Being totally honest, I have not been a life-long shark lover, or lover of animals in general for that matter. Up until my mid-twenties, my life and plans had only taken place on land in the ‘human world’, made up of human desires and human needs.

However, when learning more about the human-caused climate and ecological crisis, I found my own personal sense of connection to nature, and the other sentient beings with whom we share our floating sphere in the Milky Way, begin to take form.

And, pretty soon, sharks had me hook, line and sinker…(excuse the pun!)

It was after watching a heartbreaking documentary about shark finning a couple of years ago that I found my first real interest in them. It showed me a new side to these very misunderstood predators and I felt I wanted to help them somehow.

Then, in June 2024, I was so incredibly fortunate to snorkel with a juvenile female blue shark off the coast of Pembrokeshire in Wales. Her striking beauty, grace and vulnerability was profoundly moving, humbling and a privilege to witness. In spite of my awful seasickness, it was honestly the best day of my life so far.

Before my trip to Wales, I had already set the date for hosting a ‘Sharkternoon Tea’ to support the Shark Trust, but seeing this gilly lady with my own eyes added a whole new layer of motivation!

A fundraiser filled with nautical nonsense 🦈❤️

 

Initially, I had invited about 40 people via WhatsApp, but I quickly realised that we weren’t all going to fit in my flat! So, I decided to host two events, one for friends and one for family. So, in late September and early October 2024, two Sharkternoon Tea events took place. And they were fintastic!

The events featured vegan shark-themed homemade cakes, ‘fin-ger’ sandwiches and beverages; ‘Fingo’ Bingo game with fun shark and conservation facts; live sea-themed music from my folk band The Dogwood Flowers, as well as other musical guests; ‘Pin the fin back on the shark’ game; a shark alter-ego name generator with name stickers; sharky decorations including fin bunting, sharky selfie/photo props; and charity stickers, magazines and shark ID guides, kindly supplied by the Shark Trust fundraising team.

Guest favourites included the gingerbread ‘Seasick Sailors’ and ‘Lemon Shark’ cupcakes, my band’s cover of Vance Joy’s ‘Riptide’ (which featured rather ridiculous shark-themed lyric adaptations) and the sharky name generator (highlights of which included Gilbert McToothface, Finton Chomps-a-lot and Gillary von Wobbegong!)

When many people think of donating to charity, protecting sharks wouldn’t be their obvious choice. However, I found that the more unusual cause actually caught people’s attention and the event turnout was excellent.

In spite of the slightly bizarre afternoons I had put on for them, everyone who attended wholeheartedly threw themselves into the theme and supporting sharks - the atmosphere was truly joyful.

 

The Sharkternoon Teas raised £625 plus £148.75 in GiftAid - wahoo!  🥳

 

Putting on the events involved a lot of baking, cutting coloured card, Googling shark facts, cleaning and other preparations. But, hand on heart, I had an absolute blast. In fact, I was very sad to have to take down the fin bunting afterwards and return my flat back to normal!

 

If I had to give some tips to other first-time fundraisers, they would be:

 

1. Set a budget for the event and don’t be afraid to scale back - guests don’t know what your initial plans were. I felt much less stressed once I’d scaled back my food plans and I still ended up with ‘fin-ger’ sandwiches coming out of my ears!

 

2. Prepare gradually overtime, not all in the week before, if possible. Having all the decorations made a month or so before meant I could focus on the baking and cleaning and was much less stressful.

 

3. Make the event emotionally accessible - I felt the mixture of fun facts and serious conservation messaging at the event created a nice balance that everyone could engage with.

 

4. Make it easy for people to donate via JustGiving or a similar platform, share the link with family and friends before and after the event, and remember to share a thank you and a fundraising total - I found my thank you message prompted some last minute donations!

 

5. Don’t be afraid to share your passion for protecting sharks!

 

I loved putting on the Sharkternoon Tea! 🦈🎶🫖🧁

 

Thank you to my partner for allowing and supporting me to transform our flat into a sharky dreamland and thank you to all my friends and family for your enthusiasm and incredibly generous donations.

And of course, a special thank you to the Shark Trust for all that you do to protect these amazing animals. I hope that the funds we raised will, even if only in a very small way, support you to continue your vital work.

Sharks deserve so much more respect than humanity is currently showing them, and I hope that this will change. Let’s help our amazing oceanic ancestors so they can continue to grace the oceans of our shared planet, as they have done so far for 400 million years.

A fellow shark lover,

Paige