Go MAD Thinking £65k Giveaway

That's all for now - £65,000 given or allocated

2008-10-19T11:11:00.004+01:00

After 18 months of giving away £65,000, over half the money has been given to others and the remaining £30,000 has been allocated to a project to help over 30,000 people make a difference in 2010 (more details about this in 2009 when it is launched).

The giveaway has been great fun for me and has helped hundreds of people to have fun, be inspired and make a difference to help others. I would like to thank everyone who has played a part in some way in this giveaway and hope you continue making a difference.

It has tested people's thinking to consider how only £65 could make a difference to someone else and challenged me to consider what the most worthy causes are to support.

If you happen to have found this blog by chance, I would encourage you to read and enjoy the hundreds of comments, requests and postings that people have made. It might just provoke your thinking - which, after all, was the purpose!

That's all for now.

Enjoy life, be solution focused and keep making a difference.

Andy G

Do you want a medal or will £65 make a difference?

2008-09-07T18:08:00.003+01:00

What a fantastic result for team GB - 19 Gold Medals in the Olympic games. Whilst watching them, I often thought about the effort and personal commitment that top athletes give in order to achieve success once every four years.

What about the support that is given by the coaches and people in the background who get much less recognition?

Who do you know that is perhaps an unsung hero, having given years of commitment to helping others, and deserves a medal? Would £65 put a smile on their face? What would they do with it to help themself or others?

Come on, help me in finding 19 people worthy of a medal and let's surprise them.

Andy G

Kickstart your thinking

2008-08-03T14:56:00.002+01:00

The thoughts we have and the assumptions we make can easily limit the actions we take and ultimately the results we achieve. We can kickstart our thinking through the use of high quality questions, for example: What is the greatest difference I could make to help others with £65?

Choosing to be happy on the inside

2008-07-06T16:09:00.003+01:00

Having just returned from a holiday in the Med. to mixed weather in the UK, I attended an open air concert last night - in the rain. Despite the weather on the outside, all was sunny on the inside as the company of good friends and the great music more than compensated.

It did get me thinking, as I looked around the crowd, that many of the audience had chosen to be miserable because of something external they couldn't control, ie the weather, rather than choosing to react in a helpful way and have a great time.

We can all make a difference to ourselves or others. We can choose to say, "It's only £65 - I can't do much with that." Or we choose to think, "What difference can I make with £65 to help someone else?

Keep sending your requests.

Giving people a pleasant surprise

2008-06-08T10:34:00.002+01:00

Last night, my wife and I travelled to a friends house for what my wife thought was going to be an evening meal for just the four of us. Upon opening the living room door she was totally surprised that the rest of the Go MAD Thinking team were there for a surprise birthday party.

It is really great to see the look on people's faces when they are pleasantly surprised.

So what surprise could you give to someone who is least expecting it? It doesn't have to cost money to make a difference.

Put a smile on someone's face.

The purpose of our life is to be happy!

2008-05-25T16:20:00.002+01:00

And last week, for my birthday, I was very happy to give £650 to 10 deserving people.

This weekend I have just returned from hearing the Dalai Lama give a series of lectures and question/answer sessions about important aspects of our lives - mainly about practising compassion, contentment, mental calmness, and being happy. As well as being an incredibly wise man he also had a real sense of pragmatism and a fantastic sense of humour as evidenced in his response to the audience question, "I am scared of dying - what should I do?" His answer, "Take care of your body - and avoid extreme sports!"

His equally pragmatic answer to the question, "How do I live an ethical life?" was, "Help others and, if you can't, restrain from harming them."

For me, maintaining my happiness includes helping others and encouraging people to make a difference - both for themselves and others.

What differences can you make that will help your level of happiness?

It's my birthday - have a present!

2008-05-18T11:20:00.002+01:00

Happy birthday,

I tend to celebrate being alive and the good things in life pretty much everyday. So for me, birthdays are just another great day. However, having opened my birthday cards and presents this morning, I thought it would be nice to give a few presents, of £65, this week to people who feel they deserve it. So imagine it is your birthday and you received £65, what would you like to spend it on?

