Fundraising and Challenge FAQ's
Getting Started
Where and when is this challenge?
Just be sure to post your progress and updates on your fundraising page and on our Facebook group or Strava club so friends and family can cheer you on and we can see how you’re doing too!
How do I sign up?
To sign up to the challenge, register here.
When you register, your fundraising page will be automatically set up for you.
What is the Make a Splash reward?
Our Make a Splash reward is a small thank you for your fundraising! If you raise £30 or more by 1 November, you’ll receive a Sands swimming cap featuring our logo.
You don’t need to do anything extra to claim your reward. If you reach the £30 fundraising milestone by 1 November, your swimming cap will be automatically sent to you once the challenge begins.
The first batch of caps will be sent out during the first week of November. Please allow up to 10 working days for your swimming cap to arrive.
Is there an entry fee?
There is no entry fee for this challenge but we do however ask you to fundraise as part of your challenge.
Using the fundraising page set up for you when you register is the easiest way to collect sponsorship.
Will I get a fundraising pack or t-shirt when I register for the challenge?
There won’t be a physical t-shirt or fundraising pack for the November Swimming Challenge, but we have something special for our early fundraisers, you could be eligible to win the Make a Splash Reward!
Raise £30 or more by 1 November and you’ll receive a Sands swimming cap, featuring our Sands logo, as a thank you for your fundraising.
You don’t need to do anything extra to claim your reward. If you reach £30 by 1 November, we’ll automatically send your swimming cap to you once the challenge begins.
The first batch of swimming caps will start being sent out during the first week of November. Please allow up to 10 working days for your reward to arrive.
Can I join an online community to connect with others that are doing the challenge?
Team
How do I set up a team?
1. Simply log back into your account, go to your fundraising page
2. Find the ''Create a Team'' option on your page dashboard, tap on your profile settings and click ''Create a Team''.
3. Add your team details. Choose your team name, and add team photo or logo and a short story explaining why you are fundraising for Sands.
4. Set a team fundraising goal. Pick a realistic but inspiring team goal - you can always increase it if you hit it early!
5. Invite others to join! Share the team link with friends, family and colleagues. You can make your team page 'Public' to allow anyone to join a team direclty from your team page.
Check out this page to see our a tutorial on how to set up a team!
How do I join a team?
To join a team that’s already been created: Go to any team member’s fundraising page. Click ‘Join Us’ located next to their profile photo. Follow the prompts to complete your registration and you’ll automatically be added to their team. You can browse all team pages for the challenge here.
If you’re unable to join a team, it’s usually because the team settings don’t allow new members.
For Team Captains:
If you’re the team captain: Log in to your Funraising profile. Go to your Team Page. Click ‘Edit Team Page’. Under ‘Allow anyone to join my team’, make sure ‘Yes’ is selected. This will allow supporters to join your team directly.
If you’d prefer to keep your group invite‑only:
Go to your Team Page. Click ‘Team Members’. Copy the private invite link shown there. Share it with friends and family so only people with the link can join.
How do I make edits/changes to my team page?
To find your team page go to your team dashboard
On your dashboard you can:
- Find and share your team fundraising page link with friends and family, and share across social media including Facebook, X, and LinkedIn or even send a personalised email.
- Find and share your team page QR code.
- View your team donations, add any offline donations and send a thank you to your donors.
- Edit your team page button if you would like to edit your fundraising target.
- View all your team members and find the unique 'Invite others team' link to invite new members.
How do team rewards work?
To qualify for a swimming badge, the team must raise £175 per team member. For example:
- Raise £175 - receive 1 swimming badge and a team certificate.
- Raise £350 - receive 2 swimming badges and a team certificate.
- Raise £525 - receive 3 swimming badges and a team certificate and so on.
All swimming badges and team certificates will be posted to the Team Captain, who can then distribute them to team members. Only one team certificate will be printed and sent per team. If you would like additional copies, please get in touch and we'll be happy to provide them for you!
