Just realised that what I wrote on Sunday about a 'non-LDWA event taking place on the same day as Trailwalker' is garbage. I meant to say 'a non-LDWA event taking place on the same day as A Foot In Two Dales.' The error was, of course, completely unconnected to the fact that I'd spent the day at The Wine Show.

I don't think Cleveland group should be worrying about it affecting numbers on Afoot in Two Dales. The charity event's entry fee per person is 50% higher; there is a commitment to raise at least £1500 in team sponsorship; each team has to have its own support team and it's at the other end of the country. It's not an LDWA event because entrants HAVE to raise sponsorship and probably because it will bust the 500 limit. An occasional mention of these charity events in LDWA News is probably OK, but would we advertise every one? Would we advertise one that was only fifty or a hundred miles from a similar LDWA event? Can we advertise the LDWA through their event in return for telling our members? And Afoot in Two Dales did have its own mention in LDWA News - it's still there to be read.

Has anyone read Strider closely? A sizeable proportion of the events in there are either organised by or have proceeds going to charities. Is it the 'sponsorship' that causes the problem or are event organisers just not using the LDWA News section on this website to its full potential?
If an event complies with the LDWA walk requirements let it have the publicity and then each individual can decide whether or not to walk it.

I should add that a separate listing for charity events is just one of several ideas that have been suggested by LDWA members and all these are still to be discussed by the Committee. What everyone seems to be agreed upon is that we would like to attract more new members as well as keeping our existing members happy.

Ian (and anyone else), I would be really interested to hear of any charity walks that are over 20 miles and attract large numbers of walkers as I think the walkers have often never heard of us and would like to! Email me at publicity@ldwa.org.uk

Catharine

I think having a seperate listing for charity walks is a good idea, the purists wouldn't have to click on to the link and those who are trying to save money and looking for a local event can
i do a 20mile charity event in april in the peak district it has 500 entrants and the people i talk too have never heard of the LDWA, so if you want to improve membership go out there and talk.

Surely one answer to Geoff's objection about the prominence given to a non-LDWA event taking place on the same day as Trailwalker would be to give A Foot In Two Dales a similar puff in Latest News. The events are at opposite ends of the country, so people who don't want to travel down south for a qualifier could be reminded of the LDWA's own super event.

Geoff,

You ask why we don't just put it in Strider along with everything else. The problem is that we don't really have a section for walks such as this and that's why it appears as a news item (as it did last year). However, we are looking into the possibility of marking charity events on a separate calendar or listing. Actually, there aren't very many charity events of this distance. We have looked into partnering with the Moonwalk before but decided that most of its participants are generally not interested in our type of events.

Trailwalker is different: it's off-road; you have a map and a route description, with checkpoints along the route; and anyone who can walk 100km is well placed to do one of our events either as training or in the future. I have two friends who, having completed Trailwalker in 2006, went on to become LDWA members and do the Hundred in 2007. That obviously doesn't constitute proper market research but it does suggest that advertising Trailwalker is not a waste of time.

The main thing I hear from younger walkers and newer members on our events is that they had never heard of us until recently and wish they had know about us before. Why don't we advertise more? they ask me. How come all they hear about are these big charity events when the LDWA events are just as good, if not better?

So, I ask any of you who are walk organisers, would you like to have a few Trailwalkers on your events? They may not be able to do A Foot in Two Dales but what about the South Downs Marathon, the Holy Hobble or the Tanners Marathon? With a bit of luck, 100km this year may mean 100 miles next year...

Catharine

The Moonwalk attracts 15,000 walkers, which is over 2x the membership of the LDWA, so there is no getting away from the fact that there are thousands of people all over the country who are prepared to walk long distances.

I'm sure their motivations are many and complex, but they are prepared to pay a substantial entry fee and commit to raising large amounts of money, as well as train to complete their challenge. For many it will be a one-off experience, perhaps because there is only so many times you can ask colleagues to sponsor you, and they aren't aware that there are LDWA challenges they can walk where there isn't the pressure to raise funds.

Part of the motivation is to be part of an 'event' and the fundraising is the penalty to be paid to be part of that. Trailwalker is one of those events, adn there may be LDWA members who would like to do it and would be prepared to raise the funds. It might be a way for a member to attract non-members into long distance walking - by offering to lead and train a team of friends to complete Trailwalker.

If the LDWA is to have a future we need to attract new members, and we need to explore different ways of reaching the long distance walkers who are out there but who have never heard of us.

Catharine.

Although the LDWA has not knowingly promoted charity walks in the past, your arguments go some way towards persuading me that this event is a special case. However, by including it in the Latest News you have gone a great deal further than that. You have given it a prominence and publicity not accorded to any of our own groups' events - including an LDWA event on the same day which is also a 100 qualifier.

I agree. I'm interested in any long/challenge walks, whether organised by LDWA, scouts or charities. The excellent 'Mission Possible' from Settle was a charity walk organised by (I think) the Railway Mission, and lots of LDWA members took part. It was also advertised in Strider. Whilst I'm not interested in finding sponsors for charity walks, I'm more than happy for walk profoits to go to worthy causes.

I appreciate that not all members are at all interested in doing charity events and nobody is going to force you to! However, there may be several members who are interested in walking this event and it is a 'long distance' walk and does count as a qualifying event for the Hundred. Plenty of Trailwalker entrants use our LDWA events as training walks and we are happy to publish details of their event in return for them giving us some publicity.

This is not about encouraging people to do a charity walk instead of doing an LDWA walk but rather to encourage those who do charity walks to come and give us a go as well. I hope, when viewed in this light, most people's response to this will be positive.

Catharine

This might be churlish but I really don't believe the National website should be used to publicise what is essentially a sponsored walk on behalf of Oxfam and the Ghurka Trust, especially when it is on the same weekend as a 50 mile LDWA organised event, in this instance "Afoot In Two Dales".

I am not suggesting these two charities are not worthwhile causes I just don't think that is what the LDWA is, or should be, about.

Furthermore, once we promote one 'charity event' how do we avoid promoting all others, if asked? We should promote none and that way it is easier to decline, politely of course.