For this week only, you can nominate yourself to receive £65. Just tell me the reason why you feel you deserve it and how you would spend it.

Next week I will pick a few worthy winners.

How motivated are you to help others?

2008-04-19T15:08:00.003+01:00

Last night I was runner-up in two categories of the local business awards and, whilst it would have been nice to win, I reflected on how easily many people give up if they do not initially achieve their goals.

Sometimes people need to involve others more. Who could you possibly help to achieve their goals? How could you match my £65 with time and effort (or money) to help someone else? How motivated are you to help others?

Contributing To Make A Greater Difference

2008-03-16T14:52:00.005Z

Watching Sport Relief over the weekend puts into perspective what £65 can do to help people in difficult situations and sometimes I do wonder whether I should contribute more personally to allieviate suffering in 3rd World countries.

Recently I have been receiving a range of requests for £65 and have realised that I prefer to give to people who are willing to match me - not necessarily with money, but also with time and effort - to make a bigger difference.

Much of my time is spent opening people's minds to think differently, which causes them to act differently and hence achieve better results. So with this in mind I am paying for a couple of my team to travel to Macedonia and be facilitators for innovation groups at the "Uncovering New Solutions - Building Communities and Making the Most of Resources" Conference organised by Handicap International for family organisation leaders. I hope that this investment, whilst much greater than £65, will lead to greater differences being made.

So what genuinely is the greatest difference you can make with £65 of my money? Are you willing to match it in some way to make a geater difference?

A year later - still making a difference

2008-03-09T20:00:00.003Z

It is now a year since I won the money and I have enjoyed helping many people to help others make a difference through the £65 giveaways. It has been rewarding to occasionally get follow-up e-mails, letters and photo's showing the differences made.I hope I have also inspired others to be creative in their thinking. Whilst £65 might not seem much to some, for others it can be life changing.

Who's life could you change? How creative could you be? Are you willing to make a difference?

Spring into action

2008-02-17T11:25:00.002Z

Spring seems to be arriving early. I think this a great time for giving birth to new ideas and dusting the cobwebs from our minds to explore possibilities for making a difference.

One of my fellow Poker Face contestants has launched a campaign to help 65 people in her community think possibilities about the differences they could make with £65, so I look forward to receiving their requests in due course.

Come on, let's have a spring clean and spring into action to Go MAD with £65.

New Year Resolutions

2008-01-19T11:16:00.000Z

Whilst I don't believe in setting New Year resolutions (why wait for New Year? - do it whenever you have a strong enough reason why), many people attempt to make a difference in their lives at the start of the year. So what differences are you going to make?

In 2008, why not use your thinking skills and decide to make a difference in someone else's life? If you would like £65 to help, then please post a request.

£65 for Christmas

2007-12-11T21:37:00.000Z

I received news last week from one of the Everards Brewery teams who had used £65 to buy a Leicester Tigers Rugby Shirt and get it signed by the players. This was then auctioned for £500 which will provide 12 elderly couples and carers with a 3 course Christmas meal and Christmas gift. £100 will be donated to a multiple sclerosis charity and the original £65 will be given to another team in the business to make another difference.

Well done for demonstrating the difference that can be made with a little effort and teamwork.

What difference could you make with £65 to bring some Christmas cheer into the lives of others?

Turning money into more money for good causes

2007-11-11T12:43:00.000Z

I have given a couple of £65 away recently to people who have requested the money to buy wool in order to knit scarves which will then be sold to raise money for good causes. Both people are involving others in the workplace (Boots and Royal Bank of Scotland) to achieve their goals and I feel that this is a good example of people contributing time to match the £65 in order to leverage a greater benefit for the end user.

So what difference could you make? If you are seeking inspiration read some of the comments posted in response to my previous blog entries - especially about the bees.

