Tips & Advice

Spring Fundraising Ideas

March 22, 2022

With the start of Spring on Sunday the 20th of March the opportunities for new fundraising ideas begin to bloom. The sun is starting to shine and the days are becoming longer – the perfect time to kick start your fundraising! There are lots of amazing awareness days and holidays coming up over the next couple of months that you can piggy back your fundraising efforts on.

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

We have pulled together a few of our favourite fundraising ideas for this spring…

National Walking Month

May is National Walking Month and it’s the perfect opportunity to get outside, start moving and raise much needed funds for some worthwhile causes. Plus, it is also the best time of year to see bluebells so make sure you put on those walking boots and get outside!

Fundraising ideas :

  • WALKATHON – You, your friends, one day, 26 miles. Pick a route and get going! Ask your mates to sponsor you per mile.
  • TRY20 – Do the #try20 challenge and aim to walk 20 minutes every day for the whole month – ask your friends and colleagues to sponsor you.
  • 10,000 STEPS – Get active this spring and take 10,000 steps a day for 30 days. Use your smart phone or watch to keep an eye on your progress. Ask you mates to sponsor your efforts.
  • DOG WALKING – Offer to walk your neighbours and friends’ dogs in return for a donation.

Easter

Easter Sunday this year falls on the 17th of April and it is a cracking time to fundraise! Easter Egg Decorating. Easter bake-offs. Egg and spoon races. Easter flower arrangements. You can even fill a jar with mini eggs, get people to guess how many are in there and ask them to donate. The person with the closest guess wins the jar or a prize (ask local businesses to donate something).  

Easter Egg hunts are also a classic spring time fundraiser, ensure you follow the latest set of guidelines from the government. If your garden is big enough invite everyone round for the hunt in return for a donation. Alternatively, you could speak to local parks and gardens and see if they would support your event and allow it on their property – but do ask first!

Spring Fundraising Ideas

Earth Day

The theme for Earth day on the 22nd of April is “Invest in our Planet”. What a perfect opportunity to join the world’s largest environmental movement and run a fundraising event that can support our local communities and focus on areas that are affected by environmental issues.

Fundraising ideas:

  • TREE PLANTING – Plant new trees and plants in your local community. Get volunteers to join you as planters. Accept donations of seedlings and other plantable items, ideally native plants. If you plant on public property, such as in a park, be sure to get permission from local authorities.
  • PLOGGING / RUBBISH WALK – Set yourself a jogging or walking challenge combined with picking up litter. This will have a positive impact on our environment and our bodies – in other words, it’s an earth-friendly way to get fit. 
  • CLEANUP DAY – Each volunteer gets a roll of rubbish bags, a pair of gloves, and a shovel or rubbish pick, and performs a walking clean-up of a designated area. If you are going on public property, such as in a park, be sure to get permission from local authorities.
  • PLANT A COMMUNITY GARDEN – A community garden can bring a wide range of benefits – from connecting people with each other to growing fresh food to enjoy. Check out the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) website for tips on how to get this up and running.

Queen’s Platinum Jubliee Party

On 6th February this year Her Majesty The Queen became the first British Monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee, marking 70 years of service to the people of the United Kingdom, the Realms and the Commonwealth. To celebrate this unprecedented anniversary, events and initiatives will take place throughout the year, culminating in a four day UK bank holiday weekend from Thursday 2nd to Sunday 5th June. On Sunday the 5th of June people are invited to share friendship, food and fun with neighbours as part of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations. A Big Jubilee Lunch can be big or small – street party or picnic, tea and cake or a garden barbeque.

Provide food, drinks and entertainment in exchange for donations. The opportunities with this are event are endless! Ask a live band to provide music (lots of new musicians also emerging from lockdown!). Serve food and drinks donated by local restaurants and cafes. Ask local businesses to donate prizes for a raffle, auction or tombola on the big day. Set up a selfie station. Hold a cake sale. Set up a face painting stand. Play garden games…

Sell tickets prior to the event so you know how much stock is required and how many people will be attending your fundraising event.

