Whether you joined in with this year’s Mendip Challenge or are wanting to hear more about the event so you don’t miss out on next year’s Mendip Challenge, you’re in the right place! This year, we had a record number of people taking part in this fun, challenging event that sees participants taking on either 30, 20 or 10 miles across the West Mendip Way. We’d like to say a BIG thank you to everyone who has taken part in our longest-running event, the Mendip Challenge! We appreciate all of the work you’ve done so far to raise as much sponsorship as you can, and we hope you’ll continue to raise as even more to help support our work.

In spite of the rain this year, hundreds of participants walked, ran and splashed their way across the Mendips, all to help raise funds to support the work we do with local people affected by life-limiting illnesses. As our longest running event, we were thankful to see both participants who had been doing the challenge for years and participants who were taking on the Mendip Challenge for the first time ever.

After gathering in the morning on the grounds of Westhaven School, which is located across the road from the hospice, participants and furry friends boarded a Crossville bus to their respective start points. With nearly a dozen checkpoints set up along the route and a cleverly designed tabs system, the events team worked hard to make sure each and every participant was accounted for throughout the entire route. Checkpoints provided snacks, drinks and much-deserved words of encouragement to participants as they walked past, and first-aid teams, communications specialists and safety groups made sure everyone’s well-being was taken into consideration.

Upon returning to the grounds of Westhaven School, participants were greeted with cheers, medals, an opportunity to enjoy food and drinks, and the sight of a Lotus car (brought to the grounds by event sponsor Howards Motor Groups).

We’d like to thank everyone – all of the participants who challenged themselves despite the difficult weather, the many companies who offered their support, the dedicated volunteers who donated their time and the donors who have kindly given funds. We hope you’ll continue to raise much-needed sponsorship to support the work that our wonderful team of nurses, therapists, doctors, fundraisers, secretaries, coordinators and more all do.

We hope you all enjoyed putting your best foot forward for Weston Hospicecare. If you have any questions, or if you want to offer any feedback, please send us an email. We’ll be posting more photos from the day on our Facebook page, and you can also visit our Twitter and Instagram pages to view some more posts that we published on the day.