I CAME RUNNER-UP IN THE JUSTTEXTGIVING COMPETITION!!! (Day 90)

130 today, but that's not the big news.

I have won a £200 donation to my fundraising efforts with the video which Ursie made and the Bombers starred in (lets not beat around the bush here, I basically got in the way and agreed with everyone else's suggestions. I'm not particularly creative.)

This video, in case you'd forgotten.


So it didn't get the most views (and I was never really expecting it to, as I entered the competition late and the winning entry got over 5000 views, compared to my 301). But there were two runners up prizes, each winning a donation of £200, which were judged by people from the world of philanthropy, and my video was one of them.

Hugh was on justgiving-watch today, as I was at work and so couldn't check my emails. When I got off shift to see that I had 9 missed calls from him, I immediately jumped to the worst possible conclusion (me being my mother's daughter), and I decided that he'd been in a car crash at the paramedics were trying to get hold of me. Thankfully not :-)

So thank you very, very much to my award winning director, Ursie, as well as all of the Bombers (and not forgetting Hugh's mum and Bombers coach, Jill) who took part in the video and have supported me throughout. And especially Hugh who is my support group.

The email which JustGiving sent wasn't just to me, so I have attached it below so that everyone can read :-)

Hi Alex and the Bury Bombers Wheelchair Basketball Club,

Just wanted to congratulate you on being runners-up in the JustTextGiving video competition! Our judges loved the quality and originality of your video entry, which has earned TAG a £200 donation from us!

I’ve also put up a blog post about the winners and added some tips for video fundraising, from our competition judges.

http://blog.justgiving.com/community/justtextgiving-video-competition-winners/

Take care, and well done. Your efforts clearly paid off :)

Cheers,

Tal

The video also gets a special mention in the blog in the judges' tips for video fundraising.


Ross McCulloch: “Involve your beneficiaries where possible, it’s why the wheelchair basketball one worked so well.”

6137 down, 3069 to go.

Day 89

Did 130 today. I'm trying to get in lots of lengths this week while I'm not doing a particularly long working week so that I can catch up on the deficit.

6007 down, 3199 to go (tomorrow I shall be over 2/3!!)

Day 86

Hello everyone!! I did 16 lengths on Thursday (naughty!! But I had a v hard fitness session at staff training and I was soo sore). 140 yesterday (aiming for a little more but I had to play a lovely game of hide and seek trying to find my swimming costume which I had left to dry after my swim that morning and someone put in lost property. My own fault, shouldn't've left it lying around!). I did 100 this afternoon too :-)

5877 down, 3329 to go.

Day 83

I did 100 today, at Newmarket. I feel so dirty!! But it went well and I feel good :-)

5621 down, 3585 to go.

Day 82

So 102 today (Forgot to stop at 100. Would have done 110 but the pool closed) and 16 in my lunch break yesterday when I needed to blow off some steam due to annoying kids!!

I shall be being radical and trecherous and swimming at Newmarket leisure centre tomorrow. I'll actually have to pay for swimming!! On the plus side, I only know 3 of the lifeguards, so there'll be fewer chances to chat like I do at bury.

5521 down, 3685 to go (in exactly one month. I better get swimming!)

Day 80

Sorry there's been a lack of blog for a few days, I've been working lots. But I shan't be working at the pub any more as I'll be getting ready for uni, so I'll have more time.

I've done 100 lengths everyday except yesterday, when I only did 90 before he pool closed.

Today some girls decided to do some swimming with me for moral support, which was great. Thank you to them, though I doubt they'll read this!!

Neil at the pub gave me another £5 today. Thank you :-)

5403 down, 3803 to go.

Day 76

Again I left my yesterday-blog at the sports centre.
I did 100 lengths today, in two parts as my morning swim was interrupted by the fire alarm and as a member of staff (even off-shift) I had to help evacuate in my swimming costume.

This now means I've done over 5000 lengths, and by Saturday I'll have less than 4000 to swim. It's all good :-)

Day 75

So I handwrote a lovely blog for you today after my swim and was going to scan in all three pages of it tonight so you could read it. However I left the paper in my locker at work so you'll just have to wait until tomorrow. I shan't tell you anything else, other than that I did my 100. You shall have to wait.

Day 74

So, this won't be a long one as I wrote one earlier. I did 100 this afternoon after work. It felt a lot better than yesterday :-)

Day 73

I'm back people!! Did 100 lengths last night. It's suprising how much a week off can affect you! I felt like a baby giraffe who hasn't quite managed to coordinate their limbs enough to walk properly. On the plus side, I'm not hurting too much this morning, which I feared I would.

France was lovely, we went to see the Bayeux tapestry, where there were steps to get in, which is a problem as we were with Hugh. So we went round the back and skipped all of the queues :-)
We also went to the Normandy beaches. I was there before, but it was 10 years ago. I didn't really 'get' the war side of it. To me, it was a bit like tellytubby land, with all of the bomb craters and bunkers. This time I got what it was all about.

I hope you're all well. Don't forget to keep watching my video! The closing date is a week tomorrow.

4713 down, 4493 to go

Day 62

Did 60 this morning- not 100 because I did backstroke whereas I normally do frontcrawl.

There shan't be a blog for just over a week now as I shall be on holiday and not thinking at all of swimming (except in the sea)

Toodles xxx

Day 61

Sorry there's been no blog for a week. I've been crazy-busy working and getting ready for our holiday to Normandy on Friday.

So, what have I done on the swimming front this week? I've swum 301 lengths since the last blog, which I'm really disappointed in. I wasn't well at the end of last week, nor today, and Friday and Saturday I was working the entire time that the pool was open.

I did none Thursday (ill), Friday (working) or Saturday (working), 100 Sunday, 50 Monday, 111 yesterday and 40 today.

I'm hoping that the week off will help. I ache all over, especially my back and shoulders. I'm also exhausted with all of this working and swimming. A week away from the pool should do me good!

I also wrote a load of letters and took them in (with Carli's help) to local businesses. Today I got a reply from Denny Bros containing a cheque for £50, which is fantastic. This means that I am 75% of the way to £1500!! Thank you to everyone who has sponsored me so far, and if you haven't, please can you? You can do it online at www.justgiving.com/alex-mccourt1.

And don't forget to watch my video on the right :-)


4553 down, 4653 to go