Help us support children in danger

Unicef is the official Clipper 2015-16 Race Charity and also has a team entry which will highlight its projects on our race route around the world. There are many ways you can help us support this international charity alongside the twelve teams of nearly 700 crew participating in our tenth edition.

Race staff and Clipper Race alumni are also fundraising and the support from past crew members has been overwhelmingly positive. Clipper 2013-14 Race round-the-world crew member Sophie Hetherton has just presented an alumni crew donation of £5,000 which has been Gift Aided, bringing the total to £6,250.

Sophie says: “Along with many other Clipper Race crew I have had the opportunity to live my dream and race a yacht around the world. I am very excited to see the partnership come together between the race and Unicef. The children that Unicef help do not have the same opportunities to live their dreams.”

“I hope along with past Clipper Race crews that we can all dig deep and help Unicef raise a lot of money through the 2015-16 race.”

Receiving the donation, Public Fundraising Manager, Marietta Richardson says: “Thank you to all the crew for supporting Unicef to make a safer world for children. The partnership with the race is enabling us to fundraise in a number of different ways and this alumni crew donation is an amazing start.”

Unicef received the donation at St Katharine Docks in front of Tower Bridge where the next race will start on 30 August.

Unicef’s donated yacht entry is skippered by Jim Prendergast and his crew have been working hard to look for innovative ways to fundraise to reflect their race adventure including spinnaker packing challenges and inter-team sports matches in ports around the world.

Everyone can get involved and other top fundraising ideas that can be fitted into everyday life include:

Sponsored events - such as a charity head shave, hair dye, sponsored walk or run
Pay to participate events – such as a charity game of sports, bingo evening, fancy dress day at work or a fun quiz
Auction - yourself to a promise such as babysitting, car washing or ironing. Donate goods of interest to be auctioned silently or selling cakes
Raffle – table raffle, 5050 raffle or basket raffle

Top fundraising tips are:

1.Tell your story – use photos, videos and blogs to let people know why you are supporting Unicef and how they can donate to your online fundraising page. You can share your story with thousands of potential supporters using social media. Post your pictures, videos, blogs and JustGiving page on your Facebook, Twitter or Instagram account.

2. Double your fundraising - Ask your company or business if they have a scheme in place to match the total donations that you raise.

3. Make the news – Contact your local newspaper and radio stations and let them know you're supporting Unicef! Be sure to share your fundraising target and how the money you raise will help protect children in danger all over the world.

You can view our fundraising guide here.

All contributions go towards achieving our overall fundraising target for Unicef of £300,000 – which by illustration could buy all of the following life changing items and services:

200,000 Polio vaccines
50,000 Measles vaccines
5,000 blankets to keep babies warm in hospitals and refugee camps
25,700 mosquito nets to help protect families from malaria-carrying mosquitoes
300 bikes to get children to school
100 schools in a box to provide emergency schooling for 40 children in disasters
64 water pumps to provide clean safe water to entire villages
890 emergency water kits
20 temporary schools or health centres for survivors of natural disasters
1,000 emergency nutrition packs.

To make a donation and view the latest fundraising total, click here.