SUNWALK CHARITY - IELTS Listening Answers & Explanations

Sunwalk Charity

I'm very pleased to have this opportunity to tell you something about the Sunwalk Charity. I'll give a brief overview of what we do, and I hope it will be helpful to you. Sunwalk came into being 13 years ago when just 13 women walked the New York City Marathon to raise money and awareness for cancer. What started out as a one-off fundraising event has blossomed into a thriving multi-million pound charity, raising to date in excess of $55 million for vital cancer causes. The charity was founded by Nina Barough in 1996. By 1997, the runs were being filmed by local TV and today they appear on international TV every year. All the funds collected by Sunwalk go to the hospital; with the idea those fit enough to run use their energy to assist the provision of people who are unwell for whatever reasons. Now, if you want to race, let me explain a couple of basics. You can choose to complete a Half Marathon, 10km or 5km distance. After receiving your entry form we will then send you all the information you need to start power walking and getting fit. You will also receive a sponsor form to start your fundraising and a safety guide - everything you need to get going! A few weeks before the event you will receive your hat, T-shirt and walker number. On the day there will be great music, plenty of fun and a warm-up before the start. Toilets and water are provided on the route and a team of smiling faces giving out medals to welcome you home! Small steps make BIG changes... no matter how small! By aiming to raise a minimum sponsorship of $100 you could be helping us to raise over $1/2 million on this one day. Sunwalk will be granting these funds to where we know it will make the most difference to vital cancer causes. Our benefiting charities in the South West include Penny Brohn Cancer Care, Bristol Haematology and Oncology Centre and Weston Area Health. We also ask for your commitment to get into training and prepare for the BIG day. What an exchange: you get fitter and many, many people who suffer from cancer will benefit from Sunwalk funds.

OK, that's the big race, but I know there are many people who don't feel they are up to running a Half Marathon race, but who would nevertheless like to raise money for Sunwalk. Over the years, we've had experience of many different ways to collect money, some proved to be very successful. Now, of course, 20km is too much for children, but there was a sponsored dancing performance at the local school last year, and that did very well. People have also tried to organise food-based events, such as selling homemade cookies and jam at the open market, and there was a large barbecue arranged in City Gardens. Although these events failed to justify the efforts put into them, they were very delicious. These days, so many people are full-time workers, so door-to-door collection isn't very effective, but it's viable to raise funds by selling small promotional items, such as T-shirts with Sunwalk motif and slogan on them. We're currently checking to see if postcards, perhaps showing the race's spectacular scene each year might also be a good idea or not. We do appreciate the efforts that have gone into selling old bikes, but to be frank, the return has not been very high on this. One very dedicated group organised a prize draw recently, which went very well, and it would be good to see more such activities. There's also been talk of a concert, but we'll see how plans for that progress. Now, are there any questions at this stage?