to take action. I headed straight for work and explained how the fundraiser was progressing. I never even told them it was cancelled because I'd hoped I'd find an answer. I spoke to one of the management, Alastair and said the cat food will be too expensive to buy. He gave me the number for Budgens (that where I work) marketing and I spoke to them and explained. They're going to talk to the chief buyer about sponsoring me the cat food! Just in case, I asked Alastair to give them a ring too. For two reasons, 1) I wanted them to know I was sincere and 2) I think they will respond better to an adult. I have a feeling they may think of me as a naive kid with ideas outside of the realms of possibility. I don't blame them! I thought that too.

I should find out about the cat food on Monday or Tuesday. If I don't, I'll get Alastair to chase it up for me!

I've also got an interview on Monday for the Channel 4 thing. Rebecca is going to come down and do a short video interview. She'll then take this to her producers at Channel 4 (along with loads of other interviews) and they'll decide which five people to feature. I hope they pick me! However, even if they don't, I'll do okay. This TV thing gave me back my enthusiasm and determination. Of course, I'll be psyched if I'm chosen though!

2nd April 2005

Collecting for the cause...I told Mr Morrison about my fundraising plans and asked if I could now put out the collecting tins. He okayed it and I carefully tied each one onto the tills. I put two posters up, one on the shop window and one by the tills about the fundraiser. However, I don't think many people have noticed them! That's it. I can't back out now. It's rather scary. I'm committed and I hate being tied down to something. That's what I love about working. I can do a job and enjoy it but as soon as it gets to be a pain, I know I can quit and find a new one - which I do with frightening regularity! Put me in a job where I had to stay for one year, I'd freak out!

I took my sponsor form round the staff and got some signatures. Everyone has agreed to sponsor me and I've got eleven signatures so far which amounts to £30 in pledges! That's not even half the staff yet! Plus I'm gonna try some door to door knocking but I'm hoping to get a newspaper article to back me up on that, just so people know I'm legit! So, thunderbirds are go, I suppose! This fundraiser is going ahead. In two months, I'll be sitting in a tub of catfood. Ewww, gross. How do I get myself into these things?

3rd April 2005

A kind sponsor adds to the kitty...Just a quick update. I was in work this morning and I checked all three tins. Someone has put a five pound note in tin one! How great is that? Wonder who it was? Whoever you are, if you ever read this, I am really grateful! In fact, thanks to all of our customers because tin one is half full already and it's only been there for 24 hours! Of course it's all pennies and two pences but it'll mount up. Tin two is also doing well and though tin three isn't as full, it's still steadily growing. It's really inspired me to keep going and to make sure I do this fundraiser really well! I'll let you know how it goes.

Interview tomorrow. I'm really nervous. I'm no beauty so I'm worried the producer will look at the tape and say, "Ha! Put that on TV?! It'll have to be after the watershed because that would scare small children." Hopefully they're looking for content rather than a model. If they want beauty, they have the wrong Oram sister. My sister, Karen would be better for that. She wouldn't know what she was on about when it came to travel and she'd never sit in catfood but she'd look good. Wish me luck. I promise to keep you all up to date!

5th April 2005

I had the interview with Bec from Betty TV today. It was planned for yesterday but we had to reschedule.

Bec caught the train down from London and arrived at mine at about 3pm. My mate, Bex was round for the day so Bec introduced herself to both of us. I made her a cup of tea and we all sat and chatted for a while.

Bec explained that the idea is to find out how young people relate to money. Channel 4 are doing a five part series about this so they need five people with fairly different attitudes to money. For example, they may have one person who is a serious shopaholic and another that has got themselves into debt and another that's won the lottery or someone who has rejected materialism. That kind of thing. Bec liked my story because its unique. I guess I'd be the crazy woman who fundraises and saves forever in order to volunteer. She set the camera up in my living room and asked me loads of questions. I felt really nervous having that camera pointed at me. I tried to pretend it wasn't on but it didn't really help.

Bec asked me loads of things, like my attitude towards debt and why I save to travel and why I'm volunteering. I explained my fundraiser and all the planning I had to do for it. I'd called into work earlier in the day and collected the pot from till one. It was full so I thought I'd better empty it. Bec had me do this on camera. I had about £16 in there. Not bad. I'll remake the pot tomorrow and put it back up when I go to work.

