21 Sep 2021
Our new challenge Miles for Missions called on people to walk 116 miles, the length of London’s border, between June and September.
This year, the challenge was themed around a ‘walk back in time’ - as people counted down their miles, we shared exclusive content including throwback playlists for participants to sing along to. Together, we celebrated the 32 years of London’s Air Ambulance’s life-saving history.
On the 20th September, after three months, Miles for Missions came to an end. Over the course of the challenge, 264 courageous participants pulled on their trainers to cover the 116-mile distance in order to help raise vital funds for London’s Air Ambulance Charity. An enormous 41,000 miles were covered during the challenge – that’s equivalent to 353 trips around London’s border!
To cover their miles, participants swam, biked and ran to reach their target, with one adventurous participant even going in search of a herd of elephants in central London – life-sized elephant sculptures, should we add.
The original fundraising target for Miles for Missions was set at £30,000 - enough to fund 15 lifesaving missions. We suggested to our fundraisers that raising £1 per mile - £116 across the challenge - would be incredible, and we have been blown away by the outstanding response and are incredibly humbled by all our participants who have gone above and beyond to raise life-saving funds.
Early in the challenge, a generous private donor agreed to match the challenge target of £30,000. We are delighted to announce that upon the challenge ending, the same donor decided to top up the incredible amount already raised, £86,062, to a staggering £100,000!
We’d like to say a huge thank you to all our Miles for Missions participants – your steps will help London’s Air Ambulance to continue to perform lifesaving treatments and continue to be there when London calls.
We’d also like to say a heartfelt thank you to our donor, who has helped to more than triple the original fundraising target for this challenge. We are so very grateful for your kindness and generosity.