What makes it all worthwhile? - stories like this

2007-10-24T10:51:00.000+01:00

Hi Andy

Many thanks for the cheque for £65 you sent to me last month. I had a great week giving it away and I learned a lot from the experience. I aimed to do something different every day and to 'target' a wide age range. Here is what happened:

I bought bottles of blowing bubbles and gave them to a group of older people
A baby had a surprise present of a helium balloon and was entranced and delighted as were the children with her
I gave money to a talented face painter (she was called Namnam, I think she is based in Brighton) and asked her to choose someone - maybe someone who would not have thought of doing this - and paint their face. This was at the Isle of Wight Bestival and when I saw her later she said this treat had gone to a man who had been thrilled at the idea that someone had done this for him. It was a very busy and happy place and I am sure that seeing a jolly painted face will have brought good cheer to others too.
I collected two cinema tickets and then pinned them in a fancy envelope on a college notice board and watched the pleasure they gave - not only to the young people who went ot the cinema but to the others who looked and smiled.
I took a day off work and entertained strangers (now friends!) to a picnic at my beach hut. These people were on a visit here from the US and said it was a highlight of their holiday, having never seen a beach hut before and just enjoying the wackiness of the day.
On my birthday I gave a present to a stranger (something I plan to do every year now!)
The last of my quests did not cost me anything in terms of money but did take time and thought. I was asked to come up with ideas for a work 'awayday' and gave myself time and energy to think creatively around this (rather than just jot down a few predictable activities), coming up with ideas which hopefully will bring surprise and discovery to others. A different kind of gift..
I enjoyed this a lot, learned from it, felt my creativity opening up and found it thought provoking. It was a real pleasure.
Dale

So what differences do you want to make? Let me know.

Keep the ideas coming

2007-09-10T15:16:00.000+01:00

A quick summary of some areas that people are using £65 for:

having a fun weekly adventure/quest
surprising and helping people with random acts of kindness
helping young people
helping old people
helping people develop their careers/start a business
creating sustainable projects

Please let me know if you would like £65 to help someone else or make a difference in the lives of others.

Making A Difference - Sustainable Results

2007-09-01T15:12:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I received a jar of Go MAD Honey produced by the 5000 bees bought with £65 (see post published 7th May) by Everard Brewery employees. The goal of producing and selling 100 jars of honey has been achieved and each year a local hospice will benefit by £200 through the sale of honey.

This is a great example of having fun, involving others and making a sustainable difference - apparently the bees reproduced to nearly 50,000!

Who could you involve?

Please contact me

2007-08-27T16:32:00.000+01:00

As well as inviting people to contact me who would like £65 to spend, I also need to encourage you to return to this blog and read the comments posted in response to your requests - especially if I request you to send your full name & address. So Claire, who wanted to involve her Ranger Girl Guide Pack in making a difference, please contact me - or else I cannot send you a cheque.

Remember, to mention this blog to your friends, colleagues, family or any person you feel might get a buzz out of making a difference for someone else and hopefully they might get in touch.

Keep thinking possibilities.

Help required to give away money

2007-08-18T11:40:00.000+01:00

To date, nearly 6 months after the Pokerface final, I have given away £12,960 (20%) of my prize winnings - which means that at this rate it will take me another 2 years to give the rest away! Not that I am complaining because I am having a really great time and an amazing amount of fun doing what I am doing. Deliberately, I have not set myself a goal to give the money away by a specific date as I am enjoying this new giveaway "hobby".

So far, there have been 122 comments - most of them requests - posted on this blog in response to my weekly postings. Please keep sending your requests, ideas or just thoughts and enjoy reading other people's comments. Also, why not tell a friend or a colleague about this blog and encourage them to make a difference with £65?

As a quick 5 minute exercise, grab a pen and some paper and write the question, "How could I/we possibly use £65 to make a difference and help others? Then write 20 answers to this question. I guarantee that if you do this you will have some good (and maybe some wacky) ideas. Then eliminate any relating to supporting existing charity/fundraising events and highlight your priorities. Then let me know!

Using your brain to help others

2007-08-11T09:31:00.000+01:00

I usually spend Saturday morning having a relaxing catch up with emails, bits of paper, updating this blog in the peace and quiet of my office. The only person likely to disturb me is Ann, my office cleaner who sometimes likes to have a chat.

