Medical Mission (8 page)

Whether you're fundraising in your community or school, holding a fete or doing a fun run, there are some simple steps everyone should go through when deciding to raise money for their favourite charity.

1. Get Started

Having a clear idea is the best foundation for successful fundraising. You need to be able to clearly tell people what you're going to do to help gain support and raise as much as you can for the Royal Flying Doctor Service
or your chosen charity. This will also help you plan and, if necessary, pull together a band of merry helpers.

2. Get Organised

Depending on your activity, there will be a few more steps to go through to get yourself organised. This means it's time to think about the scale of your activity, who needs to know what you're doing and whether or not you need to organise permits or insurance.

Our top tip is to make yourself a checklist and write down everything you will need to do. This will help to keep you on track throughout the entire process. By creating a word document, you can share the checklist with others who might be helping you along the way.

3. Get Registered

Once you know what you want to do and with whom, the next step is to get in touch with the Fundraising Team to fill them in on your wonderful plans. Whether you're supporting the Royal Flying Doctor Service or another worthwhile charity, it's really important to let them know what you're up to.

4. Get the Word Out

How are people meant to know about your amazing fundraising activity if no one tells them?

To help you get the word out that you are raising money for a cause, we've got a few little tips, with the RFDS as an example:

• Use some of our FREE RFDS event posters
  
• Ask the RFDS team to add the event to the online calendar
  
• Add the event to your work/school newsletter
  
• Create an open Facebook event so you can invite people and ask them to share the event with friends
  
• Create an online fundraising page and share the link with your network of friends, family and colleagues
  

As a not-for-profit aeromedical organisation, the Royal Flying Doctor Service relies on your help and generosity to keep the Flying Doctor flying.

Although the cattle station that Josh lives on is fictional, most of the other locations used in this book are real places. This includes the town of Coober Pedy, situated along the Stuart Highway in South Australia, about 846 kilometres north of Adelaide. The name comes from the Aboriginal term
kupa piti
, which means ‘white man's hole'.

The town was established in 1915 as the Stuart Range Opal Field, when opal was discovered in the area. It was renamed Coober Pedy in 1920. Today it has more
than seventy opal fields, produces more opal than any other place and is known as the opal capital of the world.

The town is also famous for its underground dwellings, which are dug into the rose-coloured sandstone. As well as homes, there are underground shops, hotels, restaurants and churches.

Today, Coober Pedy relies on tourism as well as opal mining. It is a popular stopping point for people travelling along the Stuart Highway from Adelaide to Alice Springs.

The town has a most unusual golf course consisting of sand, gravel and oil slicks. Golf here is played at night with glowing balls, so as to avoid the high temperatures of the day.

Numerous films have shot scenes in and around Coober Pedy, including
Opal
Dream
,
Until the End of the World
,
The Fire in the Stone
,
Ground Zero
,
Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome
,
Salute to the Jugger
,
Stark
,
Pitch Black
,
Red Planet
and
Kangaroo Jack
.

There is a drive-in cinema in Coober Pedy, although it is not owned by Ratchet.

Pseudechis Australis
, also known as the King Brown snake, Mulga snake or Pilbara Cobra, is one of the longest venomous snakes in the world. Although it is commonly known as the King Brown, it is actually part of the black snake family, and black snake antivenom is used to treat bites from this species.

King Brown snakes are found in all parts of Australia except for Victoria and Tasmania. Their colour differs depending on locality; in the desert they tend to be a
light brown shade, and in the cooler regions of Queensland, South Australia and New South Wales, a brown–blackish colour. Usually each scale is lighter toned around the edge, giving the snake a reticulated appearance.

King Brown snakes can grow up to three metres long, although 1.5 m long is a more typical size for an adult. They have robust bodies, a wide head and smooth snout. Their prey consists of small mammals, birds, snakes, lizards and frogs.

Although highly venomous, these snakes generally only attack when disturbed or provoked.

During times of difficult communication the phonetic alphabet is of great use. ‘S' and ‘F' can sound the same, as can ‘D' and ‘B'. Spelling of names is sometimes required. For example, ‘Smith' is transmitted as Sierra Mike India Tango Hotel using the phonetic alphabet.