Young People with Chronic Illnesses
Donation protected
Hi, everyone!
If you're reading this, the chances are that you are either a member of Chill or a friend of mine, so I will write this as such :)
About a year and a half ago I set up Chill to meet other young people with chronic illnesses. I had been effectively housebound since I was eleven, and because of that all but two of my friends was an "online" friend.
Chill meets round the corner from me, so while it isn't far to go in meters it represents a huge step forward. It is a small group that has significantly changed my life. That's all thanks to the people who come to it, some of whom I not only like but now love.
We're all there because we have complex, longterm, and difficult illnesses. Despite that, it rarely feels like an "illness group", if you know what I mean.
I've been paying Chill's fees out of my own pocket. Most people find us through the website Meet Up (for example, we have around 50 members on the Facebook group, but over 100 on the Meet Up group). Meet Up is free to join, but it isn't free to create and keep a group on there. It costs me £126 a year to keep the Chill on Meet Up.
As Meet Up is how most people find us and has proven to be much more effective than Facebook for organising events, I think it is worth the cost - but I could use a little help.
Besides for paying for Meet Up, there are three main things I want to raise money for...
Materials for creative group projects. We are currently working on a patchwork blanket. I paid £25 for the tools and starting materials (anyone who has attempted to crochet a blanket before knows that blankets eat up yarn so I suspect that we're not far from it costing another £25 to help it grow). These materials and the crochet lessons are provided to everyone for free (beginner crochet lessons in Nottingham cost around sixty quid per person).
After we finish the blanket, we'd like to have regular creative group projects going throughout the year, but to make this happen I can't pay for all of it alone. If you can help contribute (or share the link in the hopes that others might contribute), that would be fantastic =) It would mean much more is possible, and we can learn a bunch of new skills.
A perminant Minecraft server. Our Minecraft nights are increasingly popular. Our server is currently run from Sam's computer, which means he has to be online for anyone to be able to go on it. We can certainly buy an independant server that is available for members to use around the clock, but Sam and I would need help paying for it if that were to happen.
It sounds like a small thing, but it is a really nice little way for people to socialise and keep in touch with each other in the group.
Help with travel costs. I'm doing more than I was two years ago, but I am still very ill and spend most of my time in bed. I know there are other people in the group in the same situation. There are people who'd like to come to the group but can't walk, drive, or get the bus to us. If enough people share the link and donate, I will put some of the money raised aside to put in a taxi fund. This will help others get to us.
Pretty much everyone in our group is on benefits (including me), so I understand how precious money is. That said, if you can chip or share this link, I'd be really grateful.
Thank you so much for donating and supporting our group!
If you're reading this, the chances are that you are either a member of Chill or a friend of mine, so I will write this as such :)
About a year and a half ago I set up Chill to meet other young people with chronic illnesses. I had been effectively housebound since I was eleven, and because of that all but two of my friends was an "online" friend.
Chill meets round the corner from me, so while it isn't far to go in meters it represents a huge step forward. It is a small group that has significantly changed my life. That's all thanks to the people who come to it, some of whom I not only like but now love.
We're all there because we have complex, longterm, and difficult illnesses. Despite that, it rarely feels like an "illness group", if you know what I mean.
I've been paying Chill's fees out of my own pocket. Most people find us through the website Meet Up (for example, we have around 50 members on the Facebook group, but over 100 on the Meet Up group). Meet Up is free to join, but it isn't free to create and keep a group on there. It costs me £126 a year to keep the Chill on Meet Up.
As Meet Up is how most people find us and has proven to be much more effective than Facebook for organising events, I think it is worth the cost - but I could use a little help.
Besides for paying for Meet Up, there are three main things I want to raise money for...
Materials for creative group projects. We are currently working on a patchwork blanket. I paid £25 for the tools and starting materials (anyone who has attempted to crochet a blanket before knows that blankets eat up yarn so I suspect that we're not far from it costing another £25 to help it grow). These materials and the crochet lessons are provided to everyone for free (beginner crochet lessons in Nottingham cost around sixty quid per person).
After we finish the blanket, we'd like to have regular creative group projects going throughout the year, but to make this happen I can't pay for all of it alone. If you can help contribute (or share the link in the hopes that others might contribute), that would be fantastic =) It would mean much more is possible, and we can learn a bunch of new skills.
A perminant Minecraft server. Our Minecraft nights are increasingly popular. Our server is currently run from Sam's computer, which means he has to be online for anyone to be able to go on it. We can certainly buy an independant server that is available for members to use around the clock, but Sam and I would need help paying for it if that were to happen.
It sounds like a small thing, but it is a really nice little way for people to socialise and keep in touch with each other in the group.
Help with travel costs. I'm doing more than I was two years ago, but I am still very ill and spend most of my time in bed. I know there are other people in the group in the same situation. There are people who'd like to come to the group but can't walk, drive, or get the bus to us. If enough people share the link and donate, I will put some of the money raised aside to put in a taxi fund. This will help others get to us.
Pretty much everyone in our group is on benefits (including me), so I understand how precious money is. That said, if you can chip or share this link, I'd be really grateful.
Thank you so much for donating and supporting our group!
Organizer
Rosa Davies
Organizer
