Frequently Asked Questions

Here at Macmillan, we love fundraising and we want to help make sure it’s as easy as possible for you.

Just looking for some inspiration? From cake sales to clothes swaps, quiz nights to zumbathons, find loads of great fundraising ideas.

Visit suggested routes section. These are just a few favourite routes across the UK selected by Macmillan staff, but many more can be found on the National Trail website (England and Wales) or on Walking Scotland.

We’ve also teamed up with a fantastic website Trailzilla, where you’ll be able to map out any route.

Lots of things can affect how far in advance you plan your walk. Will you need to do some training? Will you want to hold extra fundraising events to help you reach your target?

If you’re hoping to lead a large walk, how much notice might people need to get it in their diaries? And will you need time to apply for permission from the council or land owners?

Lots of our walkers start planning three to six months before their walk to give them plenty of time to fit fundraising and planning round their busy lives. If you’re planning something ambitious, you might need a bit longer.

Are you taking on a solo challenge? If so, it can be safer (and more fun) to have friends or family meet you at points along the way. If that’s not possible, make sure there’s someone who knows your route and is waiting to meet you at the end.

For an excellent and detailed safety checklist, have a look at the Mountain Rescue website. Their advice is tailored for hills and mountains, but is well worth a read whatever kind of walk you’re planning.

Are you leading or organising a walk? If so, one of the most important things to do is a risk assessment. This will help you to anticipate and plan for anything that might go wrong. You can find advice about how to do a risk assessment at the Health and Safety Executive.

There’s also some useful information on organising your own event at the Institute of Fundraising.

You will also need to consider whether or not you need insurance. This might be insurance for yourself if you’re doing an overseas walk or public liability insurance if you’re holding a public event. For private events this may not be necessary.

If need advice about any of this, get in touch with our fundraising support team on 0300 1000 200 or by email at fundraising@macmillan.org.uk

This depends on the type of walk you’ll be doing. Please make sure you have the correct supplies, for example:

• Water 
• Snacks 
• Map 
• Compass 
• Mobile phone 
• Suitable footwear 
• Waterproofs
• Warm clothing

If you’re doing a hill or mountain walk, there’s some great advice about gear on the Mountain Rescue website.

You can read the country code here. Please make sure you follow the code and make others in your group aware of it too.

If you’re planning a challenging walk, our trekking team has some really handy training guides. You’ll find day-by-day schedules, plus advice on everything from eating well to fitting training into a busy life.

Visit Training Zone to find useful training plans and guides to help you on your walk.

Planning a large walking event can seem a bit daunting but we’ve teamed up with Walk 4 Life to help make planning your own event easy with lots of useful online resources. Simply visit the Walk 4 Life website for more information.

If you're organising a large event you may need to check with your local council about whether there are any special permissions required. Does the walk cross any local farms or private land? If so let them know about your event as this will ensure that they know in advance and will help avoid problems.

You should receive your pack within seven to ten days of registering. If you do not receive your pack and you believe it has been lost then please contact us by email fundraising@macmillan.org.uk or by phone 0300 1000 200 so that a replacement can be sent out to you.

That’s great news. You can request sponsorship forms directly from us by emailing fundraising@macmillan.org.uk – we’ll get one straight out to you and you can carry on with your fundraising.

We have t-shirts available to buy from our online shop as well as Macmillan water bottles to help keep you hydrated.

You can create your own event materials using our online facility be.Macmillan. Once you register on the website you can create any materials you need for your event.

Paying your money is is easy. Find out how.