Last weekend she was sharing a few hindering thoughts about getting older and needing to stimulate her mind more. As she knew I had co-written a book about the brain, she was asking me some questions and the conversation turned to computer games that would stimulate her thinking.

So this week she is in for a surprise £65 to go shopping to buy herself a brain training game.

Who do you know that worries that they might be losing their marbles a bit? How could you use £65 to stimulate their thinking?

More Random Acts of Kindness

2007-07-28T15:07:00.000+01:00

I completed my adventure this week with a variety of small fun giveaway activities during a couple of business trips to London. My favourites included paying for 2 chocolate bears in and then watching from a distance as the shop assistant gave them to the next 2 visitors as a present from a stranger, and also buying some fruit for a busker. Great fun watching people's reaction.

Whilst facilitating a career development conference for a major bank last week, I gave £65 to 4 of the delegates to help others with their career development and I hope that they will publish their actions to inspire people with more ways to help others make a difference.

Keep making a difference and let me know if you would like to go on your own Random Acts of Kindness seven day adventure.

This weeks adventure

2007-07-22T10:29:00.000+01:00

Having been underwhelmed by the response to my offer last week to give away money for a free adventure/quest, I decided to have my own adventure - starting yesterday. My quest within seven days is to put a smile on the faces of 20 people by spending exactly £65.

Attending a pre-season friendly between Leicester City (my team) and Notts County gave me the opportunity to do the following acts of kindness:

pay for the car parking space of a complete stranger (elicited a look of complete disbelief!)
treat four Notts County fans to a programme
buy a football t-shirt for a young girls birthday (I was eaves dropping a conversation in a queue)
pay for steak & kidney pies for a family of three

Total spent so far £29.20 to help 9 people. So £35.80 left to surprise 11 more people. This is fun. If you would like to join in then just post your request for £65. I am off to make a difference.

An invitation to go on a £65 Quest or Adventure

2007-07-14T12:45:00.000+01:00

From reading some of Tom Peter's work this week I was interested to note the positive impact of the words "quest" and "adventure" rather than "task" and "project". So I thought it might be interesting to invite 10 people who read this to go on a 7 day quest or adventure (you pick which word you like best) to make a difference using £65 of my money.

Just tell me why it should be you - remember you can't spend the money on yourself - and I will send you the money on the condition that you let me know about your quest/adventure to make a difference. You don't have to tell me at this point what the money will be spent on, as you might not know yet, and after all you have 7 days for your quest. Enjoy it. Be adventurous.

Keep Posting Your Requests

2007-07-07T13:29:00.001+01:00

I have had some great requests this week for money to help young people (see comments under my 1st June posting) and from people who are willing to put some of their time into making a difference.

Well done to Evan & Tim from Superdrug who have managed to turn 2 x £65 into £760 and have challenged 76 managers to make a difference with £10 each. I look forward to you measuring the results in due course.

Keep the requests coming, there is still a lot to give away. If you don't want to Go MAD with £65, that's okay - tell a friend who might want to make a difference.

The young and the old - lots to live for

2007-06-30T18:03:00.000+01:00

One of our current family goals is to persuade my father-in-law, who is 81 and has lived in his house for nearly 40 years, to move into a lovely new warden assisted complex near where we live. Whilst this is a big move for him, late in life, it got me thinking about how £65 could make a difference to both the young and the old - so this is my theme for the next month or so.

Come on what difference could you make to help someone who has still got lots to live for?

When lightening strikes

2007-06-23T15:49:00.000+01:00

Last week my house got struck by lightening whilst I was away speaking at a conference. It certainly made an electrifying difference, as it short circuited our power supply, though thankfully it only caused repairable material damage. Anyway, it got me thinking about power surges and what causes some people to have flashes of inspiration and brilliant ideas and others to be scared about thinking big or differently.

