Working with sponsors for the community’s benefit

As an organisation we are always looking for new ideas to raise funds. This is very important to keep the books balanced as we have a duty to report annually to the national Executive Committee in order to keep our accreditation. One of our aims is to increase economic footfall for the town and the local area. That's why having so many supporters displaying the Walkers are Welcome logo on their door or shop window is great publicity. It also works both ways because not every single town in the country can display the WaW logo, so there is a bit of prestige associated to it.

Since our accreditation, many supporters have helped us along the way and became sponsors in various shapes or forms.

Bingley Town Council has been a supporter ever since we started the process of acquiring the accreditation. In February 2017,  We received a grant of £500 to help organising our first Walking Festival. This was mainly used in the design and printing of our leaflets which helped publicise the event. It was a great success and the event is now firmly on the calendar on the first May Bank Holiday of every year. 

What benefit for the community: We are very proud of this as an average of 150 people from the local community and beyond come to town every year to enjoy the outdoors and keep healthy with us!

The grant received from Bingley Town Council was also used to produce, design and print our Sir Fred Hoyle walks leaflet.

What benefit for the community: this walk leaflet was created to inspire the local community to learn, explore and enjoy their town. Sir Fred Hoyle was a famous astronomer who coined the phrase “Big Bang" and not many people know that he was born in Gilstead on the outskirts of Bingley.

The Bingley Loop is an 8 mile walk extension part of a 28 mile long distance circular route known as the Welcome Way. It was created by the group of Walkers are Welcome towns of Otley, Burley in Wharfedale and Baildon. This was the first walk leaflet we created and some local businesses and organisations helped us out to cover the printing cost:

• West Yorkshire Combined Authority (METRO)
• Skipton Building Society
• Five Rise Locks Café
• Luscombe's
• Oakwood Hall Hotel

What benefit for the community: it's all about putting Bingley on the map by being associated with three other towns in the area and working towards a common project.

Pickles Pubs is a family run business established in 2006 with a portfolio of pubs that offer traditional food and drink. In 2017 they approached us with the idea of creating a leaflet of walks featuring walking routes starting at their different pubs, three of which are based in Bingley. We thought the idea was great and after almost a year and a half of hard work, the leaflets were finally printed. There are 2 circular walks from each pubs, plus a “marathon" linear walk linking the five pubs. People buying the leaflet also get 10% off vouchers on their food bill.

What benefit for the community: all the proceeds from the leaflets are going to us. This means we can finance other projects which will benefit the local community. Also we learnt that the Pickles Pub staff and customers organised a charity walk on the “Marathon walk" and raised  £500 for Sue Ryder Manorlands Hospice.

When we lead walks for a group of people, we don't take it lightly. Safety of everyone is paramount! That's why we wear high-viz jackets so oncoming road traffic can see us. It was great news to find out that Bingley Physiotherapy & Sports Injury Clinic agreed to sponsor the cost for customising them with our name and logo.

What benefit for the community: since July 2015 and our first  Sunday Monthly Walk we have led more than 50 walks and probably taken more than 1,000 people with us. The high-viz jackets have helped making sure these walks are run safely.

Sometime when you lead a group it's a bit difficult to see what's happening at the back and many times we've been saying: “it would be great if we had walkie-talkies!". So what a delight it was when our new found supporter Specsavers from Keighley heard our call and offered to gift us three brand new pairs of walkie talkies after our recent walking festival!

What benefit for the community: so far we have only used them for a single walk. However, leader and back-marker can now communicate in the event of a problem.. If someone falls and is injured at the back, then the leader can be informed straight away and change the course of the walk. Let's hope we won't have to use them much but in any case it will make our walks much safer!.