This Summer, an amazing group of young fundraisers, Jasper (11), and twins Cole and Seren (9) took on the challenge to collectively walk 1 million steps and raise money for Emmaus Suffolk.
We caught up with the siblings and their mum, Yula, after they completed their challenge, having raised an incredible £950 for our charity.
Read their interview below:
What inspired you to walk 1,000,000 steps?
Cole “I got a step tracker for my birthday and one day on a walk I thought we should do this to raise money. I really like walking and I like getting fit.
Seren “I like getting outside in nature and now we all have a tracker, so we joined in with Cole.
Yula: “We live close to Framlingham, so we walked there a lot with the promise of cake.”
Seren “But you have to walk back – that’s the deal!”
Why did you choose to raise money for Emmaus Suffolk?
Cole “We wanted to raise money for the homeless”.
Jasper “Because everyone deserves to have somewhere to stay”.
Seren “and shelter”
Yula “The children knew about Emmaus Suffolk, and knew it was a local charity that could help people”.
What did you enjoy most about the challenge?
Seren “The walking, and seeing the money go up on our page”.
Yula “We told all our friends and family about it and people were very generous in supporting the kids”.
Cole “Someone gave us £150 which was our whole target!”
Yula “We didn’t think we’d be able to raise so much, and our grand total is now £950”.
Was there anything you didn’t enjoy?
Seren “Probably being dragged out every day, especially when I wanted to stay inside.”
Cole “Nothing – I loved it all”.
Yula “Jasper was disappointed because he likes cycling to Framlingham but that didn’t count, and it was only walking steps. He’d often cycle 3 or 4 miles, but it wouldn’t count!
Cole “I actually did almost half of the steps, I did half a million just on my own”.
Yula “So in the end they did a total of 1.3 million steps and half of them were done by Cole.
Cole “We weren’t even tired when we went back to school, but we did have some rest days when we didn’t walk.”
Do you have plans for what you want to do next, do you have another challenge planned?
Cole “Not yet but when I’m older, I’d like to do some more charity work and maybe do another charity walk.”
Jasper “I could do something where I could cycle instead”.
Yula “They’d like to petition for a longer school holiday so they can have another go!”
What would you say to someone else who would like to set up a similar fundraiser or take on a big walk like this?
Yula “Cake was very motivational. Also, we worked out what would be doable but also what would stretch all the children and be a real challenge.”
Seren “My advice would be, don’t give up, keep going and try your hardest. Also, believe in your dreams and have fun.”
We want to say a huge thank you to Cole, Seren, and Jasper for their commitment to reaching 1 million steps and for raising such an amazing total for our charity.