Interview with a Doer: Cameron

Cameron Taylor, a PhD student at Oxford University, was one of our earliest and most committed Doers – he helped to organise the DoNation Yorkshire Three Peaks challenge for Linacre College’s Green Society last weekend.

Seven of them took up the challenge, saving 2.7 tCO2 in sponsorship from 60 sponsors. That’s the equivalent amount of emissions as caused by leaving a computer turned on for five whole years!

We caught up with him when they got back, and here’s what he had to say:

What were you raising sponsorship for?

I was promoting green behaviour through doing the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge as part of a group from Linacre College Green Society.

How did it go?

It went very well. Great weather and clear conditions. Some of us completed the walk within 12 hours, the rest around 13 hours so a great effort by everyone.

Highs: the tops of the 3 peaks – both literally and emotionally, the views were fantastic.

Lows: not many, the ascension to both the second and the third peaks were pretty gruelling but ultimately worth it. My arms got pretty sunburnt too, factor 30 was obviously not enough protection for my pale Scottish complexion.

Why did you decide to raise sponsorship through The DoNation?

It seemed like a very interesting and different idea to the regular sponsorship format and as part of a green society it seemed like a great way to engage people.

How did your friends respond to your request?

Most people were happy to pledge something, and seemed much more willing seeing as it wasn’t money they were offering. Overall, very positive response.

Some select quotes from sponsors:

Pledging ‘step up’ – “I know I’m going to regret this when I arrive at a 15 storey building…..”

‘Smart Drive’ – “I’m going to clean up the highways of Car-obsessed Houston by sticking to the handy top 5 tips for better driving”

‘Veg Out’ –“You can have the extra protein I’m losing out on from this pledge, you might need it for the energy.”

How did it make you feel?

The fact that people had pledged to change their lives in some small way definitely gave me some sense of obligation to complete the challenge at times when the going was tough.

Are there any top tips you’d share with someone else raising sponsorship?

People became interested in sponsoring us when one of our members offered a friendly challenge to another member to gain more sponsorship than him. This upped discussion of the trek and made people discuss who and what they wanted to pledge for each person.