Walk for Water

How it works

Sign up today, raise £5, and receive a pair of blue laces:

• Step 1

  Sign up on your own, with a team, or your school.

• Step 2

  Share your fundraising page with your friends and family.

• Step 3

  Aim to walk 155km over the month or 5km every day. Track your distance via the Strava app or manually on your page.

It's flexible

Complete your Walk for Water challenge at a pace that suits you. You can reach your distance in as many or as few days as you like. Do a few kilometres each day during the week, or go for some long walks on the weekends. The choice is all yours!

Teams

Taking part as a team is a great way to stay motivated. You can create a team right from your own fundraising page, you’ll then be able to send this new team page to your teammates who can join the team from there.

Your team page will let you see how much each team member has raised and how far each of you has walked for your challenge. Challenge your teammates to go that little bit further and see who will walk the furthest!

You'll all get matching Walk for Water shoe laces too!

Included

• Your very own online fundraising page with tracker - to show your progress
• Your place on the challenge leaderboards - get competitive if you like!
• Personalised profile page and virtual badges
• Fundraising guide, toolkit and inspiration - to help you have fun getting sponsored
• Schools fundraising guide
• Corporate fundraising guide
• Walk for Water blue shoelaces for every participant who raises £5 - to wear with pride
• Walk for Water posters
• Distance tracker - to pin on your fridge

Sara Wilmut took on Walk for Water in 2024 at the age of 94:

Really, one of the things everybody ought just to be able to have is clean water. My motivation was the realisation that I could still do something that was useful. If you want to raise money for a good cause, just do it – a month isn’t that long really!

Rosemary Songa developed a new habit of lunchtime walks:

 My target was to walk 4km a day for a whole month. I work full-time, but I was determined and used my lunch break to walk around my neighbourhood in Leeds. All the walkers really kept me going. WaterAid has set up a Facebook group where everyone taking part can encourage each other. It really gives you a boost when it’s been a hard day.

Peter Fardy posted regularly about his walks on the event's Facebook Group:

He documented the walks he and his dog, Alf, took. On World Water Day, Peter reflected on why taking on the challenge is so important to him:

Day 22 of Walk for Water Challenge 2024 (127 km so far) and World Water Day. A reminder that 703 million people in the world don't have clean water close to home. Without this basic human right, whole communities are held back: children miss out on an education, people struggle to earn a decent living, and families are often ill.

Your target is to raise £150.

WaterAid

WaterAid is an international non-profit with one goal: to change the world through water. Along with decent toilets and good hygiene, a reliable supply of clean water is essential for health, dignity and a life full of opportunity. They work alongside communities in 22 countries, setting up entire systems that deliver clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene for millions of people.

WaterAid is the largest global, not-for-profit focused solely on sustainable, clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene.

Walk for girls like Angeline

Walk for girls like Angeline, 13, from Taranty Bas, Madagascar. Every day, she collects water from the Taranty River two or three times, carrying heavy 20-litre jerrycans or buckets on her head. The weight causes pain in her neck and head, and the trip is exhausting and risky. The steep, uneven path to the river is covered in sharp cacti and it’s hard to stay on her feet and avoid the cactus spikes. The river water often contains mosquito larvae that can spread malaria.  

With clean water nearby, Angeline could spend her time at school instead of walking for hours each day.

Walk for women like Asha

Walk for women like Asha, a 27-year-old mother of three, who has to walk nearly two hours each day to collect water from the Dumal River in Ethiopia. Sometimes her children fall ill with diarrhoea because the water isn’t safe to drink. 

Asha knows life would be very different if they had access to clean water: “It’s very challenging but what can I do?”.

With clean water nearby, Asha’s would be free from this daily struggle, and her family could thrive.

Next step

When you sign up, your very own bespoke Walk for Water fundraising page is created for you.

This is where you can keep track of your activity tracking and fundraising, all in one place. You can set up a profile page – adding an image and personal story – and start earning virtual badges and climbing up our distance and fundraising leader boards.

You can also share your profile page with friends and family, so they can see the amazing challenge you're undertaking – as well as the progress you’re making - and show their support by making a donation.

Age

If you're below the age of 18 please ensure a parent or legal guardian above 18 years old signs up on your behalf.

Entry fees