As the year turns on its axis once again all I can think about at the moment is please, please, please let the ceasefire in Syria hold. What the Syrian people and all refugees have had to endure over the past few years is beyond shameful, and the fighting needs to STOP. We are all part of the same human family, are we not? Stop the fighting, the killing, the detonating of bombs, the helplessness, the despair. Let these be our watchwords for the year ahead:

Help, Share, Give, Enable, Communicate, Understand.

We can all do our bit, and to that end I'm going to invite my friends to join me in what I believe will be a fun way to raise money for charitable causes. 

I'm calling it the £20 Challenge.

We will all start with a single £20 note, and using that money will, over the course of one year, try and generate as much money as we can using our creative skills and ingenuity, and pledge that at the year's end we will donate whatever sum we have managed to raise to a charity of our choosing. It can become a bit of a competition between friends if you like. Would you like to take part in the £20 Challenge too?

That initial £20 could be engaged in the simple buying and selling on of an object, or if you are creative £20 could buy some fabric and some buttons and some pads to make cushion covers, and they could be sold to make a profit. If you are good at baking, then some of the £20 could buy the ingredients to bake a cake or scones to sell at a produce market; or invite family/friends round for a meal but ask guests to pay for their food; the equivalent of what it would have cost them to eat out at a restaurant or pub. Or make greetings cards and sell them to your friends; the possibilities are endless! As your pot of money grows you will have more funds to invest in money-making ideas. Sometimes you may not make much of a profit, but it will all contribute to the growing fund. It will involve keeping an accurate record of exactly what you buy and sell, and how much money you have made as you go along. I just wonder how much can actually be generated from one £20 note in the course of a year......

So, are you up for the challenge?
I will post regularly through the year on how we progress with the challenge, and I would love it if you shared your experience too.
I wish you all a very Happy New Year!
xxx