FAQs
About the Walk for Water challenge
What is Walk for Water?
Walk for Water is a challenge that takes place over Lent. It’s a chance for you to transform your life while changing someone else’s.
Do it your way: 10,000 steps a day, every day, for 40 days. We’re asking you to go the distance so that someone else doesn’t have to.
About the Walk for Water Challenge
How do I get involved?
Sign up on this site and set up a JustGiving page.
Track your steps by downloading a free app (if you haven’t already got one on your phone) and make sure you log them on your page at the end of each day.
Once you’ve got your Just Giving fundraising page up and running, you need to spread the word to your family and friends and get sponsored, so that we can help communities around the world have clean, safe water.
Can I do Walk for Water under lockdown restrictions?
You can!
Keeping everyone safe is our first priority, so please follow the most up date government rules and don't meet up to walk with anyone outside of your bubble.
But you can do your steps on your permitted daily walk outside your home, you can do laps of your garden if you have one, or you can exercise at home with an online exercise class or DVD and count your steps towards your daily total!
Do I need to join a team?
Some of our walkers have teamed for Walk for Water so that they can track their steps and fundraising milestones together. You don't have to join a team, but it can add to the fun!
If you want to join a team, or create a team page, you can do this by going into the edit section of your fundraising page.
If you want to share your steps, it's best to sign up under one person's name so that you can still unlock your distance badges as you do the challenge.
But once you've set up your page, how you do the steps is up to you! You could make it a family challenge and walk 2,000 steps each, or even dress up as a pantomime horse with a friend and do 5,000 each!
Can I start the challenge after Ash Wednesday?
Yes!
Most of our walkers are aiming to do 10,000 steps a day for 40 days in Lent, but if you start later you can either finish later, or do some extra miles on certain days during Lent to finish before Easter!
Can I take part if I’m under 18?
You can!
Unfortunately, you can't sign up and create a fundraising page if you are under 18, but find a grown up to sign up with, or ask your school to take part and you can definitely join in!
Tracking your steps
How do I track my steps?
If you don't have a fitness watch, you can use your phone to track your steps. It probably has a free step tracker installed already, but there are also loads of free ones to choose from on your phone’s App Store.
If you don't want to use a step tracker, you can also clock 10,000 steps with:
- a 90 minute walk
- one hour of cycling
- 53 minutes of playing football
- an hour and ten minutes of an exercise class.
My Strava link has stopped working!
If you are continuing Walk for Water past Easter, you'll go past the end date in the Strava app.
But don't worry, you can still add your daily steps manually to your fundraising page until you finish the challenge.
Do I need to do 10,000 steps on top of my usual activity?
Don't worry, it's 10,000 steps in total per day!
You are probably already doing 2,000 to 4,000 steps a day already as part of you normal activity (although that number may naturally be lower during lockdown), so you will need to add steps to your usual daily routine to reach 10,000.
It's also absolutely fine to do over 10,000 steps one day, and fewer than 10,000 another, to reach a daily average of 10,000 steps if that is more convenient for you!
Do I have to take the 10,000 steps all in one go?
If you want to do that, you can. However, you could space it out over a day. Or you could share the load with friends, family, your school or your parish. This event is for you to get creative with!
Can I track the steps I do in training?
You can add the steps you do before Lent on your page to keep a record of them, but only steps you add from Ash Wednesday onwards (Wednesday 17 February), will be appear in the totaliser on your page.
I want to take part, but walking isn’t an option for me
Every metre you travel to end poverty counts. Getting up to make tea takes steps. Walking to the shops takes steps. And you don’t have to be limited to walking or stepping - you can roll, cycle, dance or jump!
If you'd prefer a less physical challenge altogether, you can still help us raise essential funds for families in need by sharing our Lent appeal with your parish.
Remember to let us know how you're going the distance @CAFOD, using #walkforwater
Fundraising
How will the money go to CAFOD?
Money donated through your JustGiving fundraising page comes to us automatically, just like any electronic transfer of money.
How do I get a free neck warmer?
When you raise £200 through your page, we'd love to send you a CAFOD neck warmer as a special thank you.
We'll be sending these out from next week to everyone who has already hit this target!
Can I use an offline sponsorship form?
Please visit cafod.org.uk/walk for a sponsorship form and other offline resources.
How do I add funds raised offline to my page?
You need to add offline donations by visiting justgiving.com. Here are the instructions:
Visit justgiving.com and log in, using the email and password that you used to set up your Walk for Water page.
Click on 'Edit' in the top right of the image of your Walk for Water page.
Select 'Donations' from the menu that appears at the top of the page.
You can now add offline donations, which will appear in the totaliser on your Walk for Water page.
How will CAFOD spend the money I raise?
The sponsorship you raise will go to help the world’s most vulnerable women, men and children. It could help to bring clean, fresh water to those that are thirsty, food to those that are hungry or shelter to those who don’t have a home.
- £10 could buy a water container for a family
- £40 could buy safe water for a school
- £200 could buy bikes for a team of three water engineers to service water pumps in remote communities
- £750 could bring water to an entire community