It hardly seems real but, as of February 2024, I have been running The Singing VA for 5 years! It’s a big milestone and over the last few weeks I’ve been racking my brains thinking of the best way to celebrate.
Eventually, I decided that the best way to mark the occasion would be to do something for ‘the greater good’ as it were, so I settled on donating 5% of all profits in 2024 to a good cause. 5% for 5 years – it has a certain ring to it! And I’ll be donating profits from both The Singing VA and my sister business, Singing SEO, so hopefully I’ll be able to build up a nice pot to hand over at the end of the year.
Choosing a Charity
The next question, of course, was, which charity? Should I choose one I already support through donations or volunteering? Should I pick something hyper local that I know does amazing work in my community? Should I choose a larger, better known organisation that has a wider reach?
The reality is, there are so many charities I could have chosen and would have been happy with. But, ultimately, I ended up picking the National Trust.
Why the National Trust?
I’m already a member of the National Trust. So I benefit from their newsletters and updates, and am therefore already familiar with the work they do. And, of course, they’re the largest landowner in the Lake District, which is right on my doorstep and has been for most of my life. So, even when I haven’t realised it, I’ve seen their work in action every time I set foot into the national park. Heck, I can even see it from my home office window as I take a break from my screen and gaze out at the mountains in the distance.
And I’m really passionate about the work they do, particularly around landscape regeneration and the protection and restoration of nature. I want to do more to help, both as a business and as an individual. When I thought about making the National Trust my chosen charity for the year, it made a lot of sense, and so that’s where I landed.
So that just leaves me to wrap up and also say a big THANK YOU to everyone who has supported me over the last 5 years. Whether that’s as a client, a cheerleader, a friend or an associate, thank you for helping me reach this milestone.
