Michael Joyce
Michael Joyce
Fundraising for Oxfam GB
Story
Hello. My name is Michael Joyce, and I'm mediocre at lots of things, but great at very little, if anything.
In September 2016, I was approached by my colleague Sara-Jayne Boughton, with the opportunity to be on a team with her to tackle a grueling 62 mile/ 100 kilometre walk for charity. I flatly refused. Later that month, I was again asked, this time by another colleague, Al Barber, the exact same question, and this time I thought 'yeah, why not?' and promptly rubbed it in her face that Al was able to convince me, and she wasn't. Since then, the three of us, combined with additional individuals, and the ever eager Obie the Springer Spaniel, have begun our training with ever longer walks through the Cotswolds and surrounding areas, with our fourth team member Rosanna Price soon to be recovered and ready to train too.
It all started as a bit of fun, wandering, chatting, catching Pokémon and what not. However, as time has gone on, it's become more and more apparent that, whilst fun, the main goal of this huge task is so much bigger than all of our individual set backs, be them self doubts, injuries and physical setbacks, or, and certainly in my case, perpetual laziness. I've come to understand that our actions and inevitable physical and mental trauma in doing this team activity in July this year are insignificant in comparison to the constant suffering and pain that the sum of the money we want to raise would help eleviate, even if only to a small extent. The world is a troublesome place, and I consider myself incredibly lucky to have had the opportunities in my life where I could view some bleeding feet and a few days of pain following a long walk to count as personal suffering. That ain't suffering, the people we are raising money for are the ones who are suffering. So please donate, the by-product of you doing so will result in me and some colleagues feeling a bit of discomfort for a while, but the actual main goal of it all, to help those people who truly and desperately need it, is so much more important. Help us do something worthwhile for a change, and I promise I won't complain about the end results of our own attempt to help those who need it so much.
Thanks for taking the time to read my extended ramble, and for visiting my JustGiving page. I'll be grateful for every penny you kind people can offer, and you can be safe in the knowledge that it will mean I will be doing something that I consider to be a bit more than mediocre for a change.
In September 2016, I was approached by my colleague Sara-Jayne Boughton, with the opportunity to be on a team with her to tackle a grueling 62 mile/ 100 kilometre walk for charity. I flatly refused. Later that month, I was again asked, this time by another colleague, Al Barber, the exact same question, and this time I thought 'yeah, why not?' and promptly rubbed it in her face that Al was able to convince me, and she wasn't. Since then, the three of us, combined with additional individuals, and the ever eager Obie the Springer Spaniel, have begun our training with ever longer walks through the Cotswolds and surrounding areas, with our fourth team member Rosanna Price soon to be recovered and ready to train too.
It all started as a bit of fun, wandering, chatting, catching Pokémon and what not. However, as time has gone on, it's become more and more apparent that, whilst fun, the main goal of this huge task is so much bigger than all of our individual set backs, be them self doubts, injuries and physical setbacks, or, and certainly in my case, perpetual laziness. I've come to understand that our actions and inevitable physical and mental trauma in doing this team activity in July this year are insignificant in comparison to the constant suffering and pain that the sum of the money we want to raise would help eleviate, even if only to a small extent. The world is a troublesome place, and I consider myself incredibly lucky to have had the opportunities in my life where I could view some bleeding feet and a few days of pain following a long walk to count as personal suffering. That ain't suffering, the people we are raising money for are the ones who are suffering. So please donate, the by-product of you doing so will result in me and some colleagues feeling a bit of discomfort for a while, but the actual main goal of it all, to help those people who truly and desperately need it, is so much more important. Help us do something worthwhile for a change, and I promise I won't complain about the end results of our own attempt to help those who need it so much.
Thanks for taking the time to read my extended ramble, and for visiting my JustGiving page. I'll be grateful for every penny you kind people can offer, and you can be safe in the knowledge that it will mean I will be doing something that I consider to be a bit more than mediocre for a change.