Spring Fundraising Ideas

Spring Clean

It is officially the start of Spring so there is no better time to have a clear out! With spring cleaning comes an excellent opportunity for online and in-person car boot sales to raise money for your good cause. Create an event page on a neighborhood site, such as Nextdoor, and invite your community to donate and/or buy items.

If you wish to sell online there are a variety of platforms that you can use such as Ebay, Amazon Marketplace, Gumtree, Facebook Marketplace, and Shopify. Please ensure that you clean and disinfect everything before passing them on. Don’t forget to share your listings on social media to help increase awareness of your fundraising events.

Believe Achieve Inspire
Inspiration

MEET THE TEAM – PENNY KNIGHT

March 18, 2022

At Charity Challenge we are extremely proud of the amazing crew we have. We know it can be a little daunting joining a challenge for the first time so we thought you might like to meet the team in advance of your Charity Challenge. Today we introduce you to Challenge Leader – Penny Knight.

Name

Penny Knight

How long have you been a Challenge Leader?

I’ve been a leader with Charity Challenge for over 11 years now.  I started in 2011 when I volunteered to assist with a very large group from Barclays Bank raising money for Elise for Life on the Great Wall Discovery Challenge. Just before the trek, the Challenge Leader was injured and I then had to step up and take the lead. That was the start of what I consider to be the most rewarding dream job of my life!

What’s been your favourite challenge (so far)?

The Sumatra Jungle Challenge holds a special place for me. I love the humid climate, the fun-loving local guides, the wild green lush plants, the exciting array of wildlife, the spicy food and the opportunity to immerse yourself in nature. It’s raw and real, basic and brilliant. 

Do you have any challenges left on your bucket list?

There are so many challenges left on the bucket list and there’s nothing I enjoy more than looking through the Charity Challenge website and making a note of them. To mention but a few – the Simien Mountains of Ethiopia, Zambezi River Challenge, Trek Angkor Wat, Trek to Machu Picchu (still to be visited!) Costa Rica Coast to Coast Challenge, Kyrgyzstan Trek, and the Amazon Survivor Challenge . Writing this from Sri Lanka, I’ve just looked at the Sri Lanka Cycle Challenge – what a fantastic itinerary that is!!

How do you keep your body in tip top shape for the challenge season?

To keep fit and ready for the next challenge, I enjoy walking in the Yorkshire Dales, love fell running especially early in the morning and do regular weights, circuits and yoga. 

What are your go to snacks to keep you fuelled and hydrated on a challenge?

My go to snacks are flapjacks and salted peanuts – tasty, cheap and packed with calories!

Any top tips to share with participants signed up to a challenge?

My advice would be to embrace every opportunity that comes your way – on a challenge, talk to everyone, stop and hold every moment, smell, breathe deep, listen and see every detail – each child’s face, the fruits on the stalls, the shadows on the hills. It’ll definitely all go too fast. 

Trek Madagascar

What 5 items do you always pack in your day rucksack?

In my day sack, there’ll always be a Nivea lip balm, some tiger balm (it solves everything!) my water bladder, a whistle and my loo bag (which I can grab easily if on a bike, running or trekking – it’ll have biodegradable wet wipes, tissues and nappy sacks so no rubbish is left behind.)

What is the best thing about being a leader?

The best thing about being a leader is witnessing the success of the participants. The reward of being a part of their dreams, excitement, friendships and achievements cannot be surpassed. 

What is your proudest achievement to date?

My proudest achievement to date is so difficult to pinpoint. I think it would simply be that I’m proud of the fact that I might have helped to inspire some people to achieve more than they thought they could, either during a challenge or following it. 

Believe Achieve Inspire
Inspiration

WHAT CAN I DO TO HELP THE PEOPLE OF UKRAINE?

March 2, 2022

It’s good to see how a lot of small gestures can add up and have a big impact.

Banning Russia from the Eurovision Song Contest will not on its own change the conflict, but when coupled with hundreds of other similar gestures and initiatives, it can and will make a huge difference.

Being embedded in the charity sector, we have come across a number of our charity partner’s campaigns that are helping to support the people of Ukraine.

