Pro bono PR campaign launches world record challenge

 

Challenges4Change is a two man team that takes on incredible feats to raise money for charity. This year their challenge consists of 14 days of cycling 1,200 miles, attempting to break the “Three peaks on bikes” world record and kayaking 145 miles down the River Thames. The purpose of their 2015 challenge is to raise money for two charities; Glad’s House and WaterAid.

To maximise the amount of potential funds raised for their chosen charities they sought pro bono marketing support through Pimp my Cause. And through a referral from Glad’s House the Challenge4Change team connected with Andrew Nixon-King and he began crafting their public relations campaign.

The Challenges4Change challenge consists of the World Record attempt of scaling Ben Nevis in Scotland, Scafell Pike in England and Snowdon in Wales, within 46 hours. This will be a total climb of 29 miles with 450 miles of cycling between the peaks. As part of the challenge the team will also circumnavigate Great Britain by cycling and kayaking over 1,200 miles in 12 days. See below for a graphical representation of the charity challenge route.

The challenge is supporting Glad’s House, which helps street children in Kenya to find a home and support with education and training. And Water Aid, which works to improve access to safe water, hygiene and sanitation in some of the world’s poorest communities.

Andrew has worked with the challenge team and the two charities to develop an integrated PR campaign consisting of a news release, photo call, a target online and offline media list and a graphical representation of the charity challenge. The campaign has already started to gain great traction online, in the press and radio, with more coverage expected as the challenge unfolds.

The ambitious challenge starts at London’s Tower Bridge on Saturday May 30th where the team will cycle 650 miles to Ben Nevis, from which they will make the 10.5 mile climb up Scotland’s highest mountain. Then there is a 250 miles cycle south to Scafell Pike in the Lake District for a 9.3 miles ascent. Then a cycle of 200 miles to Snowdon in Wales for the last climb of 7 miles and a 150 mile cycle to Gloucester. Once at Gloucester the team will start a 145 mile kayak down the River Thames to the finish line at London’s Tower Bridge.

Mike Cannon from Challenges4Change commented, "We are delighted to already have gained great media coverage from the campaign and to be engaging new donors. The feedback from the public, colleagues and friends has been very positive. Our thanks to Andrew for creating the PR campaign, raising our brand awareness and engaging donors for our pending challenge”.

Andrew said, “It was great to have the opportunity to work with Challenges4Change in the support of their pending challenge. The support provided clearly pales in significance to the feat they are about to undertake. My thanks to Challenges4Change and Glad’s House, for the opportunity to contribute in some limited way to the great work they do. I look forward to any further opportunities where I ca​n offer any marketing or public relations expertise.”

Challenges4Change are no strangers to challenges of this magnitude, having cycled 6000 miles from London’s Tower Bridge to Kenya in 2011 which took them through 18 countries in 99 days. Then in 2013 they climbed the highest peak in Western Europe, Mont Blanc, whilst cycling 600 miles across France and running 82 miles from Dover to Tower Bridge in 12 days all in support of charity.

For more information about the world record charity challenge go to: http://goo.gl/7oCJY0​