Helena Lucas campaign invites support from the British public
by Pippa Phillips 18 Dec 2014 21:34 GMT
18 December 2014
Southampton-based Paralympic Gold Medal winning British sailor, Helena Lucas MBE, is inviting individuals and businesses to support her campaign to repeat her success in the Paralympics in Rio 2016.
In an innovative fundraising move, Lucas is offering individuals and organisations the chance to put their names on her 2.4mR keelboat in the run up to Paralympics. Spaces start from as little as £10 up to £1500 and each supporter will have their name or initials incorporated into a 'Word Cloud' style logo which Helena will carry on her boat throughout her campaign – the more you donate, the bigger your name.
Helena Lucas MBE is Britain's only Gold medal winning Paralympic sailor and Team GB's only sailing Gold medalist to return to Rio 2016. Helena was the only woman competing in her class and was Britain's first sailor to win a Gold medal in the Paralympics in the 2.4mR in London 2012. She has her sights set on bringing home a second medal for Britain in 2016.
Helena explained, "As a member of the British Sailing Team I am fortunate to receive funding through UK Sport and the National Lottery. But to give me the edge and be in with a real chance of claiming another Gold, athletes needs to raise extra funds through sponsorship. Headline sponsors are hard to come by so to raise the funds for extra coaching, equipment and innovation, I am inviting individuals and businesses to support me."
Helena hopes to raise up to £15,000 from the crowd funding campaign, which will allow her to pay for additional coaching, equipment development and travel to compete on the competition waters in Rio. She says, "Its so important to be familiar with the waters in the competition venue and to have the opportunity to have the best equipment and coaching. I really believe this additional funding will give me a fighting chance of bringing home a second Gold medal, and I'd like everybody to follow me on the journey."
But it's not all about the money. In 2012, all the athletes talked about how great it was to have so much support from the UK public and what a difference it made to their performance knowing the country was rooting for them.
Lucas said, "In 2012 we had such huge support from the British people and knowing they were behind us really helped the whole team perform so well – it will be a huge privilege to carry the names of individuals and companies in the run up to the 2016 Games in Rio and once again will give me an enormous boost. That's why we have made sure that these spaces are affordable starting at just £10 – I really want to be able to make the country proud and have as many people involved with my campaign as possible!"
As more supporters sign up, the Word Cloud will grow and based on the spaces available could carry up to 250 names in various shapes and sizes. The logo will be updated every 4 to 6 weeks or thereabouts as people sign up and will be applied to the hull of her boat.
To become a supporter or just to find out more about Helena Lucas visit her website at www.helenalucas.com/word-cloud-hull-branding