Many thanks those of you who have made the first donations to the Challenge. We have already received £375 (updated 14.3.17) and we hope to raise a minimum of £5,000 before the end of the year – we are optimistic as there will be a lot going on!

It is important to us that we make the most of your donation, giving the smallest possible amount to the money grabbing banks and organisations that get involved!

Unfortunately, unless we collected all donations personally and kept them under the bed until we give out our grants, however hard we have tried, a small percentage of your donation, may go in bank charges – although the bank says that it does not make charges on the particular account that we hold.  Confused? so are we!

We are still learning about Charity Choice, the website where you can donate to the Trust to take part in the Challenge.  It is cheap and cheerful, beside its better known rival site, JustGiving, but as a result more of the money donated goes to our charity.  It also seems to be a little less user friendly, and so far less appears on the “barometer” than has actually been raised.  I think we have now cracked this, and hope that all donations made through the link above (and other links we have created) should appear in the Appeals barometer.

Please note – in order for The Neil Mackenzie Trust to benefit fully from your donation:

1. Donate through Charity Choice, not CAF Donate (unless you are a CAF Donate account holder) or donate directly into our bank account or send us a cheque (ask for details)
2. Donate using a debit card, and opt to pay the 25p charge, yourself. (Personal credit cards cost 10p + 1.4% either to you or to the Trust).
3. If appropriate, UK tax payers should tick the Gift Aid box.  (If this is not yet available you will be contacted in due course by either us or the charity to sign up for GiftAid)

2017 Bell’s Bothy Challenge is a worldwide event. It is a “positive challenge” for anyone who wants to challenge themselves, improve the environment, meet and make friends, raise money for the Trust, and help to publicise the Trust by encouraging donations and posting on the blog.

It works on a donate to participate or sponsorship basis.  If your challenge involves sponsorship, why not become a fundraiser – it should make it easy for your sponsors to donate? To do this, visit our Charity Choice page, scroll down on the right hand side and click “fundraise for us”.

We really appreciate your help, and hope that the Challenge will be fun and rewarding for you.  Our strapline is “fun to donate, fun to participate, fun to benefit”.  Neil was full of fun, and we want donors, participants and beneficiaries to continue to have fun in his memory!