Fundraise Your Way: Walking 48 miles in a month

I was 12 years old when my dad was diagnosed with bowel cancer. When he found out, he didn’t tell me that it was cancer at first, only that he would be having a small operation. I guess he didn’t want to worry me. During his illness he had several operations as well as chemotherapy and radiotherapy. It really impacted upon our family life, but our parents still provided my sisters and me with all the opportunities we could ask for.

I could not be prouder of how he coped with the treatment for the disease, and how well he did at the time despite dealing with other personal issues as well. I can now say my dad has had his five year all-clear for cancer, and he continues to live a great and healthy lifestyle. I would love more people to be able to tell such a positive story, which is why I am fundraising for the charity to support their work in research. To stop people dying of bowel cancer in the future.

I wanted to raise money for the charity so decided walk 48 miles throughout April, as my dad was diagnosed when he was 48. I’m breaking it down by walking 1.8 miles every day in Epsom and Newcastle. I set up a JustGiving page to raise donations for my walk, and have already raised £160! My original target was £100 and it’s been amazing to see the support for my dad and I from people we know.

If there are any keen walkers in Epsom or Newcastle who fancy walking a few miles then do get in touch with the fundraising team at the charity, as it would be lovely to have a chat on the way.

Here’s four tips for setting up your own walking fundraiser

Set your target distance

Choose the distance you want to cover. Like Jenn it could be a meaningful number like 48, or you could choose an existing walking route near you to complete.

Pick a date

The next step is to decide when you want to do your walking event. You could either cover the distance over a week or month, or pick one day to tackle the whole route – it’s up to you! 

Invite others to join you

It’s always great to have company when walking or fundraising, so why not ask family, friends or colleagues to join you along the way.

Set off and raise funds with every step!

You could set up an online donations page for people to sponsor you for your amazing walk or try to raise a pound for every mile that you cover. The final step is to just to start walking – good luck!

Fundraise Your Way this Bowel Cancer Awareness Month

Jenn is helping to fundraise towards a future where nobody dies of bowel cancer. You can too by having a quiz night, hosting a coffee morning or by getting inspired from our A-Z of fundraising ideas.

Whatever you decide to do this April, we want you to be part of Bowel Cancer Awareness Month and raise funds to support our vital services and lifesaving research. Sign up to Fundraise Your Way