Taking on a challenge for bats

Earlier this year Steve and his wife Davina took on the challenge of running the Virtual London Marathon and decided to raise funds for Bat Conservation Trust.

We asked him if he could share his thoughts on the experience.

Why did you decide to take part in this challenge?

I am a Park Ranger at Emberton Country Park and both my wife and myself wanted to walk the marathon here to increase visitor awareness of our bats and also those in the UK. We have walked a 40 mile charity walk across open countryside in April 2019 so we were well prepared for the challenge having trained for that one. It is going to be a challenge but a fun one which we will expect to complete in about 7.5 hours. 

Why did you chose to raise funds to The Bat Conservation Trust? 

We raised money to assist in their work towards a world rich in wildlife where bats and people thrive together. Also to be able to complete the marathon around Emberton Country Park and promote and support the bat populations that we have here was a great bonus as it is quite a special place.

How was your fundraising experience? Did you have a fundraising plan to help you achieve your target?  

In a nutshell it was constantly posting updates about our challenge on social media, then how our prep was going and we were getting ready for the big day. We targeted our own personal media but also local community media.

We were told by someone who regularly raises monies for wildlife charities that we should not expect to raise a large amount but our contribution would be just as significant even if it was smaller. He was right but we kept hitting Facebook everyday in the build up and we hit our personal target of £500.

Thank you to Steve and Davina for raising funds and awareness for bats!

If you are interested in taking up a challenge for bats do have a look at the opportunities we have available here. Or create your own challenge! Some ideas and inspiration can be found here.