So this week, I am seeking people who have got an idea for £65 that is different - it can be fun, wild, wacky - as long as it makes a positive difference for others. Send me your thoughts and let's Go MAD.

Listen, Learn & Take Action - Or Tell A Friend

2007-06-10T12:55:00.000+01:00

First the good news. My latest free development podcast, "How to win £65,000", is in the i-Tunes top 10 downloads in their business section under the series "Thinking For Business Success". (Thanks for the positive feedback received so far - I invite you to download it if you haven't already at www.apple.com/itunes/download/.)

Now the not so good news. People are still not swamping me with requests and I am only writing 3 - 5 cheques per week. So if you don't want the money to help others, please tell a friend who might.

Lastly, for this week, it was a really pleasant surprise to receive a colourful hand drawn thank you card from the recipients from one of the first £65 giveaways providing 12 patients from a mental health care trust with fish & chips and a day at the seaside.

What difference can you make?

Help me - I am struggling to give money away!

2007-05-20T13:55:00.000+01:00

Yes, it's true, I am having some challenges finding enough people who want to make a difference with my money. Maybe I am being too tough with the (minimal) rules - namely, you cannot ask for the money for yourself, it must make a worthwhile difference to others, and preferably you ensure an element of sustainability (eg by turning £65 into something more, where part of it gets used to make a difference and part of it gets paid forward for someone else to make a difference with).

So when you read this - THINK, "What could I do?" or, "Who do I know that might possibly want to get involved?" Then let me know your idea - however simple or creative it might be.

I look forward to your help - even if it is posting a comment or an idea for someone else to think about.

from £65 to a school in Africa?

2007-05-13T12:12:00.000+01:00

Having just returned from an exhausting 3 day business conference, and logged on to this blog to catch up with latest comments posted, I have instantly been rejuvinated by the series of comments posted by Andy Gahan in response to my entry " Let Me Know Your Thoughts" (22nd April). If ever you need ideas for how to make a difference with £65, then read his list of possibilities (11th May). To give you inspiration, I have copied his subsequent posting below:

andy gahan said...
I've thought about this all night and realised I've been thinking too small. I'm going to ressurect a private club I used to run a few years ago and run events to raise £15,000 to build a classroom block with 3 classrooms for a school in Africa. I will probably have to complete all of the other ideas I listed previously, who know's I may even be able to get the whole school built :)Andy - thanks for making me think outside my comfort zone and for getting me on the path of REALLY making a difference. I'll keep you posted with my progress, and good luck to everyone else going MAD.
12 May 2007 08:23

Wow, this Pay It Forward Go MAD campaign is really going places. How big can you think? Keep your ideas flowing, there are plenty of £65 to give away. Send me your thoughts.

£65 worth of bees = £165 of honey

2007-05-07T10:22:00.000+01:00

This week, I only gave away 3 x £65. However, one of these £65 was for a great idea that encompassed everything to do with thinking possibilities, matching the contribution, making a difference to others and "paying it forward" to create sustainability.

A group of managers, from one of my clients, was recently practising and developing their creative possibility thinking skills as part of their ongoing business improvement programme. When their Managing Director issued the £65 challenge they responded by coming up with a plan to invest in a colony of bees, which will be kept in one of the teams bee-hives. Apparently, subject to the bees being settled and happy, this will produce £165 worth of honey in September, which members of the HR, IT and Finance teams will put into labelled jars and sell to colleagues, family and friends. £100 will then go to a local hospice charity and £65 will be passed onto someone else to make a difference.

It requires effort

2007-04-28T11:03:00.000+01:00

An interesting week began with me writing 16 cheques for £65 each on Monday at a conference in London Zoo for a group of Go MAD Thinkers who each came up with ideas to make a sustainable difference. I look forward to hearing more about their progress. Interestingly, I made the offer to 50 people that day and only 16 said yes. Which is okay - because "Paying It Forward requires effort and a strong reason why to both think and act in order to make a sustainable difference.

