Walk This May
Join us to Walk This May!
Take part in our 100km walking challenge throughout May and help us to raise vital funds – so Pets As Therapy can provide more moments of magic in more hospitals, schools, care homes and community spaces across the UK.
Sign up to Walk This May and we'll send you a Welcome Pack and free T-shirt, as well as a link to your own personal fundraising page – please share this with everyone you know and ask for donations.
Our Walk This May challenge is sponsored by YuMOVE, a Certified B-Corporation who manufacture, sell and distribute pet health supplements.
How it works
Sign up to walk 100km throughout the May and notch up the kilometres day by day. Or choose your own walking target to complete by the end of the month.
- Sign up to take part in Walk This May – click the link below.
- Look out for an email containing a link to your own fundraising page.
- Personalise your page and share with everyone you know – you don't have to wait until May to start asking for donations.
- A T-shirt and Welcome Pack with lots more information will arrive in the post.
Walk as far as you can between Friday 1 May and Sunday 31 May – and raise money for Pets As Therapy.
Thank you for your support. Together, we can make every day a little brighter - one paw at a time.
Walk This May – sponsored by YuMOVE
This year’s Walk This May is proudly sponsored by YuMOVE, a brand dedicated to supporting mobility and wellbeing in pets.
Together, we’re encouraging people and their dogs to get moving, raise funds and help Pets As Therapy reach even more schools, hospitals and care settings across the UK. YuMOVE’s support plays a vital role in powering this campaign and helping us extend our impact.
Frequently asked questions
Need help? Take a look at our FAQs.
No, it's free to sign up to Walk This May.
No, you don't have to walk on all 31 days. Complete the challenge however best suits you. You might like to go on a short walk every day, but you could also go on one long walk every week or, if you're feeling fit, perhaps you can walk 100km in one weekend – we'll be impressed! The choice of how, when and where you walk is totally down to you.
Of course. We're setting a goal of walking 100km (approximately 62 miles) over the month of May, which works out at around 3km (under 2 miles) a day. However, if you want to step up the challenge and walk even further, then go for it. Or, if there are reasons why you would struggle to walk a great distance, then choose your own target. The main thing is that you set a walking challenge, whatever your ability, so that everyone you know will sponsor you.
When you register to take part in Walk This May you'll be sent an email with a link to your own fundraising page which you can then share with family, friends, neighbours, work colleagues and everyone you know. It's easy to personalise your page too – add your own story about why you want to raise money for Pets As Therapy and include some photos.
We're not asking for any specific amount. Just raise as much money as you can. If you want to set your own fundraising target you can do this easily when you register – the average amount raised by walkers last year was £207.
As soon as you want! Once your fundraising page is ready then tell people you're going to Walk This May – don't wait until 1 May before collecting donations.
Yes, but do take your dog's age, health and walking ability into consideration - and don't go walkies with your four-legged friend if May turns out to be a sunny, hot month.
You can walk pretty much anywhere that is legally accessible to the public. You may choose to walk to work or local shops, or plan a walk in the local park, beach or countryside. You could even walk around your garden lots and lots of times!
Yes. Just register as a team when you sign up.
There are various ways to do this:
- Use a fitness tracker on your phone or watch to track how far you've walked.
- Use a map app online.
- Use a pedometer to track steps and distance (your phone may have this feature so just take it with you on every walk).
PAT Teams currently visit around 6,690 places in the UK, bringing joy to over 631,000 people – but the charity desperately need funds so we can recruit more pet owners and provide comfort and companionship to those who need it most.
PAT has a long list of healthcare and educational settings waiting for a therapeutic visit. If every walker is able to raise at least £50, this will massively help us to recruit and assess a brand-new PAT visiting team – ensuring that if someone needs a lift, a wagging tail or gentle purr is never too far away.
Yes, all the money goes to PAT. We have a free agreement with Enthuse, which means you will not be charged credit card fees for donations.
Yes, UK taxpayers can complete a Gift Aid declaration when making a donation. It only takes a few seconds. This will enable PAT to claim 25p on every £1 donation – at no extra cost to whoever is making the donation. For example, if someone donates £20, we can claim an extra £5.
No, anyone can take part in our walking challenge. Those under the age of 16 will need consent of a parent or legal guardian. We'd ask for the parent or guardian to complete the registration either jointly or on their behalf.
Absolutely, we'd be delighted if schools took on a challenge in aid of PAT. Walk This May your way! We have sponsor sheets you can use too (see below).
Yes, here's our Walk This May sponsor sheet, though ideally we'd like people to get donations via their online fundraising page - it makes it easier for us to say thank you to everyone who's donated, and it also saves you having to collect cash and transfer it to us via your bank account.
If there's a reason you can't complete a challenge, perhaps because of an illness, injury or bereavement, please let those who have donated know. You'll be amazed that people are often still happy to give you money for what you have achieved so far.
Please remember to take care on every walk, especially if you're walking somewhere new or if you're outside when it's dark. It's not a race so go at your own pace. Wear suitable clothing and footwear, take water with you (especially on longer walks) and if you pooch is joining you, don't forget those poo bags!
Email marketing@petsastherapy.org with the subject line ‘Walk This May’ and we'll do our best to respond to you within a couple of days.