A possible poster design...Some of Bec's questions were things I really hadn't thought about much but I seemed to have strong opinions on them. For example, my attitude to brand names is "my body is not a billboard, I won't pay to advertise other peoples stuff!" Bec filmed for about half an hour and then stayed a little longer for a chat. Finally, Bex and I walked her to the train station.

What happens next is Bec will edit the film into a short ten minute interview. This will be shown to her producer and then (if it's okay), to the producers at Channel 4. They are the ones that get the say which five people they want to use in the program. If it turns out I'm one of them, they will film the documentary over ten days. The camera will follow me to work and on my fundraising and any facepainting I do and any relaxing....I really hope I'm one of the five! Finger's crossed for me, huh?

Now it's done, I'm going to convince myself I haven't got a chance. That way if it does come up, great, if not, I haven't lost anything. No hopes, no disappointments, right?

Bye for now!

13th April 2005

Hey everyone,

I got a phone call from Bec yesterday. She showed her film to her producer and apparently he liked it so that's stage two completed. Now all I have to do is pass stage three. Unfortunately, thats the big one. Thats when the Channel 4 producers watch the show and then decide who they want and who they don't. That will happen tomorrow (incidentally, that's also my birthday so maybe that'll give me a bit of extra luck or something!)

I've also been in contact with Ian Dearberg. He's the head honcho guy for Budgens and a really great bloke to boot. He rang me and we had a chat about my fundraiser and what I planned to do and how and when and why and all the other bits and pieces. Then he told me he'd had a word with the buyers and they're going to sponsor me the catfood!! How fantastic is that? They've ordered 10 cases, which amounts to 240 tins. I'm going to do some posters to use on the day of my event which will proudly display "sponsored by Budgens Local". Ian is also working on it and I'm hoping his marketing department will come up with something better than my attempts. Theres only so much you can do on a home computer that doesn't even have a colour printer!

The Thanet Times came out yesterday. That's our local paper. I bought a copy while I was out and tried to supress my grin when I saw my article right there on page three (yeah, okay, its sandwiched between some blonde with big knockers and the news in brief column, but it's still there!) I also couldn't resist showing the sales lady when I paid for it (I didn't buy it locally because I would have been embarassed). There's a small picture of me holding my cat, Blaze.

Originally, I was meant to be holding my other cat, Sunrise as Blaze is really scrawny and completely blind (she's 16). However, Sunrise went out for the day and didn't get back until after the photographer had left. It may just be my imagination, but I would swear she knows she missed out on her claim to fame. She's been in a mood ever since!

The article looks really good and they've even mentioned that people can donate their out of date cat food if they wish (this keeps getting grosser!)

It makes me laugh to read the first line, "Crazy cat lover Tori Oram plans to raise cash by sitting in a bath of feline food." It's always nice when the local paper agrees you're crazy!!!

This time last year, to the actual day, I was up at Heathrow boarding a plane to Australia. I was all excited (and with good reason, I had the best time of my life). I never even dreamt that exactly one year later, I'd be getting all excited because I'm going to sit in a bath full of catfood. How strange is life?

Anyway, I'd better love you and leave you! I'll write again soon, but in the meantime, remember: 'There's always someone crazier than you!'

Tuesday 19th April

It's been a fairly busy weekend. Firstly, I turned 22 which isn't something that happens everyday. Also, my best mate, Lou, came down to stay and we had a fantastic time! We had a massage (nice and cheap at the college because you're basically the student's guinea pig) and we visited the Shell Grotto. If that was anywhere else in the world it would be the number one tourist attraction and probably one of the wonders of the world. Because it's in Margate, no one even knows its there! How bizarre?

Even though I've basically had the weekend off from my fundraising, I've still done a little bit. On Friday, I got a phone call from KMFM, my local radio station. They did a quick phone call interview about the fundraiser. I made sure I let them know Budgens are supplying the catfood so work can't say I'm not holding up my end of the bargain! That aired on Saturday morning. Unfortunately, I completely forgot all about it! Luckily, my sister, Karen was in her car at the time. She never listens to that station but for some reason, she did that day and she caught the interview! How bizarre is that because I didn't tell her it would be on!