We will send the team captain a digitial certificate if you raise under £175 to your email.
We will be sending out swimming badges and certificates in the post by the end of December, and can take up to 10-14 working days. If we need any additional information from you we'll be in touch. If you moved house, please us know at swim@sands.org.uk
Fundraising
Is there a fundraising target?
Can I just raise money offline with a sponsorship form?
Absolutely. You can collect sponsorship in any way you like. We simply recommend creating a fundraising page for this challenge as they’re easy and hassle-free, but if you’d like a sponsorship form, you can download one here. Your fundraising page is automatically created for you.
Don't worry about filling in the serial number on the form.
After the challenge ends, please scan and email this to us at swim@sands.org.uk so we claim any gift aid. If you’re not able to scan or send us a clear photograph, drop us an email anyway and we can let you know where to send your form to via the post.
You can either add your cash donations as a self donation to your online fundraising page or you can add them via the Sands website by clicking here. Make sure to add in the description that this is your sponsorship donations for your 2026 November Swimming Challenge.
Please do not send cash in the post.
Match Giving - My business/employer want to donate/match fund my fundraising. How do they do this?
How do I pay in my fundraising?
If you’ve collected offline sponsorship, the easiest way to pay this to Sands is by donating on your fundraising page.
If you would like to pay your fundraising another way, you can donate via our website here: www.sands.org.uk/donate. Make sure to say that your money is for your 2026 November Swimming challenge so that we can make sure it is added to your total.
If you’ve completed a sponsorship form, please scan and email this to us at swim@sands.org.uk so we claim any gift aid, and then pay it into your fundraising page on the sponsors behalf. If you’re not able to scan or send us a clear photograph, drop us an email anyway and we can let you know where to send your form via the post
Will I get a reward?
Participants who raise less than £175 will receive a digital certificate by email after the challenge ends.
We will be sending out swimming badges and certificates in the post by the end of December, and they can take up to 10-14 working days to arrive. If we need any additional information from you we'll be in touch. If you have moved house, please let us know by emailing swim@sands.org.uk
There will also be an opportunity to purchase a swimming badge for a small fee to cover costs. We'll share details by email when available.
Swimming badges and team certificates will be sent to the Team Captain after the challenge has ended.
To qualify for a swimming badge, the team must raise £175 per team member. For example:
- Raise £175 – receive 1 swimming badge and a team certificate.
- Raise £350 – receive 2 swimming badges and a team certificate.
- Raise £525 – receive 3 swimming badges and a team certificate, and so on.
Only one team certificate will be printed and sent per team. If you would like additional copies, please get in touch and we'll be happy to provide them for you.
Challenge
How do I keep track of how many KM's I've done?
- 5k Challenge (5,000 metres): You need to swim 200 lengths in total, which averages out to 50 lengths per week.
- 10k Challenge (10,000 metres): You need to swim 400 lengths in total, which averages out to 100 lengths per week.
- 15k Challenge (15,000 metres): You need to swim 600 lengths in total, which averages out to 150 lengths per week.
If you're swimming in the sea or a lake, it's a little trickier. You'll need a waterproof sports watch to track how far you swim. You can get these from around £20 online.
Remember you can log your KMs on your fundraising page for this challenge, follow these steps:
1. Log in to your Sands account
2. Click the person icon on the top right
3. Click My Fundraising
4. Click My Fitness Activity
5. Scroll down to Add Activity and type in how many kms you've done and any other details
6. Click Save Changes
The Health app on iPhone or Google Fit app on Android both keep track of how many kilometres you do each day. There’s other apps available so do pick whichever works best for you.
If you have a pedometer or sports watch, these can usually keep track of your kilometres too.
You can also download a copy of the November Swimming challenge tracker here to print off and log your daily swims.
Do I have to swim my kilometres, or can I walk, jog, climb or dance?
Where can I find resources to help with the challenge?
Find all the resources here.
