Walk All Over Cancer FAQs

Raise money by challenging yourself to walk 10,000 steps a day in March. You can take on the challenge any way you wish: solo, as a team and splitting the steps if you can’t reach the full amount. 

     Every day of March 2024.

While we encourage everyone to complete this challenge throughout the month of March, this is a personal challenge, and you can start and finish your challenge at a time that is convenient for you. 

Once you have signed up, join the Facebook Group dedicated to this challenge: https://www.facebook.com/groups/749029550580233

Click 'Join Group'. Once you're in, you can complete a form to get your t-shirt, get tips for walking 10,000 steps a day, be inspired by other fundraisers and find out anything you want to know about the challenge.  

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

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

Of course! You can still set up a Cancer Research UK Giving Page using the link below and collect sponsorship for your walk that way: https://activities.cancerresearchuk.org/waoc-facebook-challenge-2024

Alternatively, there are lots of other ways to fundraise, from JustGiving to other third-party platforms it’s up to you.  

The only thing that matters is that you challenge yourself therefore complete as much of the challenge as you can. The money that you fundraise will allow Cancer Research UK to continue to fund life-saving research and we can’t thank you enough.  

No, don’t worry, we trust you! You don’t need to provide evidence that you’ve completed the challenge to us. Updating your friends and family on your fundraising page is important! Make sure you keep them posted on your progress and share videos and photos throughout March– the more updates the better. Supporters who regularly post their progress raise on average 40% more. 

We recommend you connect your Giving Page to Fitbit so you can track your steps automatically. Find out how here. 

Setting up a Giving Page is the easiest way to raise money. You can set one up here: http://bit.ly/3uI8y3v 

It's then easy to share the page with your friends to gather sponsorship for your challenge.  

Alternatively, there are lots of other ways to fundraise, from JustGiving to other third-party platforms it’s up to you. 

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. 

As part of the automated email journey users will receive a link to digital fundraising materials which they can download. No physical copies will be sent of any of the fundraising materials.   

There is no entry fee for this challenge. Participants are required to collect any sponsorship to Cancer Research UK through their Online Giving Page. This will automatically be sent to us once paid onto your fundraising page.

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. f them. 

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 sponsorship collected or pledged. Once you have completed your fundraising, please send the form with a cheque to:  

Walk All Over Cancer 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.   

Walk All Over Cancer is specifically a fundraising initiative developed by Cancer Research UK, and therefore all fundraising must go direct the charity.

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 Cancer Research UK 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. 

If you’ve decided to fundraise through your Cancer Research UK Giving Page, you won’t need to do a thing – your supporters’ donations will pay in automatically. If you’ve raised offline, simply post your sponsorship form along with your sponsorship in the form of a cheque to:  Walk All Over Cancer 2024, Cancer Research UK, PO BOX 1561, Oxford, OX4 9GZ 

Absolutely! If you’ve set up an Online Giving Page, it’ll remain active until 2025 so your supporters can continue to donate for as long as you want to continue during this period.

The average person walks around 3000 to 5000 steps per day, and they can rack up quickly without you noticing – a few lifestyle changes and walking whenever possible will get your total flying up towards 10,000 (around 5 miles or 8km based on an average stride). 

Whilst we have tried to make this challenge difficult enough for the majority of participants, we understand that for some of you who walk/run regularly this might be a bit easy for you. As such, we suggest a stretch target of any extra 10,000 steps a day for those who finish early! And don’t forget to share with friends and family that you’re pushing yourself further to raise money for Cancer Research UK! 

It’s not unusual to encounter bad weather when out walking in the UK. It’s important that you have the right equipment and top tips if you’re to go out walking in adverse weather. Alternatively, it’s more than ok for you to complete the miles inside on a treadmill at home/the gym, if that’s an option for you. 
 
When taking on a walk, in adverse weather, remember to check your route and know your trail, understanding your surroundings will help you avoid difficult terrain and ensure you stick to safer, flat surfaces.  
 
There’s always a chance you’ll be caught off guard in bad weather whilst out and about, see below some useful equipment to consider: 
- Waterproof clothing 
- Walking shoes/boots and walking socks 
- Warm clothing and layers (thermals, gloves, hats, fleece, long trousers) 
- neck warmer or buff 
- Water and food  
- Mobile phone 

It's important that you’re well equipped for your walk, especially if you’re considering going for a long-distance walk. See below a list of appropriate equipment you might consider: 
 
- Shorts 
- Sunscreen 
- t-shirt or shirt 
- long trousers 
- warm fleece if cold (wool, fleece, or insulated) 
- windproof top 
- sun hat or cap (for warm days) 
- warm hat and gloves 
- Walking stick 
 
And remember to check the weight of your clothes (simple designs tend to weigh less) 
 
See here for more helpful guidance when going on a long-distance walk: https://www.timeoutdoors.com/expert-advice/walking/long-distance/starting-out-in-long-distance-walking 

We welcome everyone to take part in the challenge, 10,000 steps a day is equivalent to about 5 miles (or 8 km). For wheelchairs users you can challenge yourself to getting out and completing a set distance each day instead. The challenge is flexible, and we advise each individual to set a challenge that’s suitable for them. 

For those who have limited mobility, please refer to this article https://www.ramblers.org.uk/go-walking-hub/walking-limited-mobility to ensure you have smooth and enjoyable walking experience. 

There are lots of ways you can track your steps. Your phone will have plenty of free pedometer apps or you could buy a cheap one from your local gym or running shop. 

We recommend using FitBit or Strava so supporters are able to link their account to their online Giving Page. Don’t worry if you don’t have a Fitbit device, you can download the app for free.  

If connected, their Giving Page will show their steps over March. See below for more details.  

Full instructions on how to do this is listed here.

That is totally understandable and in the interest of safety we ask that you do not share the beginning or end of your routes – if you’d like to share then feel free to post the middle/main part of your walk.   

Strava allows you to set a privacy zone around your address to hide the start and end of your routes. In the Strava app, head to Settings > Privacy Controls > Map Visibility. For more information see: https://support.strava.com/hc/en-us/articles/5999538163853-Activity-Privacy-Considerations 

On Fitbit, you can adjust your privacy by editing your profile, making all your personal stats private, hiding badges and trophies, and leaving community groups. For information on how to do any of these please see: https://blog.fitbit.com/go-incognito/ 

There are plenty of ways you can hit your daily target - rack up the numbers by walking all or part of your commute, taking the stairs at work, getting off the bus a stop early or even giving the dog a month of extra walks.

Participants register as an individual but can take on the challenge as a team and split the steps up as a group or all complete 10,000 steps a day. They can also set up a Team Giving Page and invite other registrants to join via the Cancer Research UK online fundraising site

Don’t fret if you have an off day. You could always make the steps up on a nice weekend walk with the family – or just put in a bit of extra effort and make up the numbers across the next week. 

Participants register as an individual but can take on the challenge as a team and split the steps up as a group or all complete 10,000 steps a day. They can also set up a Team Giving Page and invite other registrants to join via the Cancer Research UK online fundraising site.  

To set up a team:

• All your team will need to sign up to Walk All Over Cancer so they each have their own Online Giving Page
• Once everyone has signed up, log into your account
• Hit the 'Create new team' button and follow the instructions
• Once you've created your team, your can send the team page URL to friends and family so they can join too!