The ARCHIE Foundation’s annual Beards for Bairns campaign is back again – and this year they’re asking you to Nominate a Mate and help raise money for Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital.
ARCHIE is asking supporters to nominate husbands, partners, brothers, dads, uncles, cousins and friends to grow a beard from Christmas Day until Burns Night on January 25th.
Head of Fundraising Claire Bush said: ‘This year we are looking to get as many women and children involved as we can. They might not be able to grow their own beards, but they can enlist someone who can with our new Nominate a Mate campaign.’
‘This year’s flyer even has 12 styles of beard to help inspire you. You can tick the style that you’d like your nominee to grow. If they accept your nomination, we ask that you donate £10 to their fundraising efforts. If they turn you down, you can ask them to donate £10 to ARCHIE as a forfeit.
‘Once our participants have registered for Beards for Bairns, they can ask friends and family to sponsor their fuzzy face and raise as much as they can for The ARCHIE Foundation between Christmas and Burns Night. We’ll keep our social media topped up with beard inspiration and motivation to keep you going.’
All the money raised by Beards for Bairns will go towards The ARCHIE Foundation’s work at Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital. As well as capital projects, such as the hospital itself, the gardens and the parents’ lounge, ARCHIE provides overnight accommodation for parents, allowing them to stay close if their child is staying at RACH. They also pay for equipment, advanced staff training and emergency grants for families at the most difficult of times.
Flyers for Beards for Bairns are being handed out at local schools so that children all over Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Orkney and Shetland can get involved by nominating their dads, brothers, uncles and family friends to grow a beard for a month and raise money for RACH.
Local businesses, sports teams and organisations can also take part in Beard Bingo – see how many of the 12 beard styles your group can tick off the chart – maybe if you manage all 12 your boss will double your fundraising amount?
Claire said: ‘Beard growing can get quite competitive- many of our teams enjoy it so much they now take part every year. It is wonderful that they choose to support The ARCHIE Foundation again and again. We’re looking forward to seeing these teams’ efforts once again, as well as signing up lots of new groups.’
To register, simply text ARCHIE to 70660 (standard network rates apply), visit www.beardsforbairns.org.uk or call 01382 496203
The flyers can be downloaded at www.beardsforbairns.org.uk or you can nominate a mate publicly by liking the Facebook page and sharing or tagging the Beards for Bairns posts @thearchiefoundation and don’t forget to share your progress on the page too, or on Instagram @thearchiefoundation and Twitter @ArchieAberdeen with the hashtags #beardsforbairns #nominateamate #beardbingo