Welcome to Team CRY
We are so grateful you have chosen to run for CRY in the London Marathon 2024.
Here is everything you need to get started with important information for the event, fundraising, social media, volunteering and paying in donations.
Please read through each section carefully, and visit the links for all raising awareness materials, CRY merchandise and social media templates ready for you to use.
If you need further supplies of anything such as: collection boxes; banners; a fundraising pack, or if you have any questions please call the CRY office or email [email protected].
Sponsor Forms
• Additional sponsorship forms can be obtained by contacting the CRY office, and we advise you to carry a copy with you everywhere. You never know who you might bump into!
• Handing out sponsor forms to your family, friends and colleagues encourages them to ask their friends and work colleagues to sponsor you/them.
• It is always helpful if your first sponsor is generous as others are then more inclined to follow suit.
• It is a good idea to collect sponsorship upfront rather than wait until after the event. You can send your money in to CRY in as and when you collect it if you wish, but please do let us know if you are expecting to send in more.
Gift Aid
Don’t forget to ask your sponsors to complete their full name, home address and postcode and tick the gift aid box on the sponsor form (if they are UK tax payers). It does not cost them any more but will enable CRY to claim tax at the basic rate of income tax on all eligible donations. If they use their work address we cannot make a claim on their donation. Gift Aid declarations cannot be made on corporate donations, donations using company/business cheques or donations made using CAF cheques.
Companies
Ask your boss to sponsor you. He/she may also suggest other companies that would be interested in sponsoring you. Many employers will match what you raise £ for £ or make a donation for displaying their logo on your t-shirt.
Gaining Sponsorship Online
JustGiving is a simple and easy way to gain sponsorship online. Just set up a page then e-mail the link to everyone you know. This will save a lot of time collecting the money after the event as it is all done online. Please see above for details of how to set up a page.
Don’t Wait
The longer you have to raise funds, the better. So as soon as you receive your sponsor form or set up your Just Giving page, let everyone know. If they are going on holiday, ask them before they go.
Be Bold
Don’t be worried about asking people to sponsor you. Most of them will be more than happy to support a good cause. If they can pay upfront it is so much easier than having to chase them afterwards.
Organise an Event
Organise your own event to raise money towards your sponsorship if you don’t feel able to ask people to sponsor you.
If you are planning to raise funds, we recommend using Just Giving, a global online social platform for giving.
Make a page and share it online with your family and friends. Anyone can donate with a credit/debit card from anywhere in the world. Just Giving sends your donations straight to CRY and you can opt-in for Gift Aid (on eligible donations).
How to create your page
1. Go to https://www.justgiving.com/
2. Click ‘Start Fundraising’
3. You will be asked if you are fundraising for a charity or for your own cause. If you wish for the money you raise to go directly to CRY, click ‘A Charity’.
4. It will then ask you to log in. Either enter your existing details or register for an account.
5. You will then be taken to a search tool where you can enter ‘Cardiac Risk in the Young’ as shown below. Select the top choice.
6. Then you can select what type of event and/or fundraising that you are doing. For example, “Remembering someone” or “Taking part in an event”.
7. Depending on what you select, you will be asked to fill in further details.
8. After that, you can click “Create Your Page” and your page is created!
If you still need help, feel free to contact the fundraising team in the CRY office on 01737 363222 or by email: [email protected].
Personalising your page
You can personalise your page to suit your requirements. You can add a message, photos, videos and set a fundraising target. It is also possible to share a link to your page on social media. If you would like your page to be in memory of someone, please state this in the text and description on the page.
Share your page:
The more you tell people about your page, the more donations you’ll attract…
• Send an email to friends, family, colleagues and so on, telling them about the event you are doing, and include the web address of your Just Giving page. Email the link for your fundraising page to everyone in your address book.
• Promote your fundraising page on the social networking site of your choice and via your blog if you have one.
• Keep your friends, family and contacts updated on your progress with regular emails. Remind them to donate if they haven’t already.
Social Media
Social media is always a great way to garner support for your fundraising, and raise awareness of the reasons you are running in the London Marathon for CRY.
On this page you will find social media post ideas, and CRY’s key messages ready to share to family and friends on your social media pages.
Don’t forget to tag us in your posts using #TeamCRY #RaisingAwareness
Raising awareness in the media
Many of you will be able to raise awareness of your reasons for supporting CRY in the media. If you would like to share your training experience with us, we would love to hear from you.
The CRY Press Office is managed by Trinity Public Relations who have been working with CRY for over 10 years. If you would like help with press coverage, please contact Jo Hudson on 020 7112 4905 or via [email protected] ’.
If you are running in someone’s memory and they have a memorial fund at CRY, the money raised can be shown on the fund. However, the London Marathon is a core fundraising event for CRY, and all money raised with a CRY place will go towards our core funding initiatives. It is, therefore, not possible to allocate sponsorship money raised with CRY places to ringfenced memorial funds.
If you have your own place in the event, any funds raised in memory of someone with a memorial or ringfenced fund, will be allocated in their memory.
For any queries about memorial funds, please contact the CRY office on 01737 363222.
PLEASE NOTE: IMPORTANT INFORMATION
We are increasingly being approached by supporters who have heart conditions or have a family history of heart conditions and who also want to undertake physical challenges to raise funds and awareness for CRY.
As a cardiac charity, CRY takes the health of supporters taking part in physical activities for us very seriously (Physical activities include runs, parachute jumps, overseas treks, cycle rides, etc) To this end, CRY offers cardiac screening free of charge to all supporters aged between 14 and 35 and who are taking part in a physical event to fundraise for CRY. Please call the CRY office on 01737 363222 for more details.
If you have a cardiac condition
If you have been diagnosed with a cardiac condition, we advise that you speak to your consultant cardiologist to check that they are happy for you to participate in the desired activity (e.g. half marathon, marathon, parachute jump, etc)
If you have a cardiac condition and are not currently under cardiological care, please call CRY on 01737 363222. We will then forward details of how to be referred to a specialist.
CRY reserves the right to seek further advice from its doctors and, based on their recommendations, advise you not to take part in a physical activity, if necessary. If you would still like to take part, it will be at your own risk.
If you have a family history of cardiac conditions that can cause young sudden cardiac death
If you have a family history of such conditions and are under cardiological care, we advise that you speak to your consultant cardiologist to check that they are happy for you to participate in the desired activity (e.g. half marathon, marathon, parachute jump, etc).
After a young sudden cardiac death all first degree blood relatives should be referred to a specialist unit where a series of tests will be offered, including ECG, ECHO/ultrasound and exercise testing.
Sometimes there will be further tests including MRI, ajmaline and genetic testing.
If you have a family history of such conditions and have not been referred to a consultant cardiologist for assessment, please call CRY on 01737 363222. We will then forward details of how to be referred to a specialist.
If you are in any doubt about your health, please ensure that you speak to your GP before
engaging in any physical activities
If any of your friends or family are interested in volunteering on the day to cheer on the team, please ask them to email [email protected] for a cheerers pack and for further details.