The new issue of the Thanet Times came out today. There's been a letter in response to my article last week. The small headline is "Cats off to Tori". Rather a clever play on words. It's a fairly short letter so I'll type it out for you:

"Cats off to Tori; I have just read page three of today's Thanet Times (April 12th) and have to say that while I applaud the work "crazy cat lover" Tori Oram is planning in South Africa, I certainly would not donate any tins of cat food that could be donated to any of our local pet rescues centres." - Judith Haire

My friends and family are all indignant but I completely understand. I don't want people to donate catfood to me. Budgens is supplying that and all I asked was if anyone had any tins that were out of date. The catfood wastage seems to be the biggest criticism I'm facing. I just wish people knew how hard I tried to get someone to take the food from me! The idea of just wasting it seems a terrible thing to have to do. I'm still hopeful that someone somewhere will have a use for it and maybe I'll get a phone call about it. Fingers crossed!

I recieved another phone call today. Mike, a good friend of my mum's rang up to speak to her. He told her to tell me to put him down for a £10 pledge which is great but even better is he wants me to give him a sponsor form so he can go round his workplace and help me out. Isn't that the greatest thing? My friend, Bex, has also asked for a form so she can do the same for Tescos where she works! Plus, I still have alot of staff at my work to hit! Hee hee!

Last news for now is, I went up to Budgens today to check the tins. Tin two and three were completely full so I took them home and emptied them out. I spent this evening counting it all out. There was £22.74, 10 cents and two shillings! I'll remake the pots and put them back up on the tills when I'm next at work.

I've been trying to consider other money making things to do on the cat food day. I'm considering printing a line picture of a lion and photocopying, then selling it to children on the day for 20p a picture. I'm not 100% sure on this idea, I'll have to run it by the Gapyear.community. They've always been honest on which ideas they believe will work.

Still, things are going great at the moment! Long may it continue, huh?

Wednesday 27th April

Whew, I've been pretty busy since the last time I spoke to you. My fundraiser is less than a month away and I still have to find a container and find a way to get rid of the catfood afterwards. On top of that, I still need to sort out my trip insurance and my injections. Turns out I'm going to need practically every injection under the sun so I'm really not looking forward to that! It'll cost me a packet too!

Well, the KM Extra (another of our local papers) printed an article about my fundraiser which seems to have been seen by more people than the other one. I suppose that's because you have to buy the Thanet Times but the KM is free. They printed my phone number at the bottom of the article and the day it came out, I got a phonecall from a lovely lady in the next town over. She'd bought three packs of chicken flavoured Whiskas but has discovered her cats won't eat it! Instead, she rung me and asked if I wanted it. When I went to collect it, she also gave me £10 as well which was really sweet!

The customers at work have all been asking about the fundraiser and how it's going. I have a large tin on till one which is roughly ten centimetres in diameter and is now five centimetres deep with coins. I've seen alot of pound coins go into that tin so I'm looking forward to emptying it. That won't be until the end of May though! The smaller tins on till two and three are also getting full and I'll need to empty them again soon. It's going well and I'm confident I'll raise at least £100 from this fundraiser, minimum.

I got a phone call from Bec at Betty TV yesterday. Channel 4 has made a decision. Unfortunately, it's bad news. They've decided not to use my fundraiser as part of their programme. Bec was adorable, she was really apologetic even though it wasn't her fault. I was a little disappointed but not as much as you would have thought. Then Bec told me she'd organised a collection at the office and had raised about £20 for my cause. That was really unexpected. She was under no obligation to do that and it was really sweet of her. I've promised to keep her appraised of my progress.

Right, it's suddenly occured to me that I only have one month left! That's nothing! A mere 33 days! Yikes! It's time to swing my bottom into gear and get cracking. I'm planning on visiting the Builder's Centre tomorrow to get a container. Then all I need is to sort out what to do with the food afterwards. This will be easier once I know how much I need to get rid of.

Thanks to everyone, on here and off, for their support for the last few months. This fundraiser would not have been possible without you!

I'll be back!

