My Walk of Life Marathon is a virtual fundraising challenge for The Forever Friends Appeal, the charity for the Royal United Hospitals Bath (RUH). The challenge is all about walking the distance of a marathon (26.2 miles) throughout the month of September 2020, in your own time, whilst raising funds along the way to support patients, families and staff at the RUH. How you choose to walk those miles is completely up to you, just make sure you are following the UK Government guidelines around social distancing.

It runs from 1st-30th September.You can still sign up on any day in September, but you’ll need to have completed the challenge by the last day of the month to receive the medal (as per the My Walk of Life MarathonT&C’s).

No, this event is free to take part in! There is also no minimum sponsorship target.

Anyone is welcome to take part, it doesn’t matter if you’re 9 or 99! If you’re under the age of 18, you’ll need to ask a parent or guardian to sign up on your behalf. See JustGiving’s Terms of Service here.

We must all take precautions to help reduce the transmission of COVID-19, so when taking part in the challenge you must adhere to the latest UK Government and Public Health England advice. Keep up to date here: www.gov.uk/coronavirus

As My Walk of Life Marathon is a virtual event, everyone will do their activities on their own, in their own time. Hundreds of others from all across Bath, Somerset and Wiltshire will be taking part in their own way, so although you’ll be doing it on your own, you won’t be alone.  

Make sure you have fun with your challenge as well, whether that’s discovering the great outdoors from your doorstep, starting a ‘work from home’ walking commute, turning your garden into the expedition or climbing Mount Case (your stairs). 

When taking part, you must adhere to the latest Government and Public Health England guidelines on social distancing. Keep up to date here: www.gov.uk/coronavirus

This challenge is designed to be completed on your own, in a socially distanced way. However you are very welcome to form fundraising teams, so that whilst you have to walk on your own, you can complete your fundraising with friends, family or colleagues. Once you have created your personal JustGiving page, just follow the steps to create a JustGiving team page which will allow others registering to join your fundraising team.  

We’re here to support you on your journey for My Walk of Life Marathon. We’ll be in touch with emails to give you inspiration, motivation, top tips and fundraising resources and ideas. You can access all this information on our website, and get advice from other My Walk of Life Marathon walkers on our Facebook group.

Any registered participant who completes the 26.2 mile challenge by 30th September 2020 and raises £100, will receive a special finishers Walk of Life medal. We will be using the medals that were originally intended for the canal walk, which has sadly been canceled due to coronavirus. Your medal will be posted to you in October.

Not if you don’t want to, but it’s a great way to break the mileage down and keep active. You could complete a mile every day, over several longer walks, or all in one go (this is not recommended unless you have trained in advance and/or consulted your GP – a marathon is a long way!). 

If you wanted to break the distance down over the 30 days, you’ll need to walk 0.87 miles each day. That’s roughly a 20 minute walk – totally achievable! You’ll be able to track all your walks on your JustGiving page, by integrating your Strava account or manually logging them. 

You are welcome to walk any distance you like, if you want. Please just be aware to receive the medal, you will need to have completed the full marathon challenge (26.2 miles) by 30th September and have raised £100.

Not at all. You can join the challenge at any time, before or during September 2020. However, you must aim to complete the marathon distance by 30th September 2020.

No, all we ask is that you try and raise as much as you can for patients, families and staff (Hospital Heroes) at the RUH. However, if you raise £100 and complete the challenge by 30th September you will receive the Walk of Life medal!

Absolutely. We support all wards and departments at the Royal United Hospitals Bath (RUH). If there is a particular ward, department or fundraising campaign that you are passionate about, you can walk for them. Please just make this clear on your JustGiving page, and we’ll make sure your fundraising gets to them. 

If you don’t specify (and that’s fine too!) your fundraising will be put towards our general fund, so that it can be used for the hospital’s greatest need at the time. This fund has been especially important during the coronavirus crisis and has enabled us to fund many urgent requests, including supporting staff wellbeing, vital equipment for Critical Care, as well as new patient and family communication technology, at a time when they can’t be together. 

JustGiving is an online fundraising platform that makes it easy for you to record the miles you cover and fundraise. Once you sign up to My Walk of Life Marathon, a JustGiving page will automatically be set up for you. Your page will have a unique web address that you can then share with your friends and family to collect sponsorship.

