We encourage everyone that is taking part in the Pilgrimage to fundraise, as we rely on donations from people like you to continue our vital work. Every £5 raised could provide a warm shower, hot nutritious meal and clothes cleaned for someone experiencing homelessness.

Yes, our preferred fundraising platform is Just Giving, you can set up your page by clicking here!

There are many ways in which you can fundraise, please see below some suggestions:

Create a compelling story on your fundraising page profile to let people know why you are taking part in this event and what the cause means to you

Share your fundraising page with friends, family members and colleagues and encourage them to donate

Share on your social media platforms

Tell people once you have completed your challenge, we find up to 20% of all donations come through after the event!

Put on your own fundraising event, for example a bake sale, quiz night, a tournament (FIFA, pool or table tennis!)

Top Tip: Incentive based triumphs. For example get friends, family members, colleagues to guess the colour/ style of an item of clothing you are going to be wearing and ask them donate a £1 per guess. What colour sun hat will you have? Or how many pairs of socks will you get through over the weekend?

No, you are welcome to join us for 1,2,3 days or for the entire weekend. There are many stopping points you can join us easily in different days. Please speak to the Pilgrimage Coordinator for any other possible arrangements.

No, we have a luggage van that will transport all your items, this will be collected at every morning stop and you will pick it up at every evening stop. We ask that you each carry a day sack with you to include essential items for each day, for example; water, waterproofs, sun cream, any medication you may require.

Yes, we will provide you with breakfast, lunch and dinner each day and there will be food and drink stops along the way, where plenty of cake is provided! (roughly every 1 – 3 hours of walking)

Yes, however the accommodation we provide is very basic, sleeping on church/ community centre floors, so it is advised you bring your own sleeping bags/ roll mats / air beds along with you.

You are more than welcome to camp or find your own accommodation, if you would like any accommodation recommendations please get in touch with us.

Yes of course, we welcome walkers of all abilities, we will have different groups to cater for different walking speeds.

We carry on! Unless there is an extreme weather risk, which will be decided by the Pilgrimage Coordinator and the situation will be assessed as to whether it will be stopped for a period. Please make sure you come prepared and ensure you read the kit list.

The first day will be mostly flat pavements, as we leave London. The other days we trek mainly on grass paths or gravel tracks, but also on some quiet roads, with road crossings. Some sections may be muddy. There route is mostly flat with some hills each day.

There are toilet facilities at every stopping point and every evening stop. So you will have access to facilities every 1 – 3 hours.

No, I am afraid the Pilgrimage is a walking event only. All walkers must remain within their group and not wonder off alone.

Each day you will be put into a group (depending on your walking pace and group size numbers), each group will have a walk leader who will navigate you along the route.

We are walking between 17 to 20 miles each day. The total distance over 4 days is 74 miles.

You may need to be fit enough to be able to walk for 8 hours to 11 hours each day, with a number of resting points throughout each day. There will be cars available to transport anyone from one stopping point to another one should the need be required.

Yes, the cost per person per day is: £50 (As in 2024). The registration fee only covers the cost of your accommodation/ food/ drink/ luggage transportation and your own transportation for the weekend so only fundraising on top of this goes towards supporting our vital work.

Yes, we welcome dogs along. We do however, please ask the following restrictions are followed:

At every overnight stop there will be a designated Dog-Free Zone. Dogs must not be allowed into these areas.

At stopping points, all dogs are to be kept on a lead.

At Aylesford Priory (Saturday night), dogs are not under any circumstances to be taken into any of the bedrooms, or any indoor area. They should be walked on the grassy area on the other side of the car park and nowhere else. All excreta must be collected and disposed of sensibly. Dogs are prohibited from the Aylesford Priory site, but they allow ours on condition that we comply with these restrictions. If we do not respect these rules, the outcome will be that dogs may not be allowed in future years.

Dogs are not allowed on the coach back to London on Monday evening. We will do our utmost to ensure that you and your dog have transport, but be prepared to make your own arrangements. Please contact Eugene to discuss the arrangements.

Pay special attention to the section relates to dogs in the Countryside Code.

The walk starts in the courtyard of St Martins Church, London

Canterbury Cathedral

We provide coaches to take all those who wish to back to London. The coaches drop participants off near to the start, outside Charing Cross

We anticipate you to be back at Charing Cross at about 9:30pm. Please note this is only an approximation of time and may change.

Comfortable footwear, it is advised that it is waterproof

Clothes for all weathers (unfortunately this is Britain and the weather can be very variable!); waterproof jacket, warm jumper, waterproof trousers, comfortable walking trousers/ leggings/ shorts

Protective clothing for all weather; sun hat, woolly hat, sun cream, gloves, sunglasses

Plenty of clean, dry socks

Day sack, to carry all your essentials during the day

It is advised to also bring a waterproof cover for your day sack

Rucksack/ suitcase – to put all of your overnight items in

Water bottle

We advise to bring a thermos flask however, there will be cups available

Torch

Any regular medication you may need to take

There is no age limit to take part. However, for those participants under 18 they need to be accompanied by an adult for the whole participating duration and to be responsible for them.

No, I am afraid not. Only participants who are fully registered can take part.

We appreciate all support! There are a few different ways in which you can do this:

Donate

You can click here and make a donation to our fundraising page and know that your donation will be changing the live of someone experiencing homelessness.

Sponsor

Every year, clients that we support take part in the Pilgrimage, this is a great experience for both them and the other walkers.
However, this wouldn’t be possible without your support, we rely on your donations to purchase walking shoes, clothes and rucksacks for the clients along with accommodation for them. Everything they need to ensure it is safe and suitable for them to take part in the event.
If you would like to sponsor a client please click here.

Volunteer

If you are able to join our supporting team to help as a marshal, driver, or as a general helper in the Pilgrimage weekend, please get in touch.

I still have a question who do I contact?

Please feel free to contact one of The Connection events team, details are below:

Eugene Ling, Pilgrimage Co-ordinator – eugene.ling@cstm.org.uk
events@cstm.org.uk

Or call us on 020 7766 5555