Tuesday 17th May

Well, I've abandoned you guys for the last few weeks but I've been really busy planning this fundraiser. It's now less than two weeks away and I still have a few wrinkles to iron out.

I headed up to the Builder Centre the day after I last wrote. I brought a plasterer's bath which I can sit in quite comfortably. It was the last one in stock and the first thing I saw when entering the shop so it was like it was waiting for me. I told the staff there why I needed it and they gave me a discount! Down from £20.00 to £12.00 which is great! I put the extra cash that would have gone into buying the bath, into my fundraising pot. I'm quite looking forward to counting all that out. I wonder how much is there?

I've been busy in other areas too. I've printed a black and white lion picture off the internet for children to colour. Then I went down town and bought some crayons. I intend to charge about 50p for one of these. That includes the picture (printed on card) and four crayons (blue, red, yellow and green). Hopefully they'll be quite popular. It's all cash towards Africa.

I went up to the Travel Clinic the other day and got my Yellow Fever vaccination and the first of my three Rabies shots. That has cost me £72 just for those so I'm hoping the fundraiser will cover the rest. With a little luck, it will also cover insurance which should be another £100.

The customers in the shop have been terrific! Of course, they've been taking the mick in a big way but they've also been putting their change into my pot. Alot of the staff have been supportive too though I've had some whispers about "giving her money just to go on holiday..." That annoys me. This is not a holiday. A holiday is two weeks lazing by the pool in Majorca, not two months up to your elbows in lion manure and flies. I could have gone to Africa just travelling but I wanted to help out in some way and as I like animals, lions seemed the best idea. If I was helping street children, no one would mention the word holiday. Why aren't lions considered just as worthy? Still, no doubt others on the site have encountered the same problem.

I sent off a few letters asking for sponsorship for my cause recently. I've had two back, both of which wish me luck but say "no funds to individuals". Oh well, at least they had the courtesy to reply so a big thank you to Sainsburys and Debenhams.

I spoke to my manager, Mr Morrison today. We had a walk around outside trying to decide the best place for the bath. I have my eye on a cemented area but it's not under cover. Fingers crossed that it won't rain! Still, I daresay I can manage to sit there even if it is raining! That wouldn't be too nice though.

I also recieved an e-mail from i-to-i. They want to feature my fundraiser in their newsletter, Inspire, so all i-to-i volunteers, look out for it!

Right, well, I've still got a ton of things to do. I'm going to ring up "a man and a van" this afternoon. They've promised to do me a deal on shifting the cat food. I'm just upset that no one wanted it. What a waste. Still, any tins I don't use will be donated to our local cats home so it's not too bad.

I'll talk to you soon as we get nearer and nearer to D Day (or should it be C Day - C for catfood?).

Sunday 29th May

Well, less than 24 hours to go now! I can't believe I'm actually going ahead with this. Still, it's a little late to back out now, huh?

One of my managers, Kevin, ordered the cat food for me a few days ago and ten crates arrived on Saturday. Kev asked if I had a preference. I said I didn't care, after all, I'm sitting in it, not eating it! However, after I'd thought a little, I asked for anything but fish flavour. Kevin, being the swell guy that he is (heavy with the sarcasm there), ordered me five cases of tuna and five of cod and plaice! Fantastic! Then again, this is gonna be gross whichever way I look at it so why not go for the most disgusting flavour there is? My workmates have been reminding me to look out for fish guts and eyeballs and this is getting grosser by the second!

People tell me I have a good imagination and I'm trying to work out what I can convince myself the fish flavoured catfood is. Ooohhh, I could pretend it's just a bath of water... water that is strangely lumpy and smells like fish! Yeah, that's real convincing! Besides, it was my imagination that got me into this!

Kevin has been fantastic! Today, he organised a makeshift stage to put the bath on (it consists of three palettes) and he's dug out some helium for balloons and a massive poster to wrap round the stage area. Its bizarre because out of all of my managers, Kev has seemed the most uninterested but he's been really supportive and done loads for it!

This afternoon, I need to make some posters to display on the day. Then I'm due at the shop tomorrow at eight to set everything up and to empty the tins into the bath and... oh yeah! To sit in it! Wish me luck! I promise pictures with the next entry!

Saturday 18th May 2005

Hey Guys!

