Walk the Walk meets ‘Woking Wreckers’ - a social action revolution

A team photo immediately following the group’s trek to raise money for Walk the Walk 

That was the thought going through the minds of the 16 members of the ‘Woking Wreckers’, a Surrey-based group of teenagers working towards their National Citizenship Service award.

"For us, it was a no-brainer that we wanted to help the community in a lasting and impactful way, and so supporting Walk the Walk seemed the perfect option.

Over the last few days, our group have completed a set of 100 challenges to raise money for the charity, as well as undertaking a 14.3 mile walk. These tasks have included the ice bucket challenge made famous in 2014, an egg and spoon race, running races and the cinnamon challenge. Firm favourites seem to have been the whipped cream challenge and chubby bunny marshmallow challenge.

While some of them were more difficult than previously anticipated, members of the group are in unanimous agreement that completing these challenges encouraged a huge sense of achievement, as well as raising a huge sum of money to put towards the charity.

The walk - or more specifically, the Summer in the City virtual challenge - seemed a suitable challenge for our group as none of us had ever walked a half marathon before, which meant that the task would be a new experience for us all. The route took us through an even mixture of city centres, and trails snaking through the middle of the countryside - and although our feet were throbbing by the end, the journey was more than worthwhile. While there was a great physical reward, we also found that the walk itself, especially the feeling of crossing the finish line after 14.6 miles, was just as rewarding mentally. While it was of course difficult, undertaking this task and giving it a good shot in order to support a good cause made it all worthwhile.

A candid photo taken during the 14.3 mile walk 

In addition to this, the Woking Wreckers - so named because of the drastically positively influential effect we hope to have on our community - have been busy on social media, promoting links to fundraisers, sharing interactive content and encouraging our friends and family to donate.

A Tiktok account with over 10 thousand followers has been repurposed to allow us to project videos surrounding the cause and our challenges to a massive virtual audience. Through this, as well as the fundraisers that the volunteers have been promoting, £619.45 has been raised for Walk the Walk.

However, the financial aspect was not the only benefit of this outreach. Multiple members of the group have reported that the challenge has improved our individual organisation and people skills, as well as giving us the platform to stand up for a worthy cause and make a difference in our communities.

The programme has also allowed us to make friends and build confidence, and through both social media and word of mouth, we have all been heartily recommending the experience to our friends and family."

"All in all, for the ‘Woking Wreckers’, working with Walk the Walk has been a pleasure. The charity has been nothing but supportive, and it was of course in the interests of both the staff and the group members to raise money and spread awareness about breast cancer through our social action - especially through the voices of the younger generation." - Livi Bell, member of the ‘Woking Wreckers’

Thank you ‘Woking Wreckers’... we just love to see the younger generation get involved! 

Why not follow in their wonderful footsteps and join the Summer in the City Challenge or one of our other challenges!?