Dog Walk Challenge FAQs

Supporters raise money by stepping up to the challenge of walking 62 miles (or whatever personal challenge they set themselves) throughout October with their four-legged friend. They can split the miles in a way that suits them, but we recommend around 2 miles every day of the month.  

The challenge starts on the 1st October and ends on the 31st of October.  

Whilst we encourage everyone to complete this challenge in October, this is a personal challenge, and you can start/finish your challenge at a time that is convenient for you. 
We’d recommend aiming for 2 miles a day to spread the distance throughout the month.

Once you have signed up, join the Facebook Group dedicated to this challenge: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1711229972965523 

Click 'Join Group'. Once you're in, you can complete a form to get your tech tech t-shirt, get tips for running the 62 miles, be inspired by other fundraisers and find out anything you want to know about the challenge. 

There are plenty of free apps that will allow you to track your miles such as Strava, Nike Run Club and RunKeeper. Posting about your progress on your page will help encourage donations! 

We recommend using Strava so supporters can link their Strava account to their online Giving Page. 

Find out how to connect your Giving Page to Strava here: https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/strava  

*Please note: With Strava there is sometimes a 48-hour lag in the Strava data being updated, and if the miles still aren't showing, disconnect and reconnect to do a hard reset and this will add any miles already on the Strava account. 

There is no entry fee for this challenge. Participants are required to collect sponsorship for CRUK through their Online Fundraiser. This will automatically be sent to us once paid onto your fundraising page.

We trust you! You don’t need to provide evidence that you’ve completed the challenge to us. However, updating your friends and family on your online fundraising page is important, so make sure you keep them posted on your progress and share videos and photos throughout October – the more updates the better. Supporters who regularly post their progress raise 40% more on average.

Don’t worry you can make up the miles on another day or extend your challenge into the following month if needed. Complete the challenge in a way that suits to you.

What matters is that you challenge yourself, so try to complete as much of the challenge as you can. Whether you complete the full 62 miles or not, the money that you fundraise will allow CRUK to speed up progress in life-saving cancer research and we can’t thank you enough.  

Absolutely, this is your challenge, and you can tailor it to suit you! Just be clear with your supporters how far you are intending to walk and keep them regularly updated with your progress.  

Yes, you can still take part, but be aware not to over-exercise your puppy. The Kennel Club have lots of helpful information, click here. 

     Tips to remember: 

- Good rule of thumb is a ratio of 5 minutes of exercise per month of age of your puppy (up to twice a day) For example, if your puppy is 4 months old, 4x5=20 mins of exercise.  

- As they get older, they can have longer periods of exercise.  

- It is important to exercise your puppy every day to strengthen their muscles and bones.   

- Try not to exercise your puppy on a full stomach as they can get bloated.  

That’s absolutely fine, the most important part of the challenge is taking part and your support of life-saving cancer research. 

As a general rule, we suggest you speak to your vet for specific information on your breed, age, etc. Just like people, every dog is different and only a trained professional will be able to advise. 

Complete the form to receive your free dog bandana in the post. Once completed, please allow 15 working days for your dog bandana to arrive.

 
If you have not received your dog bandana in this time please contact supporter.services@cancer.org.uk 

Sending out your dog bandana comes at a cost to Cancer Research UK, so please only order one to ensure as much fundraising goes towards our life-saving research.

Unfortunately, returning the dog bandanas comes at a cost to Cancer Research UK, therefore, we ask that you keep hold of it.

18. We offer the option for supporters taking part to opt out of being sent a Dog Bandana should they not need one for the challenge. When filling out the form, simply select ‘no’ where it asks if you’d like to receive a Dog Bandana. You’ll still receive a Giving Page, be able to join the challenge group and take part! To sign up for the challenge, please follow the link here.

If you have any further questions please email supporter.services@cancer.org.uk or call 0300 1231022 (lines open 08:00 – 20:00 Monday to Friday and, 09:00 – 17:00 at weekends) 

As medals come at a huge cost to the charity, we will not be sending these out. Instead, we will send all supporters a digital certificate and you can access digital badges to shout about your achievement on social media.

There is not a minimum amount of fundraising that we set for participants, but we recommend that supporters set a reasonable target of raising about £150.

Yes, if you don’t have Facebook, you can set up a CRUK Giving Page using the link below and collect sponsorship for your CRUK Dog Walking Challenge here.

Yes, under 18s can take part in this challenge, but we do not market to them and any third-party platform forum (e.g. a Facebook forum) is only available to over 18s. If under 18s are taking part, their parent/guardian must consent to the child’s participation, supervise the challenge and accept responsibility for complying with the challenge rules. Currently we are unable to accept registration for a child, so the child’s parent/guardian have to register on the child’s behalf. Similarly, if a child wants to raise money online and/or join a forum, the child’s parent/guardian must register for an online fundraising page and/or join the forum on the child’s behalf. 

You can add an offline donation onto your own page and send this donation through to us as a cheque, along with the sponsorship form which you can download below: https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/sites/default/files/downloadable-resour...

Your Online Giving Page is the easiest way to raise money. You can set up an Online Giving Page here: https://activities.cancerresearchuk.org/dog-walking-challenge-oct-2024    

You can then share the page with your friends and family to gather sponsorship for your challenge.  

We have plenty of fundraising tools and ideas to help you raise life-saving donations. Please see our fundraising hub with everything you need from the challenge here:  https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/get-involved/find-an-event/dog-walk-challenge/fundraising-materials 

You can use our sponsorship form to raise money rather than using an online method. Simply download and print off to keep track of all your sponsorships collected or pledged. Once you have completed your fundraising, please send the form with a cheque to:  
CRUK Dog Walking Challenge 2024, Cancer Research UK, PO BOX 1561, Oxford, OX4 9GZ. 
 
Please note we are currently experiencing a delay in receiving and processing donations so do bear with us if it takes a little longer than usual to receive an acknowledgment.  

This challenge is specifically a fundraising initiative developed by CRUK, and therefore all fundraising must go directly to the campaign.

Gift Aid is a tax relief allowing UK charities to reclaim an extra 25% on every eligible donation made by a UK taxpayer. This means CRUK can claim an extra 25p for every £1 donated, without it costing you or your sponsors an extra penny. If the donation is eligible for Gift Aid, sponsors need to fill out the sponsor form, following the guidelines at the top of the page.