The fundraising event for two hospices in Carlisle is inspired by the hit BBC travel series, Race Across the World.  


So far, 14 contestants have signed up for the event, which will take place from 5-12 October this year.  

Jane Sedgwick, a Travel Counsellor since 2017, told TTG: “The participants literally have no idea where they are going and they'll find out on the morning of their departure.”  

For the past couple of years, Sedgwick has donated £3 per client to both hospices, which are linked. “I donate monthly,” she explains, “so at the start of each month, I make a donation based on the number of passengers who travelled the previous month.”

As a result of this connection, the hospice got in touch with Sedgwick last year asking if she would help them with organising this Race Across Europe charity event.  


'I almost applied for the BBC series!'

“I said yes because I love Race Across the World. I prefer the regular series to the celebrity one and I have loved all the destinations that have been featured. I did once download the application form but didn't go any further with it!”

An open evening was held at the hospice last October for people who were interested in signing up to the event. Very quickly seven pairs paid a registration fee and they have all committed to a certain level of sponsorship, raising much needed funds for the hospice. Sedgwick explained that all the participants had some kind of connection to the hospice, such as a loved one who had spent their final days there or a child that was cared for by the children's hospice.  

Sedgwick is supporting the race by arranging the checkpoint hotels, and providing logistical support with flights home from their final destination by flight, and transfers back to the hospice.  


“As this is a charity event, I'm not charging as much as I might do for a normal holiday booking.”  


Sedgwick also hopes she can be in the heart of the action during the race itself.
“We've still yet to finalise the absolute detail of it, but my plan is to be the person who pops up at reception when they are checking out of their hotel in the morning with an envelope containing their next checkpoint destination. As per the TV series, they have to work out their own routes and sort either overnight transport or hotels to get to the next checkpoint.”  

“I won't be 'racing' as such because I've planned the route, but I will be paying for this out of my own business, and not charging back to the charity. I need to know that it's going to work well on the ground, because hopefully this will be the start of an annual event.”  

Top secret brief

The hospices’ Race Across Europe has been an exciting project to work on, she says.
“As far as I'm aware, there are only four of us in the know, me and my husband, and the two members of the fundraising team at the hospice that I'm working with on this.”  

“My lips are sealed,” she adds. “I'm not open to bribery, corruption or any such nonsense.”  


With it being a charity event, and a stripped-down race with no massive budget or camera crew, she said that safety had been an important consideration, and airtags will be provided for all competitors so they can be ‘tracked’ from a distance.


Sedgwick personally chose the route based on what can be logistically done with trains and buses in the given time:  “I started using ChatGPT and our own TC CoPilot initially to get ideas of routes and then sense checked it. We don't have the luxury of giving the participants a 24-hour break after they reach the checkpoint. They will literally have to start off again at 8am latest even if they only arrived at 2am.”  

In the BBC series, contestants have to surrender their mobile phones, but Sedgwick explained that competitors would be allowed phones for this race, because the hospices need to the race to be publicised as much as possible.
 
“They’ll only have phones to do social media posts letting everyone know where they are at different stages of the race. We'll be setting them tasks in each checkpoint location of taking a photo in front of an iconic landmark and posting a selfie with a timestamp so we know when they arrive at the checkpoint.”  

Googling 'not in the spirit of the race'

“We are having to take them on trust that they won't be using Google for any other purpose than doing social posts. At the end of the day, they all know that this won't be in the spirit of the race. But they won't be disqualified because the whole point is to fundraise.”


Sedgwick admits that her involvement in the project has the potential to cause a few sleepless nights but the fundraising objective makes it all worthwhile.  


“Each person participating has pledged to raise a min of £3,000. The first £1,000 is to cover the costs I'm incurring on their behalf, the 2nd £1,000 will be for the transport/hotels/food and incidentals not covered by the first £1,000, and the final £1,000 will be purely funds for the charity. The winner of the race will be the pair who reach all the checkpoints in the least time, but also who have the most budget left.”  

“I've always wanted to give back, and when I started my TC business in 2017, I started networking in my local area. Doing that I've come across a few charities that I felt I wanted to help, the hospices being one of them, as they are such worthy causes.”