Step Up for Cleft Lip and Palate

This Awareness Week, Step Up for Cleft Lip and Palate with our family-friendly fundraising challenge!

Our Cleft Community is spread across the United Kingdom, and CLAPA is proud to be a way for that community to connect with each other no matter where they are. To celebrate this, we’re asking YOU to help us travel the 1,464 miles between 17 Cleft Centres in the UK this Awareness Week.

This is a virtual challenge which you can take part in no matter where you are. You can join in by walking, cycling, running or even dancing! Sign up with Enthuse and tally up your miles or steps to help connect the UK this May.

Wherever you are, whatever the weather, you can show your support for CLAPA’s work by lacing up your trainers and getting your steps in. Not only will you help us reach hundreds of families and adults in need each year by funding our vital support services, but you’ll also be joining in with our UK-wide efforts to raise awareness of cleft by telling your story.

Event: Step Up for Cleft Lip and Palate

Dates: 6^th – 14^th May 2023

Sign Up: Join with Enthuse.com

Follow the progress: Follow on Enthuse.com

How do I join in?

1. Decide how you’ll take part. You could walk to work or school every day or pick a walking route to complete in one go – it’s up to you!
2. Sign up through Enthuse. You can do this as an individual, a team or a family – check out our bright ideas and other answers below.
3. Using our built-in template, personalise your fundraising page by telling the story of your cleft journey.
4. We’ll send you a ‘Step Up’ badge and a postcard with space for you to write why you’re taking part in the challenge. Use this to take a photo to share along with your fundraising page.
5. Share your page with everyone you know! Here are some top tips to make your page shine.
6. If you want to, download the Strava app and connect it to your Enthuse page to track your progress
7. When Awareness Week starts, pop on your badge (and t-shirt if you have one) and get stepping!
8. Take lots of photos, update your fundraising page throughout the week and keep sharing it to get the most out of it.
9. Celebrate!

Bright Ideas

• The miles matter, but not nearly as much as your story! One of our favourite ‘Step Up’ participants from recent years was a toddler who managed just 20 steps over the week, but their story touched many people, and the money they raised made a big difference. No matter your age or ability, we’d love to have you join our team this May!
• If you’d rather count steps than miles, use this simple converter to find the ‘distance travelled’. Ideal if you have a step tracker or want to do something different, like dancing!
• Get your workplace involved by putting a team together and tallying up your steps by committing to walk to work, get off the bus a stop early, or do ‘walking meetings’ during Awareness Week. You could even get different departments to compete against each other to see who can rack up the most steps! Download our guide for workplaces to get started.
• To take part at school, make it part of a PE or geography lesson, do a ‘walk to school’ scheme, or arrange for pupils to do a lap of the field or playground during break time. Ask for a standard donation (£1 or £2) from each participant, and use the opportunity to raise awareness of cleft with some of our educational resources. Download our guide for schools to get started.
• If you’re part of a Cleft Team or Dental Clinic, you can Step Up as part of a team and compete to see who can walk the furthest during the week.
• To take part as a family, make the most of the extra Bank Holiday and walk around your local park or on a local trail. For little legs, a lap of the garden (or even the front room!) will help us to meet our total. Even in the buggy, the miles count! Download our guide for families to get started.
• Remember to use the postcard in your pack to take a picture and send these in! We’d love to share your photos on our social channels to help inspire others to Step Up this May.

Questions and Answers

Can I join in if…

Yes!

Whatever your age, ability or location, you can Step Up for Cleft Lip and Palate this May. Every single step, mile and pound raised adds up. Every story told will help the public understand cleft a little better. However far you go, however much you raise, you’ll be helping CLAPA to support people affected by cleft in the UK with our vital services throughout 2023.

If you’re under 18, we’ll need details of a trusted adult to contact about your fundraising.

If you’d rather join in offline, you can tally up the distance on paper (download our template in colour or black & white) and collect sponsorship using our Sponsorship Form. If you need us to send you printed copies in the post, please get in touch at [email protected] or leave a message to request these forms at 0207 833 4883. Remember to leave your full name, address and phone number in the message.

How can I join in with my friends, colleagues or family?

With Enthuse, you can create a Team so all your totals will be counted together. There are a few different ways you can do this.

• Be a ‘Team Leader’ – create your fundraising page, create a team and invite people via email addresses or sign them up yourselves so they can start stepping
• Create your page and share the link or team name so people can create their own pages linked to your team
• If you’d prefer to tally up the miles manually and enter these yourself for everyone, you can create a ‘family’ page for your whole group. Remember, you can only link one Strava account if you do this!

For more information, download one of our handy guides to Step Up for Cleft Lip and Palate:

Guide for Businesses

Guide for Schools

Guide for Families

How can I track my miles?

There are lots of ways to track how far your steps take you this Awareness Week!

• Through an app like Strava which can link up with your Enthuse page
• Through a step-counter on your phone, smart watch or Fitbit. You can convert steps into miles here and manually enter them onto your fundraising page
• Find your walking route on Google Maps (or whichever site you prefer) and record the distance, then manually enter it into your fundraising page

How does the money I raise get to CLAPA?

Anything you raise through your Enthuse page will go directly to CLAPA. If you raise any money outside of this page (such as cheques or cash donations), see this page for information on how to get these funds to us.

Can I take part offline?

Absolutely!

You can tally up the distance on paper (download our template in colour or black & white) and collect sponsorship using our Sponsorship Form. If you need us to send you printed copies in the post, please get in touch at [email protected] or leave a message to request these forms at 0207 833 4883. Remember to leave your full name, address and phone number in the message.

Back to Awareness week 2023 Hub