10,000 Mile Challenge - YOU'VE DONE IT!
(...bet you could do it again!)

Almost a year ago we challenged you - our supporters - to try to cover 10,000 miles, the approximate distance of a route from Oxford to Lusaka, in sponsored walks. Your response was overwhelming! You came out in your hundreds to run marathons, swim miles, cycle the length of Britain and across Europe. You climbed mountains, you braved rain and mud and storms. And between you, you've done it! You've covered the entire 10,000 miles and more!

We've just totted up all the miles we know about including Stephen Hancock's 2,500 mile hitch hike around Britain, Sir William Ramsay school's mass sponsored walk on the last day of term, and Rob Dewing's recently completed sponsored cycle ride from Paris to Geneva, and the grand total is... 10,199 miles!

But even more impressively, by doing this, you've raised nearly £42,000! That's enough to buy 5,985 uniforms, or 4,190 pairs of shoes, send 1,676 children to primary school, or 838 to secondary school for a year. Or it could pay to train 167 Peer Health Educators and help them spend 6 months teaching other children how to stay healthy and avoid HIV. Or it could train 119 young people as teachers, who in turn would bring education to hundreds more children.

But whatever it's spent on, you can rest assured that for every step you took, the life of an Zambian child who had run out of hope, will be taking a step away from poverty and vulnerability and a step towards a secure, healthy life.

But please don't stop there...There are still hundreds of thousands of vulnerable children in Zambia, and more being orphaned all the time. They still desperately need your help.

Could we cover the 10,000 miles back from Lusaka to Oxford again?! Could we raise another £42,000?!!

Rustle through the leaves in the crisp autumn air or clock up your miles in the gym. Have a chat to the gym's manager and see if they would help organise a 10,000 mile challenge day. Ask if you can put up posters and get other gym users involved. If you'd like to help organise something like this, please do contact us for advice and publicity materials.

In 2009 fundraising challenge is... Make Music Give Hope!

To help you to fundraise, we have produced two fundraising toolkits and several supporting documents for you to download. Please see the box on the left. We will also supply every participant with a Cecily's Fund T-Shirt to wear on the day and to keep as a memento of their contribution (it's free, but a donation will help to reduce our running costs.. and increase your running fundraising!).