Online donations are paid directly to The Forever Friends Appeal each week, so they start making a difference immediately. Plus, JustGiving automatically collects Gift Aid for us on every donation made by a UK taxpayer. So you do less, but we get more! 

Gift Aid is a government-run scheme that allows charities to reclaim some of the tax that you have already paid to HMRC. Currently, this is equal to 25p for every £1 that you give. 

Gift Aid does not cost you any extra and can make your donation worth an extra 25% to us, so it is a fantastic way of ensuring your donations go as far as they possibly can.

When you register to take part in My Walk of Life Marathon, an online fundraising page is automatically created for you– so you’ll already be halfway there! There are a few key things you can do to make the most of your fundraising page, including: 

1. Upload a photo -This is a great way to personalise your page. You can upload more than one, so why not add photos as a way of telling your fundraising story and sharing your progress. Don’t forget to use the ‘I’m Walking For’ selfie sign that you can download from the Resource page!
2. Set a target – This is a great motivator and will also encourage others to help you reach your goal. Reach £100 and over, and complete your 26.2 miles by 30th September, to achieve a finisher medal!
3. Share your story - Tell all your friends, family and colleagues that you are taking part in My Walk of Life Marathon and why their donations will make a difference to the RUH.
4. Promote your page - Email a page link to your friends, family and colleagues and share it on social media using #MyWalkOfLife. This is such a great way to raise awareness of your challenge and will help keep you motivated!
5. Livestream your walk - You can now broadcast your walks in real time on your JustGiving page, using YouTube, Twitch or Mixer. It’s a great way to show your friends and family what you’re up to. Click here to find out how livestream on your page.
6. Keep everyone updated - Try to share regular updates and progress pics on your page, alongside your distance tracker. Your supporters will enjoy sharing your journey with you and want to know how you’re getting on. Don’t forget to thank them for their support!
7. Check out the Resources page for downloadables 
8. Get creative - If you wanted to do more than collect sponsorship, why not think about hosting a virtual quiz, bake-off or gameathon as part of your challenge? See more ideas here.

Yes, although please be mindful of social distancing and follow the Government guidelines when doing so. You can use the paper sponsorship forms found above. To request details about getting your offline fundraising, please contact our Events Team on 01225 821535 / ruh-tr.fundraising@nhs.net 

You can track your distance using Strava and link it to your JustGiving page. This will ensure your mileage is automatically recorded and added to your page. If you don’t use Strava (or forget to use it while you’re out and about!) you can manually add the mileage to your page later. 

Strava is an exercise tracking app that records your activity.  JustGiving is partnered with Strava which means you can link your fundraising page to Strava and your page will update every time you complete a walk. That way, your supporters can see how you’re getting on. Fundraisers who use this feature raise an average 46% more! 

To connect your JustGiving page to Strava, please follow these steps:

1. Log in via www.mywalkoflifemarathon.co.uk
2. Click ‘View Page’ in top right
3. Click ‘Edit page’ 
4. A pop up box will appear with 4 sections available to select
5. Click ‘Fitness’ and click ‘Connect to Strava’
6. A pop out box will appear and ask you to log in to your Strava account (if you don’t already have one, click ‘Sign Up’ in top right)
7. Follow the onscreen instructions to connect

For further information about Strava and JustGiving, click here: https://help.justgiving.com/hc/en-us/sections/360002155498-Fundraising-and-Fitness-Apps

If you don’t want to use a fitness app, you can still easily keep track of your miles through your fundraising page. You can do this by manually updating your JustGiving fundraising page. Simply log in to your account, click ‘view page’ at the top and then click on the ‘log fitness’ button.

We’d love to hear from you! Please contact our Events Team on 01225 821535 / ruh-tr.fundraising@nhs.net

If you need help using your fundraising page, making a donation, or anything else JustGiving related, their dedicated support team can help you out. 

You can message JustGiving through their contact form (when you are logged into your account) if you need any help or can’t find what you’re looking for. Alternatively, check out the JustGiving FAQ page. And you can also contact us on 01225 821535 / ruh-tr.fundraising@nhs.net