Walking Our War Graves: Normandy 2024
WALKING OUR WAR GRAVES: NORMANDY IS NOW CLOSED!
Walking our War Graves: Normandy is over for 2024. A huge thank you to everyone who took part in this year's event.
Through your generosity, we have raised nearly £10,000 for the Commonwealth War Graves Foundation!
6 June 1944. Allied soldiers stormed the Normandy beaches in pursuit of the liberation of Europe.
Honour their legacy with every step and raise money for Commonwealth War Graves with our unique virtual challenge.
Lace up your trainers, get on your bike, or strap on your swimming cap. Take on the challenge your way, wherever you are in the world, and help us keep their memories alive.
Registration closes on 6th May! Sign up now,
Why should you take part?
As the charitable arm of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, we aim to tell the stories of those from the Commonwealth nations who lost their lives during the two World Wars.
80 years on since the Battle of Normandy, the Commission will play its part in honouring those who never came home.
By taking part in Walking Our War Graves, you will ensure that those stories are told.
All money raised during Walking Our War Graves supports outreach and education programmes that allow us to reach out to all communities and the younger generations to tell these stories into the future.
Sign up today to support projects like our free online stories portal For Evermore: Stories of the Fallen, where we have already been able to collect thousands of stories of those commemorated by the Commission that otherwise may never have been told.
Your support through this virtual fundraiser will go a long way in keeping those stories alive.
DID YOU KNOW THAT...
How Can you take part?
Walking Our War Graves: Normandy registration opens on 1st April and closes on May 6th 2024.
Then you have from May 1st to May 31st to complete the route!
Register in 5 easy steps:
1. Sign up online - it costs £25 and all money goes to the Commonwealth War Graves Foundation
2. Set an individual challenge or enter as part of a team – see who can get to the end first!
3. Set your fundraising target. The money you raise will help with a variety of outreach and education programmes. See below for more information on how the money you raise can help.
4. Connect to Strava to track your progress, or choose to upload your progress manually – instructions can be found here
5. Share your fundraising page URL on your social media and encourage friends and family to support you
Please note: registration closes May 6th 2024.
Once you start the registration page you will be prompted for the necessary information. If you need any further help or additional details, please email: supporters@cwgc.org
You'll be able to track your progress on our virtual map and you'll receive email updates as you make progress, tell you about the cemeteries and memorials on the route, and some of the incredible stories of the people commemorated there.
TAKE PART YOUR WAY
Member of a running club? Love a bike ride? Trying to get more swimming lengths in? Just want to get out and about and improve your fitness?
It doesn’t matter how you take on the challenge – as long as you cover the 95 kilometres.
Why not challenge yourself to cover the distance in a different swimming stroke? Or mix up how you cover the route - walk, run, wheelchair, cycle, hop, skip, or jump; it doesn't matter!
Walking Our War Graves: Normandy can be tackled wherever you are in the world too.
Cover the route with a few walks around your neighbourhood, scamper up some mountains, or do lengths at your local swimming pool. However and whenever you cover the route is up to you!
FUNDRAISE YOUR WAY
Without fundraisers like you, the Foundation would not be able to tell their stories!
Set yourself a fundraising target and get your family, friends and colleagues involved with our work.
Once you sign up, you’ll receive a personal fundraising page. Set your goals here and personalise why you’re taking up the Walking our War Graves: Normandy challenge. Share your milestones and achievements here too!
In May, we’ll be highlighting some of our key participants’ progress. We want to see the best ways you’ve been fundraising so get inventive and get out there!
Make sure you tag the Commonwealth War Graves Commission on Facebook, Instagram and X and use the #WalkingOurWarGraves for a chance to be featured on our own Social Media channels that you can share with your family and friends!
As a thank you for your fundraising efforts, if you are one of our top five fundraisers, a wreath with your personalised message will be laid at Bayeux War Cemetery among the 80th-anniversary events taking place this June.
This will be your time to pay your respects in such a unique way.
Ready to get out there and start ticking off those miles? Sign up today to start your virtual journey across Normandy and start raising money for a fantastic organisation.
Sign up nowConnecting to Strava
Connecting to Strava
Make sure you’ve connected your Strava account to your Enthuse profile, so your walks are automatically tracked and added to your profile. If you need a hand setting it all up, take a look at our instructions below:
When you login to your Enthuse control panel, you will see a text box prompting you to connect to Strava. Click the Connect to Strava button to start the process. We do recommend that, if you haven’t already, you create an account on Strava before you proceed.
You’ll then begin the connection process. You will have to agree to the Strava privacy policy. When you are ready to proceed, click the Connect button.
You will then be prompted to login to your Strava account. Enter your username and password and then click Login.
