Help Chelsea get to Outward Bound

I am so close now as I have been baby sitting, doing market stalls, extra work, and saving hard but I still have a wee way left to go so every little bit helps me get closer!

It has taken me a lot of courage to post this as it is two of my biggest fears rolled into one, being open and asking for help but I have a bit of a favour to ask so here goes…

Three and a half years ago I saw a documentary on Outward Bound in the Marlborough Sounds and straight away I knew I wanted to do that some day. Unfortunately I had just been diagnosed with Anorexia Nervosa and unbeknown at the time I would spend the next three years fighting the hardest battle of my life, losing and having to regain my confidence, self esteem, passion for life, adventure and creativity along with my health. It was throughout those years that I had to keep telling myself that one day if I kept going in the right direction, I would be happy and healthy again and when I was I would be able complete the Outward Bound Course.

And now I have finally made it! After three and a half long hard years of fighting and still to this day, I am now stronger, healthier, more self aware, compassionate and more determined than ever before and I have been accepted to go on an Outward Bound 21 day Classic Course in December this year which is my dream come true. I believe this the perfect chance for me to really turn that corner for good and the perfect time to gain the confidence to move forward with my life and onto my next big challenge of starting University in March next year. The course starts on 2 December and is based in the Marlborough Sounds. It lasts for 21 days in which I will be facing a range of challenges physically, mentally and emotionally with the aim of pushing my limits and building a sense of confidence in my own ability and potential for my future. It will be a very demanding 21 days and I will be without contact from anyone outside of the course including family and friends for the entire duration with the exception of letters in the form of good old traditional snail mail. The course itself costs $3950 not including the travel expenses to get there and back.

And this is where your help comes in! I have the next few months to raise the funds to go on the course so I am going to be holding market stalls, bake sales and a raffle as well as any other means I can come up with to raise the funds (if you want your car washed, a home baked batch of cookies or your children need babysitting let me know!) however it is a big feat to raise the amount of money required for this once in a lifetime development opportunity and every cent towards my goal will help. So if you would like to help me make this amazing opportunity happen and help me turn a massive corner in my life I would absolutely appreciate any donations/help towards getting there!

Thank you for taking the time to read this!

Chelsea.