Bristol Kite Festival, Fundraising, needs your help !
Dear kite flyer/kite group,
I am writing to see if you or your club/group might be able to help support this year’s Bristol International Festival of Kites and Air Creations which is due to take place over the weekend of 12 & 13 September.
Background:
Plans are going well - exhibitors and traders are confirming and invitations are going out to kite guests. But this year is proving really tough for everyone, and businesses and organisations are just not spending on marketing or sponsoring events. The bottom line is that to go ahead we need to raise at least £10,000 to fund essential on site infrastructure and cover the costs of flyers and participants - or else we may have to cancel.
We have launched a special fundraising campaign aimed at businesses, the kite industry, kite enthusiasts/clubs/societies and the public. We are fortunate to have strong local, national and international support for the Festival, and hope that by offering opportunities for businesses and individuals we can raise much needed funds, and at the same time supporters can benefit from being a part of our Festival.
The Festival was started by Martin Lester, myself and another colleague and is still organised and run by a small team of local flyers on a voluntary basis. It has become a major event in the South West and is well known within the international kite world. The Festival pulls in crowds of over 30,000 people and last year we had peaks of over 2,200 daily hits to the Festival website and were thrilled that both BBC Blue Peter and Channel 4’s Scrap Heap Challenge filmed over the weekend.
So how you can help!
We have three packages for businesses, organisations and/or individuals: Gold (£1,000), Silver (£500) and Bronze (£50). In addition, local people are invited to get behind the event by becoming a Friend of the Festival for a donation of £20. In return for their donation all supporters will receive a commemorative Bristol Blue Glass kite-themed coaster being created especially for the Festival.
Supporters who take up one of the top three packages can benefit from promotional and corporate opportunities providing publicity and profile in the run up to the Festival, and also have the chance to get involved during the weekend. Gold supporters will have their own branded Japanese kite made and flown in the kite fighting battles and have an opportunity to fly some of the stars of the show. Silver supporters will see their names flying high on an air banner attached to one of the large special shape kites. Bronze supporters will be thanked publicly at the festival and have their names included on the Bristol 2009 Serpent kite which will be displayed and flown at the Festival and afterwards by Avon Kite Flyers Club.
I am contacting you to see if you can help support us. I would also be grateful if you could spread the word and forward this message on to any of your friends or contacts who might also be interested. Would you also be able to post this message on your club newsletter or add it to your website if you have one?
We have given ourselves a month to see if we can secure some support. If there isn’t a realistic chance of covering our costs or underwriting the event in some way, we will have to make the difficult decision to cancel this year’s Festival, in which case we would of course refund any pledges made. Cancelling would be a huge disappointment to all our flyers, exhibitors and our new nominated charity Marie Curie Cancer Care, as well as the many members of the public who come along every year and join in the fun. We are determined to do everything we can to go ahead this year and also to make it to 2010 - which will not only mark our 25th year but also give us the chance to join in the exciting celebrations for the Bristol Year of Flight.”
If you can help, please visit www.kite-festival.org.uk/friends-of-the-festival or make a cheque payable to: Bristol Kite Festival and post to c/o Festival Office, 5 Lilymead Avenue, Bristol BS4 2BY. If the Festival is cancelled all donations will be refunded.
For any sponsorship enquiries or fundraising ideas please do contact me
Thank you very much
Avril Baker
Festival office
5 Lilymead Avenue BRISTOL BS4 2BY
email: kites [at] abc-pr.co (dot) uk
tel: 0117 977 2002
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