The night before the fundraiser I was completely manic. I kept concocting scenarios in my head of what could go wrong. I even left a couple of rambling messages on the message board causing Occasional Misfit to ask if I'd had a magic mushroom shake! I was unable to sleep so I sat watching Friends which I have on DVD. Twenty episodes of Friends in a row, any idea what that does to your mind?!? Then I sat and watched the copyrights come up in about 20 languages.

I woke up on the day of the fundraiser (that's a lie as I hadn't really slept the night before!) and was really worried to find it was cold outside! I dialled up Teletext to check the weather which predicted cold spells and showers! Fantastic, just what I wanted. I went outside to see exactly how cold it was and luckily it seemed bearable. Mum and I headed up to the garage at about five to eight in the morning and my mate, Bex (who I had enlisted for this fundraiser) joined us about five past. Kevin had been busy from the day before and he'd set up the bath on three palettes. Mum, Bex and I all grabbed a tin and emptied them into the bath. The smell was disgusting but after a while, you couldn't smell it anymore; I got used to it, I guess.

By 10am we'd filled the bath, decorated the area with balloons and posters, cordoned off a section of the forecourt with cones, set up a makeshift table where I sold line drawings of lions complete with sets of crayons for 50p each and stapled a poster saying 'Budgens Local' round the edge. I took an hour out to chill for a while and then we wheeled the bath out onto the forecourt. It had already attracted a lot of flies so they came along for the ride.

At 10.45am, it began to rain. That figured and I'd actually put that on my mental list of things that could go wrong (number 29 - adverse weather conditions). Still, it was only for an hour and the sun was trying its best to make it through the clouds. I glanced around once, shucked off my top and trousers (I was wearing my swimsuit underneath) and climbed up to the bath. It looked disgusting but I ignored it, threw back my head and gave a Native American Victory Cry (taught to me by a lady called Brave Eagle). Then I stepped in.

On the advice of one of my work mates, Tracy, I'd worn socks as she'd told me it would be cold; she'd sat in beans for charity once. The cat food was slippery under my feet and very cold. I counted to three and sat down, then leaned back causing the cat food to overflow at the back. After a couple of minutes, I scooped it up and covered my legs in it. I sat like that for twenty minutes until I'd got used to it, then I began picking the catfood up and trying to make catfood mud pies (it doesn't work). Surprisingly, it wasn't cold under the cat food though the suction made it hard to move my legs. I smeared some on my arms and when that dried it was freezing. I enjoyed picking it up and letting it slop from one hand to the other in front of horrified onlookers.

Most of the staff who weren't already working came by to have a look as well as passers-by. People tooted their horns encouragingly and Kelly, my sister's boyfriend, let his car battery go flat just so he could keep his radio playing to attract more interest! To be honest, I actually began to enjoy myself in the end. I was already covered so it didn't matter what I did! Our local paper, the Thanet Times, came along and took some pictures. I made the photographer donate 50p which he did, bless him!

It was pretty boring in the bath. I'd grabbed a magazine from the shop and got Bex to take some photos. I've sent that in to the magazines' photo page because they pay £100 if they print your photo! Aside from that, I listened to Kelly's car radio and called out to passers-by.

At 12.05pm, I stood up and climbed out. Kevin had got together three buckets of water which mum and Kelly threw over me rather enthusiastically! Then I walked home shivering. As soon as I stepped into the porch, the smell was horrific. I guess I should have expected that in a confined space. I rang through the flat and got straight in the shower without stopping to take off my shoes! I had a 40 minute shower followed by a two hour bath in which I used just about every kind of soap I could get. I even rubbed lemon over my skin because I read once it neutralises odours. Fortunately, it seemed to work. Kelly, Bex, Mum and my sister Karen, stayed at the garage until the 'man and van' came to collect the catfood at ten past twelve so that was all sorted.

I spent the afternoon counting the cash I'd raised. I still don't have all the sponsors in yet so I won't tell you my grand total until then. However, I made sure you guys got some credit! I displayed a sign thanking all my supporters and 'the gapyear.com community' was on it! When I got back from Italy, I was really chuffed to see I've been nominated member of the month! I was really happy and kept telling everyone! Sad, huh?