For example, we know from other conflicts, that armed violence is the number one driver of hunger. With war comes displacement, disruptions to local supply chains, little to no income, and soaring fuel and food prices. Families are driven into poverty and struggle to access food and basic needs. It is estimated that at least 2.9 million people in Ukraine will need humanitarian assistance in 2022.

If you wish to support the people of Ukraine, here are some ways you can:

? Action Against Hunger UK, have launched an emergency appeal to support the Ukrainian families affected by the conflict to make sure they have access to the help they need.

? British Red Cross, has launched an appeal to help the Ukrainian Red Cross to provide food, medicine, clothing and shelter, as well as first aid training in bomb shelters and, in the last few days, 15,000 litres of drinking water to villages in eastern Ukraine. 

? UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is funding emergency shelters, repairs for homes damaged by shelling, emergency cash assistance, psychological support and warm clothing. 

? UNICEF, the UN’s children’s charity, is helping to ensure families have clean water and food and that child health and protection services continue. 

? Save the Children UK, is providing cash assistance, food and other support to refugees crossing into Romanian and Lithuania, as well as in Ukraine itself. 

Believe Achieve Inspire
Challenges

CELEBRATE 2022 WITH THE RETURN OF OVERSEAS CHALLENGES!

February 25, 2022

We are delighted to have restarted our overseas challenges again for the first time in almost two years! We have had a number of successful challenges already return from Tanzania and Sweden and others about to depart to Nepal, Peru, Argentina and Morocco.

We are constantly reviewing relevant guidance, and advice from local and international government authorities, about necessary travel requirements. For the the latest travel advisory update please click here.

Now that we have been given the green light on overseas travel, our 2022 dates have started to book up fast!

How are you planning to spend your year?

MAY

Trek to Petra, 7 May 2022
Discover the ancient ‘rose city’ of Petra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site on this 5-day trek along a breath-taking section of the Jordan Trail. Sign up before midnight 13th Mar 2022 and get £100 off the registration fee! Use the code PETRA100 when booking.

JUNE

Mount Toubkal Trek, 7 June 2022
Summit Jebel Toubkal, Morocco’s highest mountain (4,167m) and get lost in the colourful souks of mystical Marrakech. 

Trek Albanian Alps, 10 June 2022
Traverse lush green valleys, wildflower meadows and craggy passes in Albania, and conquer Zla Kolata, Montenegro’s highest mountain (2,534m).

JULY

Giant’s Causeway Challenge, 15 July 2022
Take on a marathon distance trek along the dramatic coastline of the Giant’s Causeway, UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Kilimanjaro Summit Climb, 20 July 2022
Follow the uncrowded Lemosho route to conquer the famous ‘roof of Africa’ – Mt Kilimanjaro (5,895m)

AUGUST

Iceland Lava Trek, 3 Aug 2022
This 5-day Icelandic itinerary takes in thundering waterfalls, steaming lava fields, plunging fjords and spouting geysers. Rewarded with an indulgent visit to Iceland’s famous Blue Lagoon.

SEPTEMBER

Trek Transylvania, 6 Sept 2022
Traverse the Transylvanian Alps on this 60km trek through Romania and explore Count Dracula’s eerie castle.

Everest Base Camp, 29 Sept 2022
Stand in the shadows of the world’s highest mountain (8,848m) and explore Nepal’s mystical capital, Kathmandu.

OCTOBER

Trek Angkor Wat, 8 Oct 2022
Trek into the heart of the stunning Phnom Kulen National Park, visiting sacred waterfalls, the Giant Sleeping Buddha and Angkor Wat.

Great Wall Discovery, 8 Oct 2022
Test yourself against thousands of steps along the Great Wall of China, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, with time to explore China’s historic capital – Beijing.

NOVEMBER

Saigon to Angkor Wat, 3 Nov 2022
Cycle 450kms from the waterways and rice paddies of the Mekong Delta, passing ancient temples, pagodas, and colourful villages before finishing at the Royal Temples of Angkor Wat, Cambodia.

Cuba Revolution Cycle, 4 Nov 2022
Welcome to the land of cigars, revolution, Che Guevara and vintage Chevrolets. Cycle 350km from one beautiful coastline to the other, passing remote villages, fruit orchards and sugar plantations.

EXPLORE OUR FULL RANGE OF CHALLENGES HERE
Believe Achieve Inspire
Tips & Advice

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT TEAM BOOKINGS

January 17, 2022
Charity Challenge group hug on Great Wall Discovery Challenge

How do I book a team onto a challenge?

Firstly, you’ll need to nominate a ‘lead booker’ to create the booking on behalf of your team. They’ll need to head to our website, choose a challenge, and click ‘BOOK NOW’.  

On the booking form, the lead booker will fill in the registration form with their details as normal. Towards the end of the registration form, they will have the option to add ‘ADDITIONAL TEAMMATES’ to create a team. They’ll simply enter the number of additional teammates and choose a team name! 

To complete the booking, the lead booker will then pay registration fees for ALL team members to reserve the appropriate number of spaces.

The booking form will look like this: 

How many people can be in my team?

A team booking is based on two or more participants booking together. There is no limit to maximum team numbers (provided there is space on the challenge).  

If you’re looking to book a team of 20 or more, however, please drop us an email at info@charitychallenge.com so we can assist accordingly. 

If you’d like to add additional teammates once your initial booking is complete, the lead booker can purchase additional places via their Charity Challenge account. They can log in here, head to the ‘Team Bookings’ tab on the left-hand side and scroll to the bottom of the page. There they will find the option to add one or more additional places and pay their registration fees.

Do my teammates need to register?

Yes – we’ll need the full details of each participant taking part in the challenge. 

Once the lead booker has completed the booking, they will receive an email titled ‘Your Challenge Team…’. This email contains a unique booking URL. It the lead bookers responsibly to share this link to each of their team, in order for each member to then register.

Upon clicking the link, teammates will either create an account or log in (if they’ve used our services before) and be asked to complete the same registration form. As the lead booker has created the team, and paid for all registration fees, they will not need to pay a registration fee for their booking. They’ll be automatically allocated one of the team’s pre-paid registration fees upon completion of the booking form.  

It is important that teammates book via the link shared from the lead booker only and not through our main website in order to join the team and receive a pre-paid registration fee.  

We’d encourage your teammates to sign up ASAP to avoid auto-cancellation of empty spaces, especially if they are opting for our ‘minimum sponsorship’ or ‘flexi sponsorship’ payment options, which requires authorisation from the charity – we want to make sure they have plenty of time to meet their fundraising deadlines! 

The lead booker can monitor who has completed their registration to join the team, and find their unique booking URL, in their Charity Challenge account area under ‘team bookings’.

a team booking of charity challengers smiling in front of a mountain

Why should I book as a team? 

If “teamwork makes the dream work” wasn’t cliché enough, we’re firm believers that joining a challenge as a team can transform your experience. As a team, you’re both motivated and supported by those striving for the same goal as you. A little healthy competition never hurt anyone, either!  

Booking this way can: 

  • Ensure all participants bookings are aligned and uniform 
  • Simplify the process of booking onto a challenge by having one central registration payment 
  • Guarantee places on a challenge 

It’s important to note that booking as a team will not affect your time on the challenge. To ensure you’re grouped, or walking together, on your challenge, please have a chat with your challenge leader on the challenge day. Please note, with some challenges, groups may be allocated by walking speed, so members of your team may need to adjust their pace to ensure you all stay together.

Are the challenge costs and fundraising costs per team or per participant?

All of our costs listed on our website are per participant, across all payment options.  

If the team are all using the ‘minimum sponsorship’ payment method, you’re welcome to fundraise as a team. Please ensure that your target fundraising amount reflects the number of participants, and that you’ve notified your nominated charity of this. Sending them a link to your fundraising page is a great idea. 

For example: if a team of 10 take on the National Three Peaks in 2025, choosing the ‘minimum sponsorship’ payment method, they’re required to raise £935.00 per participant. Therefore, a team fundraising page would need to have a target of at least £9350.00. 

Charity Challenge group trekking across the Sahara Desert

Do my teammates have to nominate the same charity and use the same payment option as me?

When the lead booker creates the team, they’ll be asked whether the team should have the same payment option and charity nomination on their bookings. If they select ‘yes’ to both questions, the charity nomination field and payment option question on the teammates’ booking forms will be auto populated and they’ll be unable to edit. If they select ‘no,’ they’ll be able to select their payment option and which charity they would like to nominate.  

Alternatively, you can allow your teammates to choose a payment option that works for them but nominate the same charity or to nominate their charity of choice but have the same payment option. 

Any changes post-booking will incur an administration fee, as per our T&Cs. 

If you’re all fundraising for the same charity and would like to do this as a group, we advise checking with the nominated charity first – and remember that the sponsorship amounts are per person!

For any further information, please visit our website.

Believe Achieve Inspire
Latest News

BOOKING WITH CONFIDENCE

January 15, 2022
Booking with confidence

During these unsettling times our charity partners need our support more than ever. The continued Covid-19 situation puts them in an extremely vulnerable position as a huge portion of their income has been lost from cancelled fundraising events in 2020 and 2021. Now is the time that we all need to come together to ensure we can continue to help those most in need.

Charity Challenge have operated close to 100 challenges throughout England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales since the end of the first lock down in 2020. We are pleased to tell you that all of our UK and Irish challenges are now fully operational with Covid-Safe measures in place.

Our international challenges are due to start again from January 2022 and with thousands of trekkers and riders waiting to take part in their postponed challenges, we are getting ready operationally to put into practice all of the learning from operating our domestic challenges. We want anyone considering booking or travelling with Charity Challenge to have absolute confidence, so we have put together the following information to support your decision
making.

For downloadable pdfs of our Booking with Confidence details click on the relevant link below:

Booking with Confidence : Overseas Challenges
Booking with Confidence : UK Challenges

1. What happens if my challenge cannot run due to Covid-19?

Please rest assured that if Charity Challenge cannot operate a challenge in the host country due to Covid-19, we will offer you a number of options including: 

  • the chance to postpone your challenge to a later departure (this year or next) 
  • to join any Charity Challenge trip in another country (this year or next) 
  • to transfer your place to someone else  
  • to receive a refund of monies paid for the challenge (excluding admin fees)

2. When are Charity Challenge making a final decision regarding if a challenge can take place?

Overseas Challenges

If for any reason we don’t feel your challenge can proceed we will make a decision approximately 12 weeks prior to your challenge (the only exception to this would be if the government advice suddenly changed – between 12 weeks and your challenge date – and then we would be in touch at the earliest convenience).

UK Challenges

If for any reason we don’t feel that your challenge can proceed we will make a decision approximately 8 weeks prior to your challenge (the only exception to this would be if the Government advice suddenly changed – between 8 weeks and your challenge date – and then we would be in touch at the earliest convenience).

3. Spread the cost of booking a challenge over 2 months

For most international trips, you can book and pay your registration fee in two instalments. You pay the first instalment at the time of booking and we will automatically take the second instalment from the same credit or debit card 31 days later. When paying your registration fee in instalments, a £10 admin fee will be added to your first registration fee payment. Please note that your booking will not be processed (and we will not send an authorisation request to your charity) until we receive the payment for the second instalment. Your place on the challenge will only be held for 31 days from your initial booking. If we are unable to take your second instalment, your booking will be cancelled, and normal cancellation terms will apply. Please see our terms and conditions. (Please note that if you take part in one of our promotions, i.e Black Friday, or New Year Sale, you are unable to spread the cost of booking a challenge over 2 months)

4. What if I postpone the challenge and then the later postponed trip is also affected and cannot run due to Covid-19?

Even if you move on to another challenge later in the year or next year, if we still find ourselves in a position where we cannot operate the challenge due to Covid-19, we will offer you the same options as above, to postpone, to change trips, to transfer your place to someone else or to receive a refund.

5. Can Charity Challenge help me with my fundraising deadline?

As standard, you should send 80% of your minimum sponsorship target to the charity 10 weeks before an international challenge, and 7 weeks before a UK challenge.

However, your chosen charity may be able offer you some flexibility over this either with the % due, or the number of weeks before departure. We therefore recommend that you speak directly to your specific charity. In most cases charities have been extremely understanding of the difficulties around fundraising during the pandemic and have therefore been willing to move their fundraising deadlines in order to support you to take part in the challenge.

