EVENT OVERVIEW
As a school we see the importance in our staff leading by example, showing the children that it isn’t just them who take on challenges and risks. That living an active healthy lifestyle, setting challenges for yourself and doing your bit for charity and the environment isn’t something we only expect of the children.
In October 2021, Mr Chaplen and Mr Parker began planning an event that would promote all of the reasons above to our whole community.
The Step On The Pedal challenge has taken many forms over the last ten months and has involved lots of people in the planning; the names and faces within the team have changed throughout as well. However, we now have a team that we feel will give us the greatest chance of success in the mighty task, and help us to involve as many people from our St Matthew’s community, and beyond, in our aim to show people what they can achieve if they really put their mind to it.
So, on Thursday 20th October 2022, our team of six cyclists, made up of teachers, family members and friends, plus a seven-person support crew will set off on a 3½-day, 980-mile cycle relay adventure, visiting the three mainland UK capital cities. Across the 3½ days, the bikes wont stop moving, only the riders will change.
The team will start off in a relay format from St Matthew’s Primary School in LUTON, ride down to LONDON before heading west to CARDIFF then north to EDINBURGH, once there we will head back down south again, eventually finishing where we started at the school to the support of the community, who themselves will have taken on their own day of challenges.
As far as we can see, we will be the first team of school staff taking on this challenge in this format. We will be working with local and national businesses and organisations to both promote and support our challenge in any way they can.
This challenge will positively impact more than just the six riders. Alongside the cycle event, the children from the school, as well as their families, will have the chance to take part in their own challenges that will push their limits and give them chances to try new things and have fun being active.
As well as the community impact, we will be raising money for Young Lives vs Cancer, a charity which has supported members of our school community, and others within our local area. We want to show our appreciation for the work that they do and help them continue this work by ensuring all the money we raise goes to supporting their efforts.
KEY DATES
FRIDAY 4th FEBRUARY 2022
ONLINE LAUNCH DAY
FRIDAY 29th APRIL 2022
IN-SCHOOL LAUNCH DAY
FRIDAY 29th APRIL 2022
SUMMER TERM 1 SCHOOL FUNDRAISER
Read all about it here
TBC
AUTUMN TERM 1 SCHOOL RE-LAUNCH
Sign-ups open for the Family 5K.
MONDAY 3rd OCTOBER 2022
FINAL FUNDRAISING INFORMATION DISTRIBTUED TO PUPILS
THURSDAY 20th OCTOBER 2022
BIKE TO SCHOOL BREAKFAST
STEP ON THE PEDAL RIDE BEGINS AT 10am FROM SCHOOL
FRIDAY 21st OCTOBER 2022
NON-UNIFORM DAY
COLLECTION OF FINAL PUPIL DONATIONS
PUPIL & STAFF FUN-RUN
SATURDAY 22nd OCTOBER 2022
COMMUNITY SPIN-A-THON HOSTED BY ACTIVE LUTON
SUNDAY 23rd OCTOBER 2022
SCHOOL OPEN TO WALKERS FROM 6.30am
STAFF 30km WALK BEGINS – 7.30am
SCHOOL OPEN TO THE COMMUNITY FROM 10.00am
COMMUNITY 15km WALK BEGINS – 10.30am
FAMILY 5km WALK BEGINS – 11.00am
WALKING EVENTS TO FINISH BETWEEN 12 noon and 3.00pm
CYCLING EVENT TO FINISH AT APPROXIMATELY 3.00pm
EVENT ENDS – 5.00pm
Even if you’re not taking part in any of our events, we would love to see you at the finish line festival to support all the walkers and cyclists. There will also be lots of food, music, games and stalls for you to explore!
SUPPORT OUR EVENT
If your business or community group would like to support our event, please feel free to get in touch via the email address below.
WAYS YOU CAN HELP
Food and drink for our walking and cycling teams.
Promotion of our event and charitable aims through your network.
Have your staff take part in our 15km community trek.
Make a prize donation to our community raffle to be announced at our finish line festival on Sunday 23rd October.
Support in publishing our event through any local or national media platforms.
RIDE WITH US
As a team we know we are taking on a huge task, and we are going to be relying on the support of our colleagues across the country to help us.
We want as many school staff members who cycle to join us for short stints along our journey. We hope this support will not only boost our fundraising efforts but give the team injections of motivation when they are needed most.
If you would like to play your part in seeing the team to the finish line, please complete the form below to express your interest.
WALK WITH US
This challenge is all about showing our pupils, staff and community what you can do if you really put your mind to it. For this reason, we have planned a huge festival of movement to take place on Sunday 23rd October along side our neighbours Putteridge Primary School, to coincide with the finish of the bike ride.
Parents, teachers, pupils and family members will have the opportunity to take part in:
- Family 5k walk
- 15km Trek
- 30km hike (closed event)
All money raised through our festival of movement will go towards our grand fundraising total.
Express your interest in taking part in this event by filling out the form below.
By joining this event you will get to complete your own challenge, support hundreds of others cross the finish line as well as give our riders to champions welcome back into school they will deserve.
PUBLICITY
On Wednesday 9th February, Mr Chaplen and Mr Parker were the guests of Nathan Gynn at Teachers Talk Radio. They told Nathan all about our previous charity challenges and how the Step On The Pedal challenge is developing. You can listen to the programme by clicking on the link below.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Keep up to date with how the team are getting on with their training as well as any event updates on our school sports Twitter page: https://twitter.com/ActiveStMatts or our main school Twitter timeline: https://twitter.com/StMatthewsLuton.
