In Your Shoes - Ailsa Corbett

Ailsa Corbett is the Fundraising Manager for Macmillan Cancer Support in Tayside. Ailsa supports committees, individuals, corporate partners, groups, and associations to fundraise for Macmillan within the local community. Everyday 22 people in the North of Scotland will hear the devastating news they have cancer, Macmillan aim to reach and improve the lives of everyone living with cancer and to inspire millions of others to do the same. It’s a big task and Macmillan can’t do it alone. But there are lots of ways you can get involved, from fundraising, to volunteering and campaigning. Together we are all Macmillan.

We Make a Difference

I started the week off meeting a supporter who is arranging a series of tennis tournaments as fundraising activities, we talked about all the different ways to publicise the event and get more and more people involved, we have arranged a whole host of merchandise and marketing materials that will enable him to maximise his fundraising and make the tournaments a great experience for all involved. I must admit that meeting our supporters is one the best parts of my jobs, I love to hear about different fundraising ideas as well as the fun and benefits that people experience whilst fundraising. Now it’s off to Edinburgh to catch a flight to London; I am spending the next couple of days at our head office taking part in training days.

We Support

Today was spent at our head office (there is an amazing view of the MI6 building from the window of the training room we were in, gutted not to see Mr Bond!) The day was dedicated to learning all about our revised ‘Work and Cancer Toolkit’ and the support on offer from the Macmillan at Work Team. I learned all about how our expert training, guidance and resources can support employers and workplaces to deal with cancer in the workplace. This amazing resource is definitely a tool I will be sharing with businesses and supporters when I am out and about in the community.

We Learn

As I am sure you can imagine Macmillan is a massive organisation, however every effort is made to collaborate on projects whenever possible. This meant that I spent the day with some of our New Business Managers, Corporate Account Managers and our Head of Corporate Strategy learning all about the art of negotiation. There was lots of role play involved which I must secretly admit to enjoying, I always think it’s a great way to learn and build confidence in a skill. The day focused on how we can use negotiation in a mutually beneficial fashion to both Macmillan and our partners to reach our ultimate goal of ensuring that no one faces cancer alone.

We Inspire

Back in Bonnie Scotland today and off to Perth for a day of catch ups and meetings with Volunteers and Committees. I started the day off with a meeting with one of our supporters turned volunteers who in 2014, in one day completed the 5k, 10k, half marathon and marathon at the Edinburgh Marathon festival! As someone who struggles to run to the end of the road I am always in complete awe of anyone who completes a sporting challenge, never mind 4 in one day! Then it was off to meet with the volunteer fundraising committee in Perth; we have hundreds of volunteer fundraising groups and committees spread over the length and breadth of the UK, all of whom are an invaluable asset to Macmillan and continue to raise millions of pounds every year for people affected by cancer. Today’s meeting was to discuss the fundraising events the committee are organising in 2017 and the support I can provide on behalf of Macmillan. I always feel so inspired after catching up with volunteers as their positive approach to fundraising and desire to make difference never ceases to amaze me!

We Grow

After a very busy week spent out about with lovely supporters and colleague’s I am having a much-needed desk day. Lots of emails and admin to catch up with in the morning and then I spent this afternoon prospecting potential partners for Charity of the Year. Since I joined Macmillan I have been working with the wonderful team at Clark Thomson who are set to raise £20k for Macmillan throughout our yearlong partnership. They have raised this through several staff fundraising events such as Coffee Morning, Tough Mudder and Christmas Jumper Day, all of which culminates in a charity ball at the end of May, I must admit I’m rather excited to dust off my ball gown and join in the fun!