I am now only 5 days away from hitting 40 (June 23), an age I thought I wasn't sure that I would ever reach. A year ago, I felt pain and a big lump on my abdomen that I thought was cancer. Thank goodness they were fibroids (had 2), which are a benign muscular growths within the wall of the uterus causing heavy and painful periods.
And on 20th of May I went and had a laparoscopic hysterectomy, to those who doesn't know what a hysterectomy is, it's an operation to remove your womb (uterus). I'm now in my week 5 post surgery and was wondering (been doing that a lot) recently what I could do meaningful and productive on my 40th birthday.
So whilst searching the internet, I discovered a lot of bucket lists (most common trend is 40 things to do before 40), but since I only have a few days left before I turn 40 it won't be possible. So instead I set myself 40 challenges to do before my next birthday. I decided the list would be a good mix of fun things and some tough things that will make me work hard to raise fund for a good cause. I came up with more than 40 just in case one or two become impossible. The target is to raise £4000, helping 40 charities.
To kickstart my fundraising, I thought I will start with a charity that is very close to my heart on my 40th birthday party, British Heart Foundation. If you would like to donate you can go to my justgiving page or you can find it at
http://www.justgiving.com/BbJing23
Many thanks for your support in advance!
Janette x
Here are my 40+ challenges all for charity in no particular order!
1. Get 40 people to support and do at least one of the challenges with me
2. Collect 40 shiny £1 coin
3. Get ingredients donated to bake 40 cakes and sell them (September McMillan Coffee Morning)
4. Bake & sell 40 cupcakes (Bake for Heroes)
5. Make 40 cups of tea in a day
6. Climb 40 floors in a building (Tower 42 Vertical Rush for Shelter)
7. Read 40 books
8. Receive postcards from 40 people from 40 different countries (Postcrossing)
11. Make & sell 40 greeting cards (Movember in November)
12. Fast for 40 hours
13. Eat 40 different types of fruit
14. Try 40 different types of cheeses (Cheese Leadenhall)
15. Go vegan diet for 40 days √
16. Visit 40 pubs in 40 different towns or villages in Essex
17. Post 40 blog entries
18. Cook or bake 40 new recipes
19. Buy a complete outfit for £40 √
20. Have a movie marathon with 40 in the title or watch 40 movies on the imdb top 250 list
21. Do 40 hours volunteering
22. Get a signed photo of a celebrity who is going to be 40 this year
23. Sell 40 things on eBay
24. Visit 40 interesting national trust houses & buildings
25. learn to say hello in 40 languages (Postcrossing)
26. Do a charity walk (complete 40 km)
27. Send 40 postcards from my home town (Postcrossing)
28. learn to say thank you in 40 languages (Postcrossing)
29. Drink only water for 40 days (January 2017 for WaterAid UK)
30. Make £40 at a car boot sale
31. Find 40 people with the same name
32. Visit 40 of London's most unusual museums
33. Do 40 hours sponsored silence
34. Turn my phone & computer off & have no Facebook, Twitter or Instagram contact for 40 hours
35. Visit 40 cities in England
36. Make over my wardrobe (dress with 40 items or less in 40 days) loosely based on project 333
37. Listen to the top 40 best selling singles of all time non stop
38. Listen to the top 40 best selling album of all time for 40 consecutive days
39. Go on a road trip/drive 40 miles on the A40/M40
40. Give 40 Free Hugs in a day
41. Ride for 40 minutes on a horse
42. Have a party for at least 40 people
43. Do 10,000 steps a day for 40 days (September for Cancer Research UK)
44. Do Hadrian's Wall Trek (16 June 2017)
45. Vlogging for 40 days (October & December 2016)
I am going to give you an update for some of the challenges below. So where I have to get 40 people or read 40 books or listened to CDs, etc. you can see my progress and what I've done!
You can also follow me on my Twitter, Instagram & Facebook account
Please leave me a comment or two or suggestions on any of my social media pages and spread the word. I can and I will!!!
