why choose charity challenge?
In a rather large nutshell...
destinations
We currently have challenges in more than 25 countries worldwide in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe and the Americas.
activities
The types of challenge we offer are equally varied. You can push yourself to the limits by trekking, mountain climbing, cycling, horse riding, sky diving, kayaking, white water rafting or getting your hands dirty on a community challenge.
charity
You can join any one of our open challenges, and raise money for ANY UK or Irish registered charity as long as you have their permission.
responsible tourism
Charity Challenge leads the market in terms of responsible operation. We ensure that the local communities in the host country benefit directly from our challenges. All of our expeditions create employment, contribute to the local economy and inject funds into vital community projects. We also work to fund and contribute physically with the development of essential infrastructure.
flexibility
our flexibility means there should be an ideal itinerary to suit everyone. Our portfolio incorporates: seven different types of activity, over 25 countries, three levels of difficulty, three payment options, a wide range of challenge durations and more than 100 departure dates annually. Many of which are accessible to people of all abilities including wheelchair events.
the team
Our company is made up of people who have trekked, climbed, biked and built, fundraised, organised and led challenges around the world. Whether its choosing the right challenge before booking, helping you to achieve your fundraising goal, getting you fit before departure, or helping you on the challenge itself, we provide a massive amount of support in order to help you make the most of this incredible experience. Throughout our business, there is a genuine understanding of what participants are putting themselves through and a real enthusiasm to help them get the best out of their experience.
information
We provide extensive information to help you prepare for the challenge including very detailed itinerary, kit list, country fact file, frequently asked questions, health notes and travel tips, high altitude notes, fundraising support, fitness training, responsible travel, insurance and much more.
transparency
We are 100% transparent about challenge costs, who pays what and when, how much is funded by the individual and how much by the charity and so on. This is very important especially when fundraising and a proportion of the funds raised will also be used to fund the challenge. Do ask other operators to confirm if there are any hidden costs and you might be surprised to find large costs like the fuel elements of air taxes (could be more than £200) not included! We are totally clear about what’s included and what is not. In fact on every trip we try to include everything possible other than costs relating to personal situation (such as visa, vaccination, tips, and or items of a personal nature). If something isn’t included, we will list it and give you an approximate cost to expect. There are no hidden costs and if any costs do increase due to government imposed taxes etc, we adhere to The Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992 as per clause 5 of our terms and conditions.
innovation
We have been first to market with open challenges, self funder payment options, community challenges, family challenges, online booking, participant and charity secure members areas, marketing tools and marketing workshops.
broaden your horizons
This is not just a physical challenge. You will have the opportunity to experience new cultures - from the Maasai in Northern Tanzania to the Karen hill tribe in Thailand. And as our group sizes are amongst the smallest in the industry you are likely to experience more genuine interactions than larger groups of 50+ people for example.
fundraising
As well as the support you will receive through your charity, we provide fundraising advice and an A-Z of fundraising ideas, hard copy sponsorship forms, access to many online fundraising websites and a sample press release to help with promotion.
booking
We have an online booking system to capture all of the relevant details in order to provide you with the kind of support you will need including dietary requirements, allergies, pre existing medical history, who you might want to share with and so on.
members area
Once you have booked, you will receive access to your own secure members area where you can download all of the relevant challenge information required, but also sponsorship forms, fundraising ideas, fitness training programme, details of fitness training weekends, contact details of others in your group (subject to data protection), insurance details, optional extension details, visa application notes, emergency contact details, reminders and much more.
medical support
Your medical details will be screened by our medical consultant who will speak to you about any conditions which they feel may cause you an issue on your specific challenge (i.e. at altitude). On the challenge you will be supported by first aid trained expedition leaders and on high altitude treks a doctor too.
insurance
The specialist travel insurance that we offer will cover you for medical emergency, evacuation and repatriation, and provide cover for the specific nature of the challenges whether high altitude trekking or manual labour on an international NGO’s building site. The insurance exclusively also protects your charity for any contribution they may make towards your challenge costs which could be as much as £1750. We also have some very sensible but unique clauses that provide cover even when Foreign and Commonwealth Office issue a travel advisory against travel when potentially a challenge might otherwise have to be cancelled.
