Staff, members and friends of Great Yarmouth’s Centre 81 are taking up the charity group's 30th birthday challenge to raise awareness of its work and bring in cash for ambitious development plans.
So many fund-raising events and challenges have been put forward that they are already spilling over into next year.
Among them, Great Yarmouth world champion kick-boxer Bin Tyler pledged to raise money with a sponsored walk in 2013 after opening the Centre 81 Festival last month.
Marian Barrow, a cleaner at the centre which supports people with physical and other disabilities, was among the first to weigh in with £300 she raised simply by highlighting to relatives and friends the work of Centre 81 and asking for donations.
Karen Ridgeon, one of the staff, has a similar target when she and a group of friends set off for an eight-mile sponsored walk on October 26th. Among the walkers will be Centre 81 administrator Mary Frawley who, the following day, intends to lead around seven supporters in a sponsored skydive from about 3000ft over Ellough aerodrome.
Both are side issues from her prime challenge - to hand-knit 30 blankets to sell to raise funds. She's already on her fifth.
Julie Charles, the centre's skills and activities manager, has set herself a challenge of ultimately raising £3,000 from an initial £30 outlay. Her plans include a series of pub events around the town and a special music and dance night at the Cliff Hotel, Gorleston, on February 23rd next year.
Staff member Lisa Cunningham decided to focus on raising awareness of Centre 81 and cycled to more than 30 venues across the borough persuading each to display some of the members' art work.
Meanwhile Mark Weavers, a driver with the centre's door-to-door bus service, has already walked to Snowdon's summit with two friends who now aims to also ‘conquer’ Scafell Pike and Ben Nevis in sponsored climbs next spring.
"All the money is going into a challenge charity fund ready for major development plans to be revealed later this year," said chief executive Diana Staines. “We’ve been overwhelmed by the response and expect to raise many thousands of pounds."
