#THANKFULTHURSDAY - A big shout out to our community fundraisers
#THANKFULTHURSDAY - A big shout out to our community fundraisers
This week’s #ThankfulThursday is a huge thank you to all of our community fundraisers. It’s a thank you to everyone who has done something to raise vital funds for The Mintridge Foundation or is planning to do so. Whether this is by running a half marathon, cycling 100 miles in the RideLondon-Surrey 100 (sponsor Norm here), rowing the Atlantic, running a pub quiz, attending one of our events or donating directly via our website or Facebook.
Without you all going above and beyond, we wouldn’t be able to inspire as many young people as we do every year and we cannot express our gratitude enough!
For those of you who want to get involved but who think that rowing the Atlantic might be a little impractical for you to achieve, there is a way you can raise funds whilst also getting active, all without costing you a penny.
Fit4Change’s aim is to make donating to your chosen charity an easy part of your daily routine, whether that be training for that marathon, walking the dog or popping to the shop. All you need to do is download the app, choose the Mintridge Foundation as your chosen charity and then select your activity. Whether you are running, cycling or walking, you can raise 5p per mile which comes from the revenue raised through advertising on the app.
As a charity who aims to promote and active lifestyle and positive mental health, we, at Mintridge, would love their app even if it wasn’t also raising valuable funds.
The evidence to support the positive impact of an active lifestyle on mental health is plentiful and government advice is that the average adult should do between 75 and 150 minutes exercise per week to reap the positive effects on their wellbeing, both mentally and physically. This doesn’t have to be at a gym or an exercise class, it could be a walk to the park, and it has been proven to reduce stress, improve alertness, increase self-esteem, relieve stress, impact depression and anxiety and prevent dementia and cognitive decline!
Team that with the increasing evidence about the impact of being outdoors (typically described as being in an open and undeveloped space, including urban parks) having a positive impact upon your mental well-being and it becomes a no-brainer. In one study, they found that being in a green space significantly reduces people’s salivary cortisol, which is a psychological marker of stress.
We’ve done some quick maths in Mintridge HQ. An average adult walks between 3 and 4 miles per hour which means that you would cover 10 miles a week (if you were walking quickly) in the recommended 150 minutes of exercise per week. Using the Fit4Change app, you would raise £26 for the Mintridge Foundation… and that’s just through walking for just over 20 minutes a day!
Throw in a long Sunday dog walk with your family and a Park Run on Saturdays with friends and the total will just keep going up. In fact, exercising with friends and family is suggested to be more motivational, a great way to spend quality time together and sets a great example to children who are reportedly becoming less and less active.
Getting into the habit of exercising on a daily basis can seem hard, but that’s where #MovingMarch comes in. We are encouraging everyone to run, walk or cycle at least 1 mile every day in March. This will only take up a tiny fraction of your day but will be a big step in developing the habit of exercising daily for your physical and mental well-being.
The added bonus is that, if you use the Fit4Change app whilst doing your daily mile, over the course of March you will raise £1.55 for The Mintridge Foundation. That may not seem like much but, if every one of our 1396 Twitter followers travels a mile a day in March for Mintridge, it will raise £2163.80. If they all keep that habit up for a year the figure climbs to £25,965.60! That’s enough to fund our Bronze programme in 51 schools!
So, you can improve the impact of your physical and mental wellbeing whilst also promoting the positive impact of an active lifestyle and sporting role models in schools through funding our programmes too. Now that is some serious multitasking!
Visit https://www.fit4change.com/ to download the app and start donating to The Mintridge Foundation today, even if it’s just when you’re popping to the corner shop because you’ve ran out of milk. Or, if you are feeling inspired to undertake a bigger challenge to support The Mintridge Foundation, whether that’s running a half marathon or making a floral crown with Pickleberry Flowers, take a look at our ‘Support Us’ page and get involved! Just remember to turn Fit4Change on when you’re out doing those training runs.