“You need to be really thickskinned – you can’t get upset if people don’t sponsor you,” says Laura Lane. “And you have to be prepared to send out your message over and over again via social media to ensure potential sponsors get regular reminders. A good way to tell everyone what you’re doing and why is to include a link in your email signature. In this way I received a huge donation from a lovely plumber who donated all the money I’d just paid him to fi x my boiler.”