Hft chosen as official UK charity for International Talk Like a Pirate Day

Howard Lake | 11 September 2013 | News

HFT, the charity that supports people with learning disabilities and their families, has been chose as official UK charity for International Talk Like a Pirate Day.

The annual event takes place on 19 September and involves people around the world dressing like a pirate, talking like a pirate ("aaarrr") or holding a pirate event. Many participants engage in fundraising too.

The UK partnership came about when Hft’s Head of Regional and Community Fundraising, Chris Clarke, noticed that the UK chapter of International Talk Like a Pirate Day had no official charity representative. So he approached  ‘Captain Slappy’ – co-founder of International Talk Like a Pirate Day.

Captain Slappy confirmed the partnership.  He emailed: “Ahoy Chris!… I do, hereby, declare HFT.org.uk to be the "Official" site o' International Talk Like a Pirate Day (UK Chapter) with all the rights and privileges and what-nots that comes with it! May they continue to do good whilst talking badly! Yo Ho Ho and a bottle o' Rum! –  Cap'n Slappy. Keep up the good work, mate!”

What is Hft doing for International Talk Like a Pirate Day?

Chris Clarke, Hft’s Head of Regional and Community Fundraising, is the official UK representative for International Talk Like a Pirate Day. His pirate name is Mad Captain Christopher Piraticus or Mad Cap’n Piraticus for short.

The charity is exploring how best to take advantage of the unusual partnership. It is promoting the event and encouraging the public to take part and raise funds.

It has developed some pirate-themed resources and will itself be piloting some events and activities this year, with a view to expanding its activities in 2014.

Resources include:

• A welcome guide for fundraisers;
   
• Printable Hft pirate bunting;
   
• Origami pirate hats;
   
• Printable pirate colouring pictures;
   
• Pirate posters for people to advertise their fundraising events. They include a suggestion to "scan this QARRRRRR code";
   
• A pirate dictionary, to help people with speaking like a pirate.

Hft’s Community Fundraising team has also been working to sign up a few local businesses, such as pubs and nurseries, to join in with the festivities and raise money for Hft with their own pirate-themed days.

The charity has also been promoting the day via its Facebook page, asking followers to share their best pirate jokes and posting some videos to give them some ideas for fundraising.

More activity in 2014

The charity anticipates learning alot about what resources work and how it can best support its fundraisers and supporters in the initial campaign. It hopes to expand on this considerable in 2014.

Talk Like A Pirate Day

Talk Like A Pirate Day is now in its 11th year. Participants greet each other with cries of "Ahoy matey" and intersperse their conversations with plenty of "aaaarrr"s and "aye.

Facebook users can convert their page to Talk Like A Pirate by selecting it as a language. Online game Minecraft has also offered a similar functionality for players. 
 

About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale. He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.