private groups
The majority of participants who join a Charity Challenge do so on their own, and groups are made up of about 15-20 individuals raising money for their nominated charities. However, a growing number of challenges that we operate are exclusive departures for private groups.
These consist of corporate groups supporting their charity of the year, a sport or social club, or simply a group of friends or work colleagues who want to participate on the same challenge. The majority of these groups start with one adventurous person thinking that they would like to undertake a challenge and they then go on to involve others.
Here are some reasons that people give for wanting to organise an exclusive group:
- To encourage teamwork and improve morale amongst employees
- To celebrate a big birthday
- To get over a difficult life event (divorce, bereavement, children leaving home)
- To meet like-minded people (singles, divorcees, etc)
- To fulfill a new year’s resolution, like losing weight or getting fit
- To experience new cultures
One inspirational example is Don Cowper, who trekked to the summit of the world's highest freestanding mountain – Kilimanjaro - in December 2002, and was so inspired by his experience, that he returned to the UK and immediately started to encourage others to participate in a similar challenge. He was very convincing and he travelled back to Nepal in April 2004 to trek to Everest Base Camp, along with 18 others whom he recruited to join him.
He has since trekked with Charity Challenge to climb one of the world's highest active volcanoes in Ecuador, the Grand Canyon in the USA, and has even been back to Kilimanjaro and Everest Base Camp again raising tens of thousands of pounds for charity. n June 2007 he took another group of trekkers to summit Stok Kangri in India, our highest mountain trek at more than 20,000ft above sea level.
If you think one of your supporters has the enthusiasm, the contacts, and the will to help you, we can organise an exclusive departure date for their group. We will handle all of the administration, and deal with queries from participants about the challenge. All your supporter would have to do (with a little help and encouragement from you) is to get enough adventurous people together and convince them to join them on a challenge.
If they fall short of the minimum number required for a private group (which varies depending on the challenge but could be as few as eight) they could still join a Charity Challenge open departure with other participants.
If you think one of your supporters (individual or corporate, major donor or committee member) can inspire a group of people to join a challenge to raise funds for your charity, please contact the Charity Challenge office to discuss it. You may be surprised how easily they can get a team together and raise thousands of pounds for your cause.
