Everything you need to know to Circle Home!
Are you ready to Circle Home? All your information for fundraising, and the walk itself can be found here!
Welcome to Circle Home
Everything you need to know about how to get fundraising and which route is right for you can be found here. It also contains some links to materials you might want to use on your fundraising journey, and on the walk itself.
Please read through and if you have any more questions, let us know!
Fundraising
Nobody in our city region should be without a safe, secure place to call home. Yet there are many for whom this is out of reach. It isn’t right. Not anywhere, certainly not here. With your help, we can show the world that homelessness has no place in Greater Manchester.
As a recommended starting point, we suggest you start your fundraising with a pledge of £1 per mile. But, the more money you raise, the more lives you can help transform! Make it easy for people to get involved, and you will see a greater return!
JustGiving: set up a page on JustGiving so that you can promote what you are doing, make it easy for people to donate, and share your story. On JustGiving, people can easily add gift aid to their donation – this means their gift is worth even more! You can follow this link for some simple instructions on how to set up a JustGiving page for ‘Circle Home’.
Matched Funding: get your company involved! Explore if your company offers matched funding opportunities for it’s employees. Many are keen to give back to their communities, and this is a highly effective way to do so.
If you have collected cash in sponsorship for your Circle Home, please don’t send us the cash in the post. It is easiest and safest to send us a cheque. Cheques should be payable to ‘Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity’ and posted to:
FAO Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity
Tootal Buildings 56 Oxford Street Manchester M1 6EU
If you use a sponsorship form to collect cash donations, please include the option for sponsors to allow us to claim Gift Aid. Gift Aid is at no extra cost to you or your sponsors, but means every pound you raise is worth another 25p. Don’t forget to submit the sponsorship form with your cheque, as we’ll need that information to claim gift aid. If you would like further information or a template sponsorship form, get in touch.
Inclusive Walks
Circle Home on the GM Ringway – Greater Manchester’s Walking Trail is for everyone. There are 20 full stages to choose from, and all stages are available to explore on plotaroute today!
You can also find a list of each of the 20 stages, alongside shorter and more inclusive (e.g. step-free) walks, by following this link here. For the longer main stages, each finishes at the start of a new one, so there is no reason why you need to complete just one. Let’s see how far we can go!
Once you have decided which stage(s) you would like to complete, you can update your ‘JustGiving’ page and start your preparations. Keep your eyes peeled on our socials and your inbox as each stage will also soon be available on the Go Jauntly app.
All stages are accessible by public transport, and we encourage you to take the train, tram, or bus wherever you can!
Guided Walks
Over the 4 day event, the GM Ringway team will be offering a series of guided walks suitable for all ages and fitness levels.
Places on all guided walks are limited, so don't miss out!
To sign up to those walks, follow the links below:
Strines to Marple - 9th September
Accessible Walk - step-free circular walk at Salford Quays - 9th September
Wigan to Leigh - 10th September
Accessible walk - step-free circular walk around Greenfield and Uppermill - 10th September
Sign up is free, but please do join the fundraising effort for the weekend if registering on one of these guided walks.
You can find out more information on the GM Ringway's webpage here.
Makes some noise!
The more people who know about ‘Circle Home’ and the miles you are going to walk, the more people who can help you hit your fundraising target.
Before… Make some noise online! Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and WhatsApp groups can all help spread the word about Circle Home.
During… Photos, live action video updates and shoutouts as you hit the trail will help create a buzz about the event.
After… You did it! Not only should you let us know here at Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity, but tell the world! Up to 20% of donations can be expected after your event has ended, so make sure you create the space for a final flurry of fundraising.
For all your social posts, don’t forget to tag us and use the hashtags #CircleHome23 and #TeamGMMC.
You can follow this link to download some social media assets to help promote your event.
After the event, send us an email to let us know how you got on. We would love to hear your stories, and share some of your photos.
On the day
Whether you are out with your friends, family, community or colleagues, you will be one of many out on the GM Ringway as we all Circle Home.
If you want to champion your fundraising on the day, why not download and print this bib to wear with pride. This will let everyone know that you are taking part in Circle Home and achieving something incredible!
Striking up a chat is not always the easiest. To help you out, we will be creating a list of conversation starters to ensure you get the most out of your walk and the people you are enjoying it with. Whether you are net-walking, walking with friends or making new ones, there should be a few questions that will get the chat flowing. You can decide which set of questions are most suited to the people you are walking with:
Walking with my friends and family or my local community
Walking with my colleagues and clients
We will share links to these in the week commencing 5th September.
Tracking your miles?
We want to Circle Home, that means collectively covering the 320km's that make up the GM Ringway. There are lots of options to do this, but here are some suggestions below:
Go Jauntly app – this is the free app that includes unlimited walking trails for all to enjoy. In the run up to the Circle Home campaign, Go Jauntly will be uploading all stages of the GM Ringway into the app, where it will also be possible to record the stage(s) that you complete! As soon as the stages are available, we will send more information.
Strava, Garmin, etc – record your walk with your go-to fitness app! Simply get your watch or phone ready, press record, and off you go!
However you choose to record the miles you complete, let us know!
And finally, we want to say a massive THANK YOU for taking part in Circle Home. With your help, we can end homelessness here in Greater Manchester.
#WeDontWalkOnBy.
Don't forget to sign up via our Eventbrite link so we know you are joining us as we Circle Home! Sign up here.
Donate today and know that your money will help tackle homelessness across our city-region for a fairer and more sustainable future.