About Me
My name’s Mohammed and I, alongside my friends Ammaar, Saad and Zeyad, am an aspiring medical student. I was interested to hear about a charity dedicated to supporting disadvantaging medical students to excel within their studies, despite financial struggles.
I wanted to fundraise for the RMBF because I have witnessed in my own community how many medical students struggle with the financial aspects of university and the course in general. Seeing this made me want to cause change, even if it is minimal.
The event
After talking through ideas with the group, we decided to hold a sweet sale at our high school and sixth form. We thought it would be fun for other students and would help us to develop our problem-solving skills through organising the finances and logistics of an entrepreneurial event.
Partway through, we realised that our initial estimations of the cost of running the fundraiser were incorrect. This meant we needed to reduce the number of bags we initially aimed to create. Though at first this was daunting, we appreciated that this hitch allowed us to experience that projects have unexpected problems.
We all felt like this was the first time we were hands on in solving a practical problem. Through altering our techniques, we were able to raise £355!
What we enjoyed
Our friendships were strengthened by coordinating this fundraiser together. We all enjoyed working as a team and coordinating with each other, as well as interacting with people.
We particularly enjoyed talking to students who were asking about our motivations and were interested in hearing about the RMBF. We felt this was an opportunity to spread the important beliefs of the RMBF.
What we would say to other aspiring medics
To aspiring medical students who are interested in running their own fundraiser, our advice is to be flexible to changes. Accept the fact that no matter how detailed your plans are, there will be issues and roadblocks that you will need to manoeuvre around.
At the end of the journey, you will realise that these problems were the most useful aspect of running your own fundraiser, allowing you to think critically and collaboratively.
Thank you Mohammed, Ammaar, Zeyad and Saad for all your efforts planning such a fantastic sweet sale. Your fundraising can help change the course of a medical student’s life- thank you.