Well, I'd better go. I'm back at work tomorrow and I still haven't unpacked. Enjoy the pictures, I hope no one gets sick looking at them!

 

30th June 2005

Whatcha Peeps!

How's everyone doing? I thought I'd better take a minute to update my diary as I've finished counting out all the money raised and I have a grand total!!! When I started this fundraiser, my one wish was to raise over £100. I didn't care if it was just over £100, I wanted to raise at least that. Well, the grand total was alot better than that! From the catfood fundraiser alone, I raised a grand total of £1,238.66 plus two euros and a shilling! I was so pleased with it! I never thought I'd raise that much from just sitting in a bath of gross stuff for an hour!

I spent an hour with a calculator yesterday pulling together all my figures. I counted the money I have in my bank account, the money I got in my wage packet this month plus all my fundraiser cash (£1,238!!!) When I started this diary, my figure to raise was £5,298. I've added to that every month from my wages at work and now I've got my last pay packet, I worked out I made £5,258! I was £40 out! It's really annoying to fall so short of the target by such a small amount. I can't think of any way to make that up now, either. I've sold practically everything I own, I'm all done at work, I'm pretty much fundraised out.....If I get a chance, I may try some facepainting to make it up.

Talking of facepainting, we had a family BBQ the other day and I facepainted my little cousin, Reece. I didn't charge him for it (he's family), but I should be able to use the photos I took as advertising. Of course, after facepainting Reece as a tiger, I had to spend the rest of the BBQ running from "Tiger Reece" but it was fun! I love that kid! He's so well behaved!

It's my day off tomorrow which is really lucky for me as I have a ton of things to do! I've made a list and I'm working my way through it. The next big thing to do is get my currency. Hey, this is weird, I'm off to Africa so I have to get currency in American Dollars! How strange is that? Quite lucky though, as travel agents always have a supply of American Dollars. It'll take me a while to pull all my cash together though! I have some in the bank, some in my secret stash in the house and £107 in pennies! Plus I have a couple of cheques so I'm going to have to stick the whole lot in my bank tomorrow and wait for it to clear. I need to photocopy all my documents and get some passport photos, my sleeping bag needs a wash and (this isn't a very important one but...) I want to organise which CD's I'm taking with me. In fact, I can do that now!

Hah! Done it! How quick am I? Yikes, doing that makes it seem alot closer suddenly. Oooh, here's a tip for you. If you have alot of albums you want to take with you but maybe you don't like all the songs, copy them over onto one CD. It saves alot of room! Of course, most people are probably way ahead of me in the technology field and all have mini disk players which makes my tip archaic.

Right, well, only 16 days now until I fly out! Only 8 days left at work!

Talking of work, they're keeping my job open for me so I'll have an income as soon as I get home! That's really good of them but I think they only keep me around for entertainment purposes! I'm always doing stupid things. My latest is I ironed my work fleece and there's now a big iron burn on the back (it also fluffed up the iron! I had to clean it with Cif!) The other day, I was at work for all of five minutes minutes before breaking the till. One of my managers, Adam, called me "problem child". Plus there's the innumerable times I've walked into doors, shut myself in the freezer, tripped over stock, come in for the wrong shifts, sat in catfood on the forecourt..... Problem Child is only one of my nicknames at work! Others are "Phoebe" (from Friends) and "Buck Rogers" (I'm kinda outdated in my musical tastes and, well, everything really!)

I've learnt two things from this fundraiser - 1) I'm allergic to catfood if I sit in it for an hour (it brings me up in a rash) and 2) People are fantastic! I really couldn't have done thins without you guys! I know I've said that alot but it's true! Thankyou soooo much and to show my appreciation, I've included a pic of the board I displayed on the day. Spot yourselves!

Well, I'd better go. It's getting late and I need my bed.

I've included a few more pics from the fundraiser so hope you like them!

Ooooh, one more thing before I go. The new Harry Potter book is out the day I fly so me and my mate, Bex and workmate Louise (yeah, Lou, you're named and shamed!) are going up to Tescos at midnight on that day to get it! How sad are we! At least I'll have something to read on the plane!

Okay, I really am going now!

Bye!

Tori

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