No more #LettingGrow
Update: I’ve heard back from 90% of the people who donated to #LettingGrow, all of whom have said they don’t want me to ask Cancer Research to return their donations. Given how overwhelming the response has been, and the difficulty of getting a refund for people, I’ll only now do so if asked specifically. I hope that’s OK!
It is with huge regret that I announce that I cannot continue with my #LettingGrow campaign. I had fully intended to not cut my hair or beard for the entirety of 2013 but, for reasons personal and professional, I shaved my hair and beard last night.
I am looking into ways to refund everyone who so kindly donated to Cancer Research UK. However, JustGiving makes it extremely difficult to do so:
Online Giving – we run and maintain a website that processes donations on behalf of the charities featured on it. For this service, and the support we provide to them and their supporters, charities pay us a transaction fee of up to 5% on the donation. Because we promptly pay donations to charities, we regret that we can only refund a donation if the charity expressly requests it, and they can pay us back. Please get in touch with the charity first.
During the period of growing my hair and beard, I learned many things about myself and others, not least that:
- people are much more likely to strike up random conversations
- international travel is a lot more difficult when you look significantly different from your passport
- I should have talked through my plans my nearest and dearest before taking the plunge
A sincere and heartfelt thank you to everyone who donated. I pledge to refund everyone who donated, even if it means it coming out of my own money.
Perhaps I’m one step away from ‘the Voices’ telling me what to do, but some days a thought swirls round in my head and ends up fully-formed in a quotation. Here’s what has been doing the swirling today: