Sponsored Trek Success!

You may or may not have known that on the 6th of August I did a 25.7 mile trek around Rutland Water. Despite the fact that I was absolutely knackered within the first 10-11 miles, I pushed on like a trooper and finished the entire walk taking just over 8 and a half hours, or 510 minutes, phew! I arranged the walk myself alongside a fellow fundraiser Louis. Doing a personal challenge like this is a great way to fundraise and you get such a sense of achievement at the end. I raised £344.50 and people are still giving me donations!

We walked the entire red dotted line, which doesn't look like much, but boy was it!

I also attempted to 'vlog' the walk but that was a total fail. I have half of the footage but nothing at the end as I was too sore, exhausted and emotional to even think about turning a camera on! However, I did take some jolly good photos for your eyes to see!

 
 


I was so grateful to everyone who sponsored me. Though I'm glad I never have to do it again as my muscles ached so much the day after and Louis hurt the muscles in his ankle! It's so easy to arrange your own sponsored trek, all you need to do is: 

1. Find a date well in advance that you/you and your fellow expeditionees are free.

2. Find a location and set the distance you want to walk, the longer the distance, the more of a challenge it will be! I would recommend avoiding busy roads and motorways; stick to designated foot paths and public byways. 

3. Log-in to the resources page using the link http://www.campsinternational.com/resources and print off sponsorship forms. Don't be scared to ask for sponsors just whip your sheets out whenever you see a window of opportunity and spread the word! Use social media to your own advantage!

4. TRAIN. I cannot stress this enough! You might think walking a long distance is no different to being on your feet all day. Well let me tell you, if you do no training there is no way on Earth you'll complete your event. If you don't complete it, people may take away their pledges to sponsor you. I planned my walk back in April and went out when I could in the evenings to do some walking right up until my event date.

5. Do your event. Hurrah! Your event is upon you and it's up to you to complete it! Make sure you take plenty of water and food with you in a rucksack. I carried a 30L backpack and took: an extra pair of shoes, a jumper, leggings, 2L of water, first aid kit (because you're going to get blisters no doubt about it!), sunglasses, a hat and my camera! I would also advise to take or at least apply some sun cream before leaving too because I got burnt all over my face - not good. 

6. Pester the people who haven't yet paid your sponsorship. Now, I don't mean be rude, but just ask nicely if you can now have your donation from them, if they haven't paid already, because you completed your event. Everyone I spoke too had at least a 15 minute conversation about how I got on with it when I spoke to them! 

7. Time to plan your next event. Now you've done one event it's time to get your next one planned! The fundraising never stops!  

Keep posted for the next step of my fundraising journey and keep up the hard work yourselves! There's still 3 weeks left of the summer holidays!

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