Step into September 

Raise money and awareness for BulliesOut and walk a set number of steps during the month of September. You take on the challenge however you like; solo, as a family, school or as a team of colleagues. You can choose to do all the steps in one week or spread them out across the month.

Although the challenge is ‘Step into September’, this is a personal challenge so you can start and finish your challenge at a time to suit you.

Once you have signed up, we encourage you to join the Facebook Group dedicated to this challenge: https://www.facebook.com/groups/957768005414157/members

Click ‘Join Group’ and once you are in you can get tips and ideas for your challenge, be inspired by other fundraisers, and find out anything you want to know about the challenge.

Medals come at a high cost to a charity so we will not be sending out medals for this challenge. However, at the beginning of October, we will email a certificate to everyone that completes the challenge. You can also access digital badges, which are downloadable from our website, to shout about your achievements across your own social channels.

You certainly can – here are some tips for walking on a hot day:

• Wearing a damp, cool bandana for the walk
• Hydrate before, during and after your walk
• Try to walk in the cooler parts of the day and in shade where possible
• Light coloured clothes will reflect the sun’s rays so try to avoid tight clothes and switch to thinner socks!
• A breathable cap keeps sun from your scalp and sunscreen is important for your skin in the hot weather.
• If you’re sensitive to insect bites, then make sure to use some insect repellent!

Remember to listen to your body and don’t push yourself if you are feeling fatigued, dizzy etc. Stop for rests, and if urgent, seek medical attention. For more information, please visit this guide: Hot weather walking advice – Bristol Nordic Walking

It is not unusual in the UK to encounter bad weather when out walking. If you are walking in adverse weather, it is important to make sure that you have the right equipment to do so. Alternatively, it is completely fine for you to complete your challenge inside on a treadmill, at home or in the gym, or simply by walking around your home if that is an option for you.

When going on a walk in adverse weather, remember to check your route and know your trail. Understanding your surroundings will help you avoid difficult areas and ensure that you stick to safer, flatter surfaces.

Here is some useful equipment to consider

• Waterproof clothing
• Walking shoes/boots and walking socks
• Warm clothing and layers
• Neck warmer/scarf
• Water and food
• Mobile phone

It is important that you are well equipped for your walk especially if you are considering going on a long-distance walk. Below is a list of appropriate equipment you might consider:

• Shorts
• Sunscreen
• T-shirt or shirt
• Long trousers
• Warm fleece
• Windproof top
• Sun hat or cap
• Warm hat and gloves
• Walking stick

See here for more helpful guidance when going on a long-distance walk:

Expert advice | TimeOutdoors

Once you have raised your first £10, we will send you your ‘Step into September’ tee shirt! Send an email to fundraising@bulliesout.com with your full name and link to your JustGiving page. If you have not received your t-shirt within 5 working days, please contact fundraising@bulliesout.com.

You can sign up to this challenge without having a t-shirt. As you sign up, we will ask you for your t-shirt size. Instead of selecting a size, please select ‘I don’t require a t-shirt’ from the drop-down menu. You can then continue to sign up to the challenge and we won’t send you a t-shirt.

Send an email to us at fundraising@bulliesout.com, include your name and JustGiving page link and explain you would now like a tee-shirt and which size. As long as we have some left, we will send one to you.

As the t-shirts and postage comes at a cost to BulliesOut, we are only able to send out t-shirts to participants of the challenge. This ensures that as much money as possible goes towards our work to support those affected by bullying behaviour. If you would like to order more t-shirts, you can do so from our online shop at Clothing Archives – BulliesOut.

There is not a minimum amount of fundraising that we have set for participants of this challenge, but we encourage participants to set a fundraising target of a minimum of £50 if they can.

The important thing is that you challenge yourself and therefore complete as much of the challenge as you can. Be realistic with your time and ability when choosing your level of challenge, and if you choose a lower level and exceed the target then that is fantastic! Any money that you fundraise will go towards enabling the Charity to continue its work supporting those affected by bullying behaviour and we cannot thank you enough for your support.

Not at all – we trust you! You don’t need to provide any evidence to us. Updating your fundraising page for your family and friends is important – keep them posted on your progress and share photos and videos throughout the month of September – the more updates the better! Supporters who regularly post about their progress raise on average 40% more.

You can record your miles on your fitness tracker (if you have one) or download and complete our handy printable tracker. If you have a Strava account, you can connect your JustGiving page to Strava so you can track your steps automatically.

Setting up a JustGiving page is the easiest way to raise money for your challenge. You can set one up here.

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

We have plenty of fundraising tools and ideas to help you raise your donations. Please visit our dedicated fundraising page for the Step into September challenge here.

There is no entry fee for this challenge. Participants are required to sign up to the challenge via our website and then fundraise for BulliesOut via JustGiving.

Yes, under 18s can take part in this challenge but we do not market to them. Any third-party fundraising platform 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.

We are unable to accept registration for a child, so the child’s parent/guardian will need to register on the child’s behalf. Similarly, if a child wants to raise money online and/or join our Facebook group, the child’s parent/guardian must register for an online fundraising page and/or join the group on the child’s behalf.

Yes! You can use our sponsorship form to raise money rather than using an online method. Download and print copies of the form to keep track of all your sponsorship. Once you have completed your fundraising, please send your forms to us. Money can be paid into the Charity’s account with your name as a reference. Please email us for those details using fundraising@bulliesout.com.

Step into September is a specific fundraising challenge developed and designed by BulliesOut, therefore all fundraising must go directly to BulliesOut.

Gift Aid is a tax relief allowing UK charities to reclaim an extra 25% on every eligible donation make by a UK taxpayer. This means BulliesOut 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 or follow the online instructions to add Gift Aid to their donation.

If you have decided to set up your own JustGiving page, all your supporters’ donations will pay in automatically so you don’t need to do a thing! If you have raised money offline, please contact us on fundraising@bulliesout.com for further details.

Of course! All fundraising pages can be kept open for as long as you choose so you can continue to raise funds and donate even after the challenge has ended.

Everyone is welcome to take part in the challenge and for wheelchair users you can challenge yourselves to completing a set distance per day or a set distance in total during the entire month, equivalent to one of the levels of the challenge. The challenge is flexible, and we ask individuals to choose the level of the challenge that is best suited to them.

There are many ways in which you can do this. Your phone will have plenty of free pedometer apps to choose from. You can also link your Strava account to your JustGiving page and share your progress with your supporters. If you don’t have a Strava device, you can download the app for free.

Full information about how to do this can be found here:

Connecting your Fundraising Page to Strava – JustGiving Help

There are many ways in which you can achieve your target as part of this challenge. We suggest making up the numbers as you prefer – either with several shorter walks or a longer walk on the weekend!

This doesn’t matter with this challenge as it is set across the whole month of September, so you can always make up your steps on other days.

Everyone will need to register as an individual, but of course you can take on the challenge as a team to encourage each other to achieve the challenge.