Supporters of Bath Abbey have a huge task ahead. They are currently trying to raise £4.5 million for their Footprint project, a development programme to repair Bath Abbey's collapsing floor, install an Eco-friendly heating system using Bath's hot springs and create additional space and improved facilities for the half a million people who use the Abbey every year.
One fundraising activity that took place was a 140 mile walk from Bath Abbey to Lambeth Palace, The Footprint Walk. The team set off on Sunday the 5th July and arrived in London 6 days later. Katie McGill, Development Officer from Bath Abbey explained that the #LocalHero campaign came at the right time to help promote their sponsored walk.
"#LocalHero seemed like a great way to encourage people to support the walk. It was nice that it didn’t matter how much people gave, just that the more supporters, the better chance we had of winning one of the prizes on offer. It was also perfect timing as the walk was due to start five days after the end of the #Localhero campaign.
We had a rush of donations in the last days of the #Localhero competition as people really wanted their donation to count towards our score. It was very exciting to keep checking where we were on the leaderboard, wondering if we would make it into the top 5! It was also inspiring to see all the other brilliant fundraisers raising money for charities all across the country too."
The team, including the Rector, Edward Mason, Footprint Project Director Charles Curnock, Footprint Appeal Director Laura Brown & Churchwarden Emeritus Jeremy Key-Pugh managed to receive 103 points in the #LocalHero campaign landing them in 2nd place and winning them a £500 prize.
Currently, the team have raised over triple their original target and the total currently stands at £16,537.75, including offline donations, Gift Aid and their prize money. What's the secret to their success? Local support!
"We’ve been spreading the word about the walk on our website, chatting to people about it on Twitter and Facebook using our hashtag #footprintwalk and via local media. The team of walkers were interviewed on BBC Radio Bristol, appeared in the local paper (twice!), in local magazines and blogs. We’ve also had lots of encouragement from local businesses, and the walkers friends, family and colleagues."
See the team's fundraising page here or find out more about The Footprint Project.