6.  What safety measures will Charity Challenge have in place to enable overseas challenges to take place safely?

Since May this year, we have operated many of our UK challenges with a range of procedures in place to comply with regulations and guidance and provide a safe environment in which to complete challenges. We were able to do this by vigilantly following a variety of government, local authority and national governing bodies guidelines. We used these guidelines to produce our own ‘Covid Safe’ safety management that all of our events needed to adhere to.
All of our leaders and crew were given online training to understand and carry out these guidelines. We produced a ‘COVID 19 – Keeping you Safe ’ document that was sent to everyone participating on a challenge.

We are already working with our teams overseas to put in place a number of ‘Covid safe’ systems so that our international challenges can get up and running as soon as it is safe to do so. If it is necessary then this will include things like providing single rooms or tents to all participants, increasing space on vehicles used for transfers and providing facemasks and hand sanitiser at all stages of the challenge. Once we have a greater understanding of what will be required in each destination we will make sure that everyone booked onto an overseas challenge is informed of what measures are being put in place to keep you safe.

We have worked incredibly hard to keep everyone taking part on a UK challenge safe. We produced online safety briefing videos for participants to watch before arriving at the challenge, provided single rooms for everyone when accommodation was required, put on extra buses to enable social distancing to take place on all transfers, and provided bottles of hand sanitiser, facemasks and buffs for everyone taking part on a challenge. We will continue to
make sure that your safety is at the centre of every decision we make when it comes to operating our challenges.

7. Is there any travel insurance that provides any kind of cover for Covid-19?

Our travel insurance partners at Campbell Irvine have launched a policy which includes Medical Expenses and Cancellation cover for Covid-19. This is a vital piece of cover for any intended overseas trip, so please do read this information carefully.

Travel Insurance Cover

  • Medical emergency treatment overseas and medical repatriation if you are diagnosed with Covid-19.
  • Cancellation cover to reimburse you for any irrecoverable payments and charges made for travel and accommodation if you have to cancel your trip due to a doctor diagnosing either you, a close relative or your travelling companion with Covid-19 and as a result being advised not to travel. 
  • Cancellation due to either you or your travelling companion’s direct exposure to a close relative being diagnosed with Covid-19 resulting in an order via the NHS Test and Trace programme for you to be medically quarantined and not being able to travel.
  • Cancellation or Curtailment cover due to denied boarding of public transport if displaying symptoms of Covid-19.

Like all insurance policies, there are specific exclusions, so please read all of the detail before purchasing. For further information on the updated Campbell Irvine Direct travel insurance policy including Covid-19 cover, please see:

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the team at Campbell Irvine. 020 7938 1734. info@campbellirvine.com. www.campbellirvinedirect.com

8. What financial security do Charity Challenge provide?

We provide financial security for flight-inclusive packages by way of our Air Travel Organiser’s Licence (number 6546), issued by the Civil Aviation Authority. When you buy an ATOL protected flight-inclusive challenge from us you will receive an ATOL Certificate in your account area. This lists what is financially protected, where you can get information on what this means for you and who to contact if things go wrong. For further information, visit the ATOL website at www.atol.org.uk.

Not all challenge or travel services offered and sold by us will be protected by the ATOL Scheme. ATOL protection extends primarily to customers who book flight inclusive packages originating in the United Kingdom. We also provide full financial protection for any challenges that are packages but DO NOT include flights (and where you are joining from a European country), by way of an insurance policy held with International Passenger Protection Limited and underwritten by Insurers who are members of the Association of British Insurers & Lloyds Syndicates. For further information please go to www.ipplondon.co.uk.

Covid -19 : Frequently Asked Questions

We understand that all the changes in the current environment can be extremely overwhelming and may leave you with many questions as we all adapt to the new way of being. To hopefully ease some of your concerns we have pulled together some FAQ’s around Covid-19.

UK Challenges Covid-19 FAQ’s

Oversea’s Challenges Covid-19 FAQ’s

We hope the above information provides some support, but if you have any further questions please do not hesitate to get in touch. challenges@charitychallenge.com +44 (0)20 8346 0500