Winter Walkies FAQs
Winter Walkies is a virtual challenge brought to you by Blue Cross. The challenge is to walk, jog or run 25km between the 1 and 12 December. You can either do the challenge in one go or break the distance down into multiple sessions.
A virtual event is an event that can be completed from a location of your choice, at your own pace and at any time of day you choose. You track your progress using either a fitness app like Strava, your phones health app or treadmill/cross-trainer screen or even a good old map! You will log these distances to your fundraising page and once the distance is completed, and you’ve logged all your miles, you’ll receive a glittering medal for all your brilliant efforts.
The challenge runs from 1 to 12 December – you can complete your 25km at any point during this time.
Sign up to take part here It costs £12 per entry. Any additional fundraising is up to you but very much appreciated. Dog entry is an extra £3.
The event runs between 1 and 12 December. You can only log your kilometres within these dates. However, if you’d like to start early you can start your challenge and fundraising from the day you sign up – just remember to log your kilometres once the event officially starts. You cannot log miles past the event closing date.
This event has an entry fee of £12 per person. There is also an optional entry fee of £3 per dog if you are taking part with a canine pal and would like a dog tag medal.
Your registration fee goes towards the vital work we do supporting sick, injured and homeless pets. This includes our rehoming, veterinary, education, behaviour and pet loss support services.
A portion of your entry fee also covers the cost of the medal we’ll send to you once you’ve completed your Winter Walkies 25km.
The closing date for registering is 5 December depending on availability. However, we would advise signing up as early as possible to guarantee your place (places are limited) and give you as much time as possible to complete the challenge.
Yes, as long as you are able to follow the current Covid-19 government guidelines applicable at the time of the event. You can purchase multiple entries when registering. During the registration process there is an option to ‘create’ a team and send invites to your friends and family to sign up too. Or, if you want to join an existing team you can use the ‘find’ button during the registration process – please note you will need to know the teams name or team captains name to find a team. You cannot join a team after you’ve registered.
Yes, children are very welcome! However, children must be accompanied by an adult at all times. We’d recommend breaking down the challenge into multiple sessions and that you plan safe routes and adhere to the highway and countryside codes.
Yes! We even have a special dog tag medal for your canine pal! An optional purchase at £3. Please plan your challenge around dog friendly routes and adhere to highway and countryside codes. We’d recommend checking with your vet that your dog is fit to take on the challenge. For more info please see our advice for running with your dog.
No, fundraising is optional. However, we are very grateful to our wonderful supporters that take that one step further and raise vital funds for Blue Cross through sponsorship. Getting sponsored for your challenge really makes a difference and will help us support even more sick injured ad homeless pets.
A fundraising page is set up for you during the registration process. Even if you don’t plan to fundraise, you will need this page to log your walks to earn your Winter Walkies medal.
Yes. Donations are very welcome if you are unable to fundraise. You can do this by self- donating to your fundraising page.
You can take on your challenge outdoors, indoors or both. Whatever suits you best! For example you could go to the gym and step it out on the treadmill, walk up and down your hallway, do laps of the garden or explore your local area. The choice is yours! If you are taking part outdoors, be careful of icy paths, wet leaves and any hazards you may come across when exercising in the winter months. Please dress appropriately.
No. This is your 25km your way. You can choose to do it all in one go or break the distance down over multiple sessions. Plan around your free time and plan safe routes adhering to the highway and countryside code.
Yes, once your challenge is complete and you have logged all your kilometres, we will send you your finishers medal and certificate at the end of the event.
All kilometres must be recorded on your fundraising page to be eligible for your medal. Once you’ve signed up you should automatically receive an email with your page link and information on how to connect your Strava fitness app account or enter your kilometres in manually.
Please note – kilometres can only be logged between 1 December 2021 and 12 December 2021.
If you have deleted your email with the link to your page – you can log into your account here to view your page. When logged in, you can go to ‘my dashboard’ and resend past emails to yourself if you need them. You will find them under the ‘emails’ tab.
Please also check out the Enthuse ‘Help and support’ section for info on logging progress.
Follow this link to the Winter Walkies account sign in page. Please be aware you will need your order number to sign in which you will find on your email receipt and other emails.
Once you have loaded all your kilometres Blue Cross will be notified. All medals and dog tags will be sent once the event has come to a close. Medals will be dispatched between 13 and 15 December via Royal Mail second class. Please be aware that delivery times may vary out of our control at this time of year due to Christmas post. If you have not received your medal by 22 December please get in touch.
If the event is showing sold out - we do apologise. We had limited stock of medals and are unable to add any further entries. We’re very sorry you’ve missed out this time. Do keep an eye on our website www.bluecross.org.uk for future events.
Follow Follow this link to the Winter Walkies account sign in page. If you have registered for the event, you can log into your account here to view your page and dashboard. When logged in, you can go to ‘my dashboard’ and resend past emails to yourself if you need them. You will find them under the ‘emails’ tab.
We’re so sorry you have not received our email, they should be automatic. Please before anything else, check your junk mail if you haven’t already as our emails can end up there.
If you haven’t received an email - follow this link to the Winter Walkies account sign in page. You can log into your account here to view your page and dashboard. When logged in, you can go to ‘my dashboard’ and resend past emails to yourself. You will find them under the ‘emails’ tab.
If you are still experiencing problems, please email us [email protected] with details of the problem you are experiencing so we can investigate the issue and update you.
We do apologise you are having problems uploading your evidence for the Winter Walkies challenge.
Please be aware that the upload function on your fundraising page is only active from 1 December 2021 – 12 December 2021. You will not be able to add kilometres outside these times.
If the upload function is not working during these times, please contact us [email protected] as we may need to investigate the issue.
You can contact us by emailing [email protected] or call our Supporter Care team on 0300 790 9903. 9am-5pm Monday to Friday.