Artemis Grapplethon 2019 Final Report

*** UPDATE 20-4-2019: ALL PROCEEDS ARE NOW FINALLY IN AND THE GRAND TOTAL RAISED STANDS AT £4803 **********

The annual 24 hour charity Grapplethon at Artemis BJJ in Bristol just ended today and I'm pleased to report the whole campaign raised a fantastic amount for WomanKind Bristol Women's Therapy Centre.

LocalGiving Fundraisers group page as of 10th March 2019

As you can see from the above screengrab, the fundraisers exceeded the target of £3,000. And there's more to come...here's how my phone case and fine art print sale went:


Meerkatsu limited edition art sale
As reported in my previous posts here and here, I put several pieces of artwork onto Fine Art America. The pieces were available for consumers to buy as art prints or phone cases. The campaign did extremely well and collectively raised $2,238 (roughly £1,700)

Screengrab from my FAA print and phone case sale as of 10 March 2019.

FAA won't pay me the proceeds until 15th April if I understand their terms correctly. So I have already donated £1,000 of my own money into the LocalGiving fundraiser's page in advance. The remaining amount (roughly £600) I'll be able to donate once I get paid from FAA. (UPDATE:  now paid up).

So taking into account the money that is still to come in (there are also some cash donations not accounted for in the LocalGiving total) I'm fairly certain the final donation to WomanKind Bristol Women's Therapy Centre will be around £4,500.

Grappling for 24 hours
Not me! I only managed 6 hours before my ageing body caved in and I was forced to go home. But once I got home I checked in at 2am to the Grapplethon Instagram page and could see video footage of people still rolling, this managing to continue the annual cycle of always having at least one pair sparring on the mat for the duration of the 24 hours.

During the time I spent there I got to roll with lots of people, some familiar faces, others who are new to the Grapplethon. I also got to have my annual roll with Can Sonmez who is the founder of this event and without whom many local charities would not be receiving these hard-earned funds.

Photo by Wanderingmishap on Instagram

This event also marked the very last time Artemis BJJ will be at the MyGym location in Bristol. The building has been sold so Artemis BJJ has moved on and is now located at a new venue which I'll see at next year's Grapplethon.

Photo by Wanderingmishap on Instagram

More than just a good fundraising event, the Grapplethon offers something unique in our community. Wanderingmishap over on Instagram summed it up the best:

"My favorite thing about Grapplethon was that there were no barriers. People rolled with those with years more experience, stones more on weight, different beliefs, different genders and everyone had fun."

Photo by Tacerrob

Thank you to everyone who took part in the event and to everyone who purchased one of my fundraiser prints and phonecases. Big thank you also to Tatami Fightwear who printed the special edition t-shirts I designed and who have always supported us from day one.




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