A few reasons why you SHOULD 'Do It In A Dress'

For me, dressing in a dress started last year. No, I am not a cross dresser, nor do I normally choose to wear a dress to fancy dress parties. I decided to sport the dress in the name of a very worthwhile charity; One Girl. To be honest, the initial primary driver of feminising myself was for the fun of it, but after learning more about One Girl, I quickly moved from doing it in the name of fun to wanting to make a real and tangible difference for women and girls in Sierra Leone - whilst having a laugh at the same time (obviously!)

One Girl is a charity, cause, and movement that I first learnt about in 2012 that I feel really passionate about. I enthuse you the reader to take some time to learn more about it. At the least you reading this helps raise awareness of this awesome charity, and at best - get involved and the sky is the limit.

One Girl: The people, the cause, the goals

There are many great people out there in the wide wide world, doing great causes for other great people. The problem however, is often a lot of potentially great people do not get much of a chance to be great, or even normal. Things that you and I may take for granted, things that we probably deem as normal, things as simple as an education are to many just a dream which is quickly squashed by their own unfortunate reality. Unfortunately not achieving this 'dream' can have devastating consequences. 

Well, this is where OneGirl comes in and their fantastic annual campaign called 'Do it in a Dress'.

In their own words, this is what they do: 

"At One Girl, we focus on empowering women and girls so that they can create and lead change in their communities. We believe that education and economic empowerment are vital when it comes to tackling the issues that women and girls face in Sierra Leone."

I think this is a great cause, managed by people who really care care, and do it in their own time for no other reason than they want to help great people be great.

Let's swap the sex trade for education and a future

In Sierra Leone many young girls get sold into the sex trade because they do not have an education. OneGirl’s objective is to raise money to pay for these girls education, plus give them access to basic amenities and biodegradable sanitary pads, which will set them up for life and minimise the chances of them having a life in the sex trade.

The Movement: Do it in a dress (Surfing in a dress)

Every year in October, One Girl encourages people to literally 'Do It In A Dress', that is something they would normally do, but in a dress. The funnier, weirder, more extreme, more spectator friendly 'thing' people do in a dress, the more money can be raised through sponsorship, then the more girls can be saved from a life in the sex trade, and instead, get that 'normal' thing known as education.

In 2012 One Girl raised $270k, which changed 2600 women and girls lives for the better.

One Girl hope to raise a whooping $500k this year, which will positively affect 5000 women and girls lives. 500 people worldwide are already registered for this years Do It In A Dress campaign, which is amazing and shows its continued global reach with people from Australia, Canada and America getting involved.

For me, surfing in a dress started last year (2012). My particular friendship group decided to do what we love doing - surfing - but in dress to raise money. 45 of us turned up and surfed in our dresses raising over $5k for this great charity, which resulted in sending 20 girls to school for 12 months.

Last year, we got some fantastic coverage of 'Surfing in a Dress' from local media including the Sydney Morning Herald and Sunrise TV.

And yet...

We could have raised a lot more. We only decided to do this event three weeks before it happened and so planning/organising was rushed at best. That said, the results were even more incredible despite this.

Let's make 2013 SMASH the 2012 success

So, second year now - more prepared and more people involved = more money WILL be raised.

• At least 100 people to take part (was 45 last year)
• At least $10k to be raised (was $5k last year)
• At least 33 girls to go to school for 12 months

"$300 is the cost of putting 1 girl into school for 12 months"

A bit about the Organiser:

One of my good buddies Greg Beazley has moved mountains when it comes to One Girl, specifically for the 'Surfing-Do It In A Dress' campaign, which he is the key organiser for.

He has big but achievable targets for this years campaign in terms of money raised, and also raising awareness about One Girl and its cause. 

He has already been on Sunrise morning TV show (see clip below), and has had an article published in the Daily Telegraph!

All of this was accomplished off his own back, in his own time and without seeking any praise. I respect that immensely.

Surfing In A Dress 2013 Event Date:

20th October, Bondi beach, 8:30am

Event details on Facebook

Get involved

• To donate to the Surfing in a dress event - CLICK HERE

• To join Do It In A Dress and the Surfers In A Dress team - CLICK HERE

• To do something else in a dress and raise money - CLICK HERE

Busy - Simply tell someone else about One Girl and this event 
Apart from being lazy, one of the biggest reasons people don't get involved is because they already support another charity. That is obviously absolutely fine, but supporting a charity, a good cause or a friend or colleagues efforts isn't just about the money, it's about sparing a small bit of your day to help a great cause, whether that be taking part, watching it, or simply passing a link on to tell someone else about it. Of course the primary objective is about raising money, but the power of word of mouth can have dramatically positive effects in raising awareness - and therefore money. So, please spread the word, support your friends who are involved with this, and pass this web page onto a couple of friends, it only takes a few seconds.

Thanks.

Media Links to get involved with:

One Girl website | Do It In A Dress website

One Girl on Twitter | Twitter Campaign Hashtag - #doitinadress

Surfing in a dress event on Facebook

Follow Surfers In A Dress on Instagram - @surfersinadress

About the author
Si Muddell is a Digital Strategist who has worked extensively both agency and client side. Si is fascinated about marketing, psychology & what motivates people, and loves guitar, surfing and travelling.

Get connected with Si on Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn & Facebook

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