On Thursday, 24 March,  the third annual Twestival charity event will kick off in more than 200 cities across the world, including here in the Isle of Man. Each event will be raising money for a good cause in its own area, and this year we're raising money for Isle of Man charity Wish Upon A Dream.

Here are five ways you can get involved:

1. Attend or volunteer

Isle of Man Twestival is taking place on 24 March at Jak's Bar and Steakhouse in Douglas and will involve music, raffles, auctions and other fun activities. All proceed go to our charity.  Because the event is 100% volunteer run, if you have any spare time to donate and want to get involved contact us! At the very least, get a crowd of your friends together and come out on the day.  You'll be able to buy tickets soon.

2. Donate online

If you can’t make it on the day, you can still donate to Isle of Man Twestival Local online. We'll soon be launching a 'donate' button on this site to make it easy to give. 

3. Bid in our auction

For the week prior to Twestival we'll be running an online auction via Twitter. Watch for #iomtwestivalauction for valuable items up for grabs.  Bidding will be closed at 18.00, 24 March and winners will be announced at Twestival.

4. Tweet your support

Twestival isn’t just about raising money — it’s also about building awareness for the great work that Wish Upon a Dream carries out, granting wishes for sick children living on the Island.

One way to do that is to get involved with Twestival on Twitter. Start by following @Twestival, @IoMTwestival and our charity @wuadiom on Twitter. Then retweet anything you find of interest and would like to share with your tweeps. We'll have a fall wall at Twestival so you'll be able to see your tweets as they happen.

5. Donate raffle prizes and auction items.  Last year, our raffle and auctions were really big earners, and we hope to repeat that success this year.  But we need your help. Please contact us with anything you'd like to contribute, and we'll be sure to include your name in all our online chatter.