You then need to authorise Strava to connect with your Enthuse account; before this you will need to confirm what data you’d like Enthuse to access. The data that we need for the Walking Our War Graves virtual walk is part of the required data set, so any other options are up to you. Once you are ready, click the Authorise button.
Your Strava and Enthuse accounts will now be connected – so now, when you track your walks, runs or swims on the Strava app, they’ll automatically be added to your Enthuse profile, showing just how far you’ve gone towards your target.
Now you can sync your Strava account with your smart watch, use your phone to track your walks, or just manually add them to your account afterwards.
Walking our War Graves Frequently Asked Questions
How long is the route?
The virtual route is 95 km from the Ranville War Cemetery to Bayeux War Cemetery and multiple stops in between.
When do I need to complete the route by?
Registrations is open between 1-30 April. You will have until 31 May 2023 to complete the challenge. You can set yourself a goal to complete it in as little or as much time as you like within this period.
Where can I complete the fundraiser?
This is a virtual route, reflecting the distance between two of our key Normandy sites. You can cover the distance in stages, anywhere you like, even at the gym!
How can I cover the distance?
Walking is not the only option. For example, you can cycle, run row or swim the distance in any combination you choose.
Walking Our War Graves Terms & Conditions
Event Terms and Conditions
Walking our War Graves: Normandy 2024
By entering the Virtual Event you agree to be bound by these terms and conditions:
1. You are entering a Virtual Event organised by Commonwealth War Graves Foundation (‘’CWGF’’ or ‘’us’’ ‘’we’’ ‘’our’’) but administered by a third-party platform Online Giving Limited (Enthuse) (‘’Enthuse’’) https://enthuse.com/
2. If you are registering on behalf of another person, you confirm you have their consent and they also have read and understood these terms and conditions.6. The contact information that you provide will be used to keep you up-to-date about the Virtual Event and may be used in tracking your progress during the Virtual Event. Only walking and fundraising progress will be accessible by other participants. It will also be used to send you your completion medal if you successfully complete the Virtual Event (see below for more information). We may also process your personal data in accordance with our Privacy Policy, which can be found here: https://www.cwgc.org/data-protection-and-privacy/privacy-policies/
7. You are entering this Virtual Event at your own risk. CWGF will not be liable for any injury or illness, damage or loss suffered of any nature arising out of your participation in the Virtual Event and you should arrange your own insurance, if you deem this necessary.
8. All worldwide residents are eligible to enter and you must be over 18 years old. Young people under 18 years old may take part in the Virtual Event providing they are registered by their parent or guardian. Entrants may only register online via https://foundation.cwgc.org/get-involved/fundraising/walking-our-war-graves/
Fundraising
9. The entry fee is £25.00 per person. Of this, Enthuse will deduct an administration fee of 3.5% plus a fixed fee of 75p. CWGF will receive the remaining balance.
10. You agree that if you withdraw for any reason during the Virtual Event, any monies raised will be non-refundable and will be treated as a donation to CWGF.
11. You will use only lawful means to fundraise for CWGF and will not do anything that harms or is likely to harm CWGF’s reputation.
12. You may not use our logo without permission.
13. You will tell your friends, family and other contacts who may support you that you are raising money in aid of CWGF.
14. You will not incur nor are authorised to incur any cost, claim, loss or liability on behalf of CWGF.
15. You will obtain approval from CWGF before approaching press or celebrities to support the Virtual Event.
Merchandise
16. As a thank you for taking part CWGF will, upon your successful completion of the Virtual Event (this means that each person individually registered successfully complete 95.2km and records these through Enthuse’s platform) will receive a medal which will be sent no more than 30 days following.
17. You may purchase at an additional cost a T-shirt which will include branding linked to the Virtual Event.
18. The first 25 registrants will receive a CWGF Water Bottle as an ‘’early bird incentive’’. We will use your name and address to deliver the water bottle to you and we will not use this information for any other purposes. Your information will be passed onto our fulfilment house to complete this. This offer is not available for CWGC or CWGF staff.
General
19. We reserve the right to make changes to these terms and conditions at any time and a notice will be posted on foundation.cwgc.org.
20. These terms and conditions shall be construed in accordance with English Law and the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts in England and Wales.
Donate Online Now
By donating to the Commonwealth War Graves Foundation, you are helping us to keep the stories of the brave servicemen and women who died in the two World Wars alive. Can you help us ensure that their sacrifice is not forgotten?
Your donation enables us to continue sharing the inspiring stories of those like Ensign Violette Szabo, a brave SOE operative and spy who was executed in Ravensbrück concentration camp and posthumously awarded the George Cross. Violette is commemorated at our Brookwood Memorial.