Hi everyone, my name is Kayleigh Fong and I am a Year 11 student studying in Wales.
Why I wanted to fundraise
It all started when I saw the book Also Human: The Inner Lives of Doctors lying on the bookshelf in the local library. As an aspiring medic, it pained me to learn of the terrible misfortunes that some doctors and medical students have to go through. Soon after I finished the book, I attended a Medic Mentor Virtual Medical Society meeting where I learned about the RMBF and the amazing work it does.
I have always wanted to raise some money for a charity and I realised the RMBF was the perfect choice — with the desperate shortage of staff in the NHS, every doctor should be treasured. I took that as my sign to try and do my part in helping struggling doctors.
The preparation
After I heard about the opportunity to fundraise for the RMBF, the first idea that came to my mind was card sales. I absolutely love drawing and with Christmas and New Year approaching soon, I decided to draw some cards on my iPad and print them out to sell for fundraising. However, my friend reminded me that not a lot of people send cards anymore, so I added an alternative to the cards — bookmarks.
The first step was to get all the designs done. After hours of work, I finally got 2 cards and 5 bookmark designs done. The next step was to get them printed out online. It was much more complicated than I imagined, with the Royal Mail strike and constantly failing printing machines, but when the cards finally arrived, I felt that everything was worth it. The cards and bookmarks were perfect and I felt a rush of indescribable excitement as I held them in my arms and breathed in the scent of freshly printed cards.
The sale
Finally it was the day of the sale. My school had kindly allowed me to set up a table at our school Christmas concert, where lots of parents and teachers attended. I was pleasantly surprised by the number of people who generously bought many cards and I went home with a lovely, heavy bag of funds.
However, one of the most interesting encounters during the sale was a man who donated £10 without taking a single card or bookmark. When I asked why, he simply left the answer that he ‘used to be a struggling medical student too’ and quickly left me shouting thank you after him. It really warmed my heart and made me realise how much charities like the RMBF can change a person’s life. After that heartwarming encounter, I was even more determined to raise more money to help people like him.
Why you should fundraise too
As well as the fulfilment from helping struggling medical students, what I found extremely valuable was the organisation and communication skills I gained throughout the process. It was definitely not easy getting out of my comfort zone to ask so many people that I don’t know to help support the RMBF and buy a card. Even with lots of people rejecting me, the satisfaction when I raised the first pound for the RMBF was beyond what can be described by words.
Organising a fundraising activity for the RMBF was definitely one of the best things I have ever done and it would be amazing if more people would join!
Thank you Kayleigh for your incredible efforts to help doctors and medical students in times of need, we are extremely grateful.