A Summer of Fun-draising!

As the year begins to tick over from Summer to Autumn, we’re looking back over the last few months of fundraising which has seen our amazing community raising money for Tiny Changes in so many challenging and amazing ways.

Here are just a few of the people and stories that have inspired us so much in 2024 – and a huge thank you to every single person who continues to support our journey. We couldn’t do it without you.

Back at the very end of April, Jake Bee from Musselburgh ran 30 km in a team relay as part of the Forth Ultra 43 race. Jake said that he’d been inspired to fundraise for Tiny Changes because he’d previously met Scott through music friends and for Christmas the year before his wife had bought him a Tiny Changes tote bag and jumper. “The concept of making tiny changes in young people’s lives became embedded in my teaching practice,” Jake, an Art & Design teacher said. “I can’t inspire everyone but maybe I can make tiny positive changes in their lives.”

After a long and emotional day, Jake crossed the Forth Bridge to complete his run. “I attempted something I previously thought was impossible – but I did it,” he said after the event. “By putting one foot in front of the other and taking each day as it comes, I was able to do an amazing thing.”

We’re always so moved by the personal stories behind people’s fundraising challenges and Claire Todd’s was no exception. As a chef, and a very social person, she found so much of her time was spent around alcohol so she decided to go sober for six months and raise money for her friend Sophie Burt, an amazing person and a hugely important member of the Frightened Rabbit community, who so sadly passed away in October of 2023.

“I lost a very close friend to suicide in October 2023, her name is Sophie Burt,” Claire shared with us. “She was the most beautiful and caring person I ever met. I chose to fundraise for the charity as it only seemed right with the kind of work Tiny Changes is doing.”

Personal closeness to mental health challenges is incredibly prevalent, and it was also something that inspired fundraiser Katie Saker. Having faced her own mental health over the    years, she knew how hard it is to get the right help, and that’s what inspired her to fundraise for Tiny Changes. “I lost my mum suddenly when I was 16 and my life turned upside down,” Kate told us. “My mental health spiralled and it’s taken me a long time to build my life back up to where I am today.”

Kate decided to run 160 km over national dog month, a punishing and extremely courageous personal challenge she completed on her own – apart from occasionally being joined by her mascot, Sammy the dog! 

“One thing that has helped me is helping others,” Katie says. “Running 160km was very challenging but I reminded myself that I can do difficult things. That’s a mantra that has helped me a lot over the years.” Running challenges are something we often see within the Tiny Changes fundraising community – and you might have seen Sean Munro’s incredible recent effort where he ran for 19 hours straight from coast to coast across Scotland. We’ll be sharing more about Sean’s challenge soon.  Every year, and all over the world, we see amazing people raising vital funds for Tiny Changes through completing marathons, half-marathons, 10ks or month-long challenges.

Last year, Lynzie McCuaig raised money for Tiny Changes after swimming 50 miles in a month. In 2024 she returned with a new challenge: to complete 150 km throughout June. Lynzie told us that she’s not naturally a runner, and only started training a couple of weeks before she was due to start the challenge. She also missed a week of running through illness so getting the full 150km completed within the month was a big struggle but one she managed to successfully achieve, like the hero she is! “I’m so glad to have successfully completed the full distance within the month – now I never have to run again,” she joked.

“I first found Tiny Changes as I am a massive Frightened Rabbit fan,” Lynzie told us after the challenge had been completed.”I think supporting young people’s mental health in Scotland is invaluable. Everyone knows someone that has suffered, or is suffering, from some form of poor mental health. If we can help children and young people going through that, hopefully we can help their minds feel better at an earlier stage and make their lives that bit better.”

Another runner we were so inspired by was Stacey Banks, who completed the Great North Run for the fourth time this year, and this time chose to raise funds for Tiny Changes. Stacey only heard about the charity recently, having been introduced to us by her step-brother Kyle Mackay – a name you may well remember from his own amazing fundraising efforts with his Frightened Rabbit inspired prints that he designed and sold in aid of Tiny Changes.

“It was an absolute pleasure to run and raise money for such an amazing charity like Tiny Changes,” Stacey said. “At last year’s run, Kyle came to watch me finish and we got talking about the charity. I was really keen to get involved so I made a promise to him that I would run for Tiny Changes in 2024.”

Stacey was also kind enough to send us some photographs from the finish line of her in a bespoke Tiny Changes t-shirt, alongside a couple of her amazing supporters who had also designed their own amazing supporter tees! “I think it’s amazing what Tiny Changes are doing,” Stacey added, “and I’m delighted that I could be a part of it and hopefully raise awareness for the charity.”

From those that have completed Kiltwalks, marathons, or more unique challenges, we see you and value your incredible efforts so much. We really couldn’t make the tiny – and big – changes to young people’s mental health without your support and it truly means the world to us.

If you are taking on a challenge of your own, or would like to speak to the team about doing so, please do get in touch with us via the contact form. We would love to hear from you and help with your fundraising journey however we can. 

Together, we’ll make tiny changes to Earth.