Background The Income Generation Team generate 75% of £17.2 million required to run the hospice’s end-of-life care services. The team continually look for ways to maximise income and give our supporters the best possible experience.

Aims To improve the supporter experience gained from our four fundraising walks (raising less than £10k each) and increase income. One of the hospice’s strategic objectives is to put ‘the patient and their families at the centre of everything we do.’ Our aim was to give the same level of support and attention to our supporters, making their experience of our walk the best we can from start to finish.

Methods Taking advantage of the area’s natural geography and pre-existing walking routes, creating a challenging hike of 55k, 35k or 25k along the Pilgrims & North Downs Way in South East England. We developed an award winning app to help our walkers with their pre-event training and guide them on the day. We deliver online engagement in the lead up to the event creating new friendships, delivering better on the day experiences and atmosphere.

Results More than £600,000 has now been raised from this event and more than 2,500 have followed the path of former Pilgrims and taken on the challenge since its inception. In its first year the walk generated £60k; since COVID-19 the event has raised in excess of £120k per annum.

Conclusions Now in its sixth year, the participants are representative of our community and it is a great team builder for the entire Income Generation Team and the volunteers who work alongside us on the day and other hospice teams. An unexpected consequence of this event is that it has strong links with our in-mem programme, with many choosing to undertake a personal challenge in memory of a loved one.