A fun, summer, fundraising challenge has seen the congregation of St George’s Weald Sevenoaks raise over £2,000 for their chosen charities.
Called the 10 Challenge, it grew out of an original charity 10K run that the church used to organise.
A combination of Covid and the increased demands required to organise the run meant that for several years, the event has not taken place.
However, keen to get fundraising again, the 10 Challenge was created. In its new form, during July and August, the congregation and wider community were invited to set themselves a challenge.
The challenge could be anything, as long as it had the number 10 in it, as a link back to the original run.
Video: A video rounding-up the variety of challenges undertaken was played at a special celebration service in September
The Rev Mandy Carr, vicar of St George’s Church, says the people of Weald really got behind the idea.
“I have been amazed at the variety of challenges people have taken on, from visiting 10 National Trust properties, making 10 lots of shortbread, doing 10 jigsaws each month at the community café, to losing 10 lbs of weight!
“What’s been particularly nice is, because people have decided for themselves what they want to do it’s been really inclusive, involving people of all ages, and allowing them to showcase their interests and talents.”
Mandy and curate, Hannah, got involved too, taking on 10 walks around the area:
“We only got lost a few times,” says Mandy, “and the best bit was discovering some new views and parts of the area we hadn’t discovered before.”
Photo: Mandy and Hannah complete their ten walks.
The money was raised through a combination of an entry charge to take part, donations, sponsorship, and the selling of products people made as part of the challenge.
Mandy thinks it is a simple fundraising idea that lots of churches could replicate.
“It’s an excellent focus over the Summer months and something that any community, big or small, could do without a lot of coordination or preparation, as participants take responsibility for their own challenge.”
For St George's, it has also been a great way to publicise more widely the work of their mission partners, which include: London City Mission, The Gathering Church in South Africa, Mission Aviation Fellowship, and International Children’s Palliative Care Network.