the 5k giveaway

http://beta.theconch.com/content/text/if-i-had-the-money--931

If I had the money ...

What I'd do with the wonga if I won the 5K giveaway.

I've put alot of thought into this!

My first thought was obvious; if I won the 5K I'd put it towards my next adventures to faraway climes, using it to cut short the long months of saving it's gonna take to get me there, so that I could sack off Blighty immediately and head straight off to my next stops. First for me would be a serious Yoga course, rising at 4am for meditation and looking out at the mountains everyday in India. It would be a soul cleansing trip and a dream to study Yoga seriously in it's country of origin. I would follow this by a bit of Southern Indian beach life for good measure...

But the big trip, and the place that has captured my imagination and held it for some years - would be Latin America. I'm particularly interested in Chile, Argentina, Peru and then way up in Central America, Guatemala. The Mayans, The Incas, the Amazon, the Andes, Patagonia, and on and on and on ... volunteering, hiking, teaching english, salsa-ing, tango-ing, snowboarding and travelling. The landscapes and possibilities for adventuring are endless. This is the continent I am particularly fascinated by.

During both of these trips, I'd also be doing a bit of research. This is because my dream (along with millions of others out there...) is to write a book. I have the outline of a novel in my mind which you could call a postmodern, coming of age novel. Centred around the life of a 'struggling' young artist of the wannabe-Beat generation and our contemporary, bohemian middle class. As a young woman who has lost her 'artistic vision' she goes on a journey in order to regain it - via experiences amongst 'the common man', with hallucinogenic substances and spiritual enlightenment ... not necessarily in that order. This mammoth undertaking would be intended as a comment on the comforts and confusions of our life of choice in the First World (and the joke's also on me by the way.)

So now I've bored you with that, I'm actually going to say that I've now decided I wouldn't use the money in the afore-mentioned way. For a few reasons - I'm nowhere near novel writing standard yet and I'm actually currently much more interested in poems! But also, I'm now working in a school for AimHigher and doing some part time Youth Work, and I want to give it a while at home to see how I go before I head off again. So then I thought, well hell, I could use the cash to fund several nice trips in my school holidays. Snowboarding in Canada at Easter, six weeks Yoga and hiking in India or snowboarding and wildlife spotting in South America in summer - perhaps a writing course squished in one half term?! Ahh, the luxury of it. Not to mention all the new kit to go with the trips. Sounds like heaven, and all for free! I could go parachuting, climbing and all that shizz on weekends. It'd make for an action packed 2010!

However I've finally realised what it is I'd really like to do with the pennies, if they are by some miracle awarded to me. I currently work for a local charity as a Youth Worker and this experience has been inspiring me more week by week. As I said before, I believe in DIY and would love to utilise my enthusiasm to set something up for the young 'uns - something involving adventure sports ideally, since we all know what valuable experiences these can offer for disaffected and/or disadvantaged individuals. I know the original idea of the giveaway was to give one person a giant leap forward in their chosen sport, but how about giving lots of young people a small but invaluable leap forward in theirs?

Not so long ago I heard about a charity in London that funds trips to the mountains for inner city kids, and I'm now dreaming about setting up something along those lines for kids from my (slightly grim - if you've got a neg head on!) Northern town! It rains, it pours, it's grey and there isn't alot of opportunity. Though the hills round these parts are beautiful, it's not that cool to a teenager and few of them are brought up in the outdoors. If you award me the 5K in the giveaway I would love to use it as the start up of a charity whose eventual aim is to send local Yorkshire youths on trips of a lifetime to learn to ski or snowboard in the mountains!! It wouldn't be easy (might even at times feel like boot camp), but it would be an amazing opportunity and learning curve for kids who might never otherwise have the opportunity.

I realise that this project would involve work for me (and even further fundraising for extra costs - travel and so on), but it's something I feel so passionate about. Inclusion and opportunity, fun and progression leading to self-belief through the great outdoors! Cheesy but I'm a huge believer. This 5K would enable me to start small, setting up trips to the Manchester climbing wall, windsurfing, hiking or parachuting for kids from the school and/or charity I work at. Perhaps three initial projects - one for the school, one for AimHigher aimed at raising aspirations, and one for Himmat which is the local charity I work for? It's all hypothetical right now, but I'm getting excited just thinking about it! Surely there can be no better use for the money than to give it to someone who will use it for the good of young people?! They are the future of adventure sports, as they are the future of everything.

I have my fingers and toes crossed that I will be given this chance to start something positive for my community. Even if it's only a short project for the duration of three trips, I think it would be so worthwhile. We could call it The Conch Project! It would generate interest in the media which would be beneficial for everyone involved. If you have any doubts about my abilities to follow through on this commitment, please check out my previous project (www.shestyles.co.uk ... google or facey us for further info). This was a not for profit event that was conceived of, organised and executed purely for the love of it. The event was hugely successful, professional and a credit to ourselves and our brand partners. This kind of mutually beneficial use of the cash is what I would like to see. I hope you share my vision!

With much love, peace and hope for the future of adventuring,

Izzy Brittain xxx
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Author
shestyles

Screen name
shestyles
Age
24 years old
Location
Halifax, United Kingdom

Tags

* adventure
* charity
* travel
* progression
* fun
* youths
* money
* enjoyment
* inclusion

http://blog.theconch.com/2010/01/28/we-have-a-winner/

pretty amazing eh?!