One person putting in effort is Daniel Spencer, a 13 year old, who has set up his first electrical import business (www.electrostarelectronics.co.uk) with £65. Once he has made some profit he has pledged to Pay £65 Forward to help someone else. Come on, if Daniel can do it so can you - let's Go MAD with £65.

Let me know your thoughts

2007-04-22T15:05:00.000+01:00

Several people have mentioned in the past few days that they enjoy reading this blog and the comments left by others. My challenge to you is to go beyond reading and actually engage with me in making a difference. If you are reading this, please add a comment (by clicking on the comments word below this posting). I genuinely am interested to know your thoughts about the £65,000 Giveaway. Your comments just might be the catalyst for others to make a difference.

I was busy last week running my monthly Go MAD Thinking Skills programme for a great group of people who, in the space of a 10 minutes possibilities exercise, produced several innovative ways of ensuring sustainability within £65 projects - mainly involving the pay it forward idea. So let's see how many of them take personal responsiblity to make it happen.

Let me know your thoughts

Change someone's life

2007-04-15T16:15:00.000+01:00

Thank you for the many ideas submitted and the people who contacted me with "Pay It Forward" ideas. This seems to have captured the imagination so keep sending them to me - I am keen to support as many of these as possible. Also I am keen to capture some on film as I was contacted by a professional photographer who, for £65, will pay it forward by taking photo's of people making a difference with £65 for an exhibition that will raise funds for charity.

A client visited us this week and brought his two young children with him. Never missing the opportunity to develop the minds of young people, I engaged them in a possibility thinking exercise with the promise of £65 to support the idea that they would implement to help others.
They left me with lists of ideas of people they could help, plus a couple of drawings. Underneath a picture of a person helping someone less fortunate was written my question, "What could people do with £65?" and the words, "Answer: change someone's life."

What difference could you make? Who's life could you change? It might not take £65 - if it does, let me know and I will see if I can help.

Pay it forward

2007-04-10T19:44:00.000+01:00

Had a great response this week to the various challenges I posed and was busy over Easter writing £65 cheques to various people who have done some great possibility thinking about how to use the money to help others. I have also had to decline some interesting requests - including someone who had seen me on TV and wanted £65 so she could take me on a date!

A number of people have drawn my attention to the film "Pay It Forward" and the act of doing good deeds and then encouraging the recipient to pay it forward (rather than pay it back) by doing further good deeds to help others. So a few of my £65 gifts have been on this basis.

The Go MAD Thinking team have also been busy developing people's possibility thinking skills with the reward of £65 for implementing the best ideas that include paying it forward. See Graham & Richard's comments after my last posting if you would like a few ideas about how to make £65 stretch further.

So how could you use £65 to inspire others to "pay it forward"?

Finding people who want to help others

2007-04-03T19:32:00.000+01:00

It is one month since the Poker Face Final and I have just returned home from the ITV Central News East Midlands TV Studio where I launched a £65 Go MAD Challenge to identify 100 business people who want to help others make a difference.

If you are genuine about using £65 of my money to help others, I invite you to at least match my £65 with £65 of your own and involve the people in your business to generate possible ways to make the greatest difference in helping others. I will also provide an additional £130 worth of personal development materials to help you, or a team, with your thinking.

Only a couple of guidance rules:
1) The money must be directly used to help others ( if you ask for yourself, you will not receive help) and not donated to a third party (eg a charity). This is not a fundraising exercise - it is about involving others and using our thinking skills to make a real difference in the lives of others.
2) If you can involve others and make it a sustainable project, that would be even better (see June from Australia's comment on my last posting for a bit of inspiration).

If you or your colleagues are interested, then tell me a bit about what you propose to do and who you will involve. Come on let's Go MAD and create a positive ripple effect.

Win £1000 - Let's generate more Go MAD possibilities!

2007-03-31T17:40:00.001+01:00

I had a few, very educational, days in Berlin last week, during which I challenged my friend Clive to make a difference in the next six months with 100 Euros (£65). In fact, I have been issuing friendly challenges to quite a few people to either make a difference by matching my giveaway (for £65 - not the £65,000) or thinking creatively about the possibilities of optimising £65 for the benefit of others.

