SUCCESS STORIES
See what our partners say about us
Here are some of our Bespoke Challenge Success Stories - from UK one day walks to overseas cycles and treks, read on to find out what can be achieved when you partner with us.
For more details please download the case study PDFs.
Why did Blind Veterans decide to embark on running their own Bespoke Fundraising Challenge?
Back in 2011, we wanted to organise our own fundraising challenge to enhance our existing events portfolio and try to attract a younger demographic to support the charity. We knew we needed a unique event to stand out amongst the many charity challenges on offer and thought an endurance walk from London to Brighton would be a good fit. It’s a great advantage having our own centre on a hill overlooking the sea in Ovingdean, just outside of Brighton so this provided the perfect finish for the challenge. Also, with a bespoke event, you can tailor it to your own specification and make it as big or small as you like. It’s such a special event as our beneficiaries also take part and this really gives our participants a boost on the day and makes for great comradery!
What do your bespoke challenges generate on average in fundraising each year?
Bespoke challenges make up around a third to half of our events income, our 100km London to Brighton event alone can raise in excess of £150,000 which is a really significant amount for a charity of our size.
What do you value about running your challenges through Discover Adventure?
The support in the lead up to the event from DA is immeasurable, they are always at the other end of the phone when we need them and work so efficiently. They are so flexible in responding to any changes to the route we have requested and their enthusiasm during the event weekend has been infectious and definitely makes the event a really positive experience for everyone involved.
Why did Paul Sartori decide to embark on running their own Bespoke Fundraising Challenge?
Organising a bespoke challenge gave the Foundation the capacity to coordinate the whole event from start to finish with support, help and advice from DA.
For our charity, the personal local contact is vital to build a strong team to cope with and maximise fundraising and PR in a small county. Building relationships before the event enables the participants to get the best experience from the start.
What has your bespoke challenge treks enabled you to fundraise so far for the Paul Sartori Foundation?
Our Trek the Himalayas challenge raised a net £80,000 + and we will have the full fundraising for our Vietnam to Cambodia cycle confirmed in a few months!
What do you value about running your challenges through Discover Adventure?
Their pre-challenge support is fantastic, nothing is ever too much trouble, no matter how silly my questions or how many times a day I call or e-mail. Participants can call directly and always get a friendly, efficient, helpful response. The Trek leaders are phenomenal to the point that our Trek the Himalayas challenge participants probably wouldn’t have gone on to do our Vietnam to Cambodia cycle challenge if it wasn’t for Helen, Vic and Dave (and that isn’t an exaggeration!) They absolutely embraced our team, got involved with us, but at the same time remained professional and always had their eye on making sure we were safe.
Discover Adventure have such a great team. You can tell that they are all so enthusiastic about what you do and care about the participants having the time of their life. The Himalayan trek actually changed some team member’s lives and it was an absolute privilege to be involved and see. The friendships and bonds created were great and many are still friends and go out together today as well as continue to support the charity.
If anyone has any doubt about using Discover Adventure, I would have no hesitation in recommending them. I could also find 37 other people who would say exactly the same thing.
Why did Stars Appeal decide to embark on running their own Bespoke Fundraising Challenge?
We have had some success with individuals trekking for us in the past. Then we were approached to do a bespoke trip by two previous trekkers. As one is the owner of a local successful hairdressing group and the other presents the local radio breakfast show, we were sure that together we would attract a lot of interest.
As we are a small charity, it was important that we would be able to recruit trekkers and support them within our existing set-up. Having this high impact local support, and turning one volunteer to focus almost entirely on the trek, allowed us to do that without damaging our existing programme.
What has your bespoke challenge treks enabled you to fundraise so far for the Stars Appeal?
£68,000 from the Grand Canyon Trek and we've aimed for more from our Inca Trail Trek - £100,000.
What do you value about running your challenges through Discover Adventure?
Great support from the DA team, right from choosing the challenge through trekker recruitment to adding an extra trip. Responsive to questions and pushback. And great feedback from trekkers on the quality of the trek itself, especially leadership and guides. As with most things, it’s all about the people.
DOWNLOAD THE FULL CASE STUDYWhy did Moorfields Eye Charity decide to embark on running their own Bespoke Fundraising Challenge?
We wanted to introduce an event which would enable us to grow our supporter base among our patients and staff, and which would generate sustainable income we could grow year on year. Eye to Eye has since become our flagship event, and our main tool for engaging with our events and community supporters.
What sort of participant numbers do you reach, and what sort of fundraising are you achieving from this event?
The Eye to Eye Walk launched in 2015 and we were delighted to reach our target of 500+ supporters and raise over £106,000. We have quite ambitious growth targets for the event, and in 2016 we grew participants and income by over 50% - recruiting 751 walkers and raising £260,000. We want to grow the event again in 2017 and hope to have 1,000 people marching for Moorfields and raising £300,000.
What do you value about running your challenges through Discover Adventure?
We always know that we can rely on Discover Adventure (DA) to plan the day to the last detail, ensuring that all our supporters have a fabulous event experience. It’s brilliant to have them on hand during the planning process too, and to know that they’re always just an email or phone call away. We couldn’t run Eye to Eye without DA and the fact that we get large numbers of repeat sign ups demonstrates what a good job they do!
DOWNLOAD THE FULL CASE STUDYWhy does Action Medical Research decide to embark on running their own Bespoke Fundraising Challenge every year?
It enables us to guarantee minimum fundraising to the charity as well as engage our supporters a more personal level than perhaps we would gain on an open challenge.
What do your bespoke challenge events with Discover Adventure enable you to fundraise on average for Action Medical Research?
Approximately £250,000 per event and most importantly, this enables us to continue to fund vital research right here in the UK and to commit a minimum of £3million worth of research every year, therefore helping to save and change thousands of children’s lives!
What do you value about running your challenges through Discover Adventure?
- Safety
- History
- Discover Adventure crew
- Adaptability
- The before, during and after support
- Knowing that our participants will have a great time!