The Farmers’ Union of Wales is taking part in one of the biggest walking challenges yet, as it joins five nations who have teamed up to inspire rural communities to take to the countryside to help improve their mental health.
The challenge, #Run1000, is calling on people to sign up to be part of one of five teams – England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the rest of the world. The competition will take place from January 1 to January 31, 2021 and will see each team run or walk 1,000 miles, with the nation that reaches the milestone first announced as the winner. The idea is for individuals to sign up and contribute as many miles as they can during January, whether that be 1 or 100.
A team captain will lead each nation, and a private Strava group will record the collective running / walking distance - for Wales the team captain is Emma Picton-Jones from the DPJ Foundation.
As well as helping personal mental health, the initiative will raise awareness and funds for charities that have been impacted by the lack of fundraising events in 2020. The £20 joining fee will be divided equally between five charities, selected by the team captains – The Farming Community, Embrace Farm, The Do More Agriculture Foundation, RSABI and DPJ Foundation.
FUW President Glyn Roberts said: “As the DPJ Foundation is our current charity, we want to help Wales win this race and of course also raise money for this tremendously important charity, beat the January blues and think about our own mental health.
“This is a great way to get your daily exercises and members of staff have already signed up. We now encourage others in our rural communities to join this worthy cause, Covid-19 restrictions allowing.”
Here’s how to get involved:
You need to donate £20 via the Event JustGiving page: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/run1000teamwales
This will generate the Strava link in the thank you note for you to enter the group. You MUST enter the Strava club for your miles to count! And then you’re all good to go.