Join us for the #MarchIntoMarch Community Challenge

We all know that getting enough exercise has a positive impact on our health, both physically and mentally. We also know that farmers have worked consistently throughout the pandemic to feed the nation.  

So, as part of our #SpeakUpBeHerd campaign in collaboration with national charity FCN - the Farming Community Network - we’re mixing both of these elements together in our #MarchIntoMarch community challenge!

What Is #MarchIntoMarch?

Between March 15th - March 31st, we’re asking you to join us in “Walking a mile in someone else’s shoes”. This is to help us raise awareness of the importance of seeking help by taking the first step. We want to remind people that no challenge ever has to be tackled solo - help is just a simple conversation away. 

We’ll be encouraging you to get out and about, and see if we can collectively spread this conversation across our local communities. 

To track our collective progress, we have set up a special #MarchIntoMarch Strava Club group, which is free for anyone and everyone to join! Whether you walk for 10 minutes or 10 miles, your progress counts and will be added to our total - so we can see exactly how far we’re spreading the #SpeakUpBeHerd message.

And for those of you with a hunger to compete, we’ll also be sharing regular leaderboard updates too. Time to dust off those running shoes!

How can you get involved? 

Simply download Strava (via Apple Store or Google Play), join our Strava Club group (by following the link or searching ‘SpeakUpBeHerd’ in clubs), start tracking your daily distance and share it with us in the ‘posts’ section of our group. For those of you with a competitive edge, we’ll be sharing regular leader-board updates on our social channels, too.  

If apps aren’t your style, we’re also welcoming anyone and everyone to share their distances - with the #MarchIntoMarch hashtag - on our social channels. That way we can make sure everybody getting stuck into the action is able to share and track their progress whichever way is best for them!

The #MarchIntoMarch challenge will be taking place from 15th-31st of the month, so make sure you get involved. At the end of the month, we’ll tally up everyone’s distance and share how far our community walked, ran, hopped and skipped, in support of our community during these difficult times. It won’t be long before we can start walking with friends and family again too, so make sure you take the opportunity to stretch those legs, embrace the early Spring weather and connect with the people around you. 

Top tips for taking part

So, you’re kitted up and ready to rack up your step count? Here are some of our top tips to keep in mind while you’re out, about and taking part: 

• Take some nice photos on your walk and share them with the community on our Strava club (on the ‘posts’ page) 

• Listen to some music or a podcast along the way 
• Enjoy the fresh air, and appreciate the nature surrounding you 
• Take a moment to think of your friends and family, or anyone you know who might need someone to talk to, and give them a call! (Remember: We want to encourage people to #SpeakUpBeHerd!)
• If you forget to ‘track’ your walk/run on Strava, you can still leave a comment on the group with your daily distance 
• Challenge your friends/family to get involved, too!  

Learn more…

We have a lot happening this month, so be sure to see what else is happening by checking out our #SpeakUpBeHerd intro blog.

You can stay up-to-date with all of the latest #SpeakUpBeHerd action by following us on Facebook and Twitter, including more info on our upcoming Facebook live event, and community challenge updates. 

We’d also encourage you to follow FCN on their social media channels - Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. 

If you’re looking for your nearest FCN group, you can view a map and further details of FCN’s groups and communities here: https://fcn.org.uk/your-local-fcn-team/