The Great Sparks Summer Toddle Waddle

Looking back to one of the highlights of our summer!

Last week we received a lovely letter from the team at Meningitis Now, thanking us for our fundraising efforts a few months back with our very first sponsored Toddle Waddle. Along with the letter we also received a Certificate of Appreciation for the total we raised and donated. Keep reading to see how we got on, how much we raised and for plenty of tips and advice for how you could organise a sponsored Toddle Waddle in your own community!

If you’re unfamiliar with the fabulous work of Meningitis Now or even what a Toddle Waddle is, then we’d suggest you check out their website here for more information.

A Toddle Waddle is a sponsored walk for families with babies and toddlers or even older siblings. All children can take part, whether they are in a pushchair, a wheelchair, crawling, waddling or walking and there's no minimum distance, so participants can go as long or as short as they like. We decided to make our event free for all children taking part, with each adult accompanying them paying £1 for entry.

Getting Started

You can hold your Toddle Waddle at any time of year and once you have set a date you can register your event with Meningitis Now online. They will then send you a welcome pack through the post, filled with lots of resources and tips. There are stickers and certificates, as well as sponsor forms to get you started.

Finding a location

We decided to use one of our local parks because it was easy to access and close to parking areas. We did have to register the event with our local council. They were very helpful, and we were not charged for the use of the park, but we would certainly recommend notifying your local council if you decide to hold your event in a public space such as this.

Advertising your Event

We decided to utilise the event function on Facebook to attract local families and relied upon the power of ‘Like and Share’. This proved to be hugely successful and we received several sign-ups in a short time. We offered sponsorship forms that could be collected from our studio, but most people opted to receive theirs by email and print a copy at home.

We also registered the event on the websites of local newspapers and directories, as this too was free.

Hosting the Event

The day of the event was a beautiful 24 degrees and sunny, so when we arrived ahead of the meet-up time, we did wonder how many people would turn up. After all, it was perfect weather for a beach day! Thankfully, we were not disappointed as families began steadily showing up at the park.

Most of those taking part had experienced or had loved ones who had been affected by meningitis or sepsis and we were very privileged to have two little boys with us who had only been in recovery for less than a year. Their stories of survival and the love of their families were so inspiring.

With the temperatures rising, we decided to limit the walk to one circuit around the perimeter (via the Ice Cream Van!) and once everyone had toddled and waddled their way around, we gave out stickers to all the little ones and got together for a group photo. It had been such a success that before we’d even finished up, we’d decided we would love to hold another the following year.

Donating our sponsorships

We set a deadline for our participating families to bring us their sponsorship money. Paying the total we raised into the bank was easy, using the slip that Meningitis Now had provided in the welcome pack. Our total donation was a fabulous £509.54!

Without a doubt, this event was one of the highlights of our Summer, showing us the power of community and passionate families to be able to help make a difference. If you’re considering hosting your own Toddle Waddle then our advice would be to just go for it, harness all the people-power you can and the wonderful team at Meningitis Now will help and support you all the way.