An observation, from the many conversations I have had recently about the £65k Giveaway, is that many people are not doing what I term "Possibility Thinking" ie generating a great quantity of ideas before evaluating and deciding on the best option. So I have been considering a possible competition (maybe with a prize of £1000) for people prepared to do some possibility thinking and match my £65 to raise a greater amount that will enable more differences to be made. What do you think?

Here is the basic question to get you thinking: If given £65, what could I possibly do (& who could I possibly involve) to help make the greatest difference for others? Write down this question and generate a minimum of 20 answers before deciding your priorities. Then let me know your best ones. (If you have never used this solution focused thinking technique before, give it a go. I once used it to raise £250,000 in 3 months - but that's another story.) Let's get thinking.

Involving Others to Go MAD with £65

2007-03-24T14:36:00.000Z

As Derek, my Barber, was cutting my hair today, we discussed the village in which we live and who might possibly benefit the most from receiving £65. He came up with the idea of involving the kids in the local school. Now I am sure that they will be able to do some great possibility thinking.

Thanks for the comments posted in response to my recent blog entries. The idea from "Jane the cynic" to send £65 to each of the main political leaders is very appealing. It might also be interesting to contrast the difference the kids make with £65 to the differences a politician makes!

Hang on, this could build into a great idea for a fun challenge of who can make the biggest difference with £65. Post your comments for who else we could involve and I will sort out the details next week.

Launch of Go MAD £65 Community Challenge

2007-03-22T13:13:00.000Z

I have decided this week to give away £65 to 65 people in my local community (Leicestershire) on the condition that they consider how the money could possibly make the greatest difference to others. My GP nominated a couple of elderly patients I was able to help out today. I am working on more themed ideas about involving different groups of people to help me make a difference.

Well done Pete & Sally for giving away £65 of tea & chocolate muffins and for everyone who is joining or matching me in the giveaway. Common themes are about turning £65 into more, getting work colleagues to join in and helping people to help themselves. Lots of great ideas, feedback and action as a result of my last challenge. Here is your question to consider - How could I possibly involve others to make the greatest difference with £65?

It's going crazy – Let's all Go MAD with £65

2007-03-16T13:15:00.000Z

Today I have given away £65 to Angela to pay for her entry into a marathon race as she has promised to raise £1000 for charity.

The giveaway campaign has inspired the team at Go MAD and is gathering so much momentum it has totally amazed me. My gesture has been a sort of "catalyst for caring". There are so many people already coming forward with reasons why even a small amount such a £65 can make a huge or positive difference to another person. Surely one of the secrets to living is giving, and so many people want to feel good by doing this. An unexpected outcome this week is that many of my corporate clients have emailed or phoned offering to also give away £65 via their employees to make a difference for others. They think it is a great way for employees to engage, feel good about themselves and the company.

Okay, my imagination is getting fired up by this. What if I was to put out a challenge to all UK businesses to make a difference in the lives of others by giving away multiples of £65, via their own employees, to make a difference to others? This would mean the total amount given away would be many times my original £65,000 winnings.

Something Remarkable Happened

2007-03-12T16:22:00.000Z

Over the past 7 days I have been inundated with requests from radio, newspapers and local TV all asking how I am going to give the money away and can they help me. The answer is yes, you can help, however, I need a few more days to consider the giveaway criteria.

This morning I was invited by a local commercial radio station to give away £65 to listeners who had sent in over 200 ideas and requests. After I had given away the third £65 (to a manager of a NHS mental health care unit who wanted to put a smile on the faces of 12 patients by buying them fish and chips on a trip to the seaside), something remarkable happened! Mark phoned in and said he wanted to put a smile on my face by giving me £65 as he admired what I was doing to help others. What a great surprise!

I then discovered that the radio station had also made a difference by spending £65 of their money helping a ten year old boy achieve one of his goals. Maybe giving £65 could be contagious. Here's a thought, if you were to give away £65 and put a smile on people's faces, what would be the greatest difference you could possibly make?