GE is Evolving!

It has been another great summer at Gladiator Events. As we head into August, our quiet month before our final events in September, we thought it would be right to reflect on our year so far and the changes at GE.

Events

This year we’ve seen six new events, new locations for our bigger series, and growing our existing partnerships.

Jasmine has been a powerhouse this year looking after three of our new events – Seaside Scramble obstacle race for Dorset & Somerset Air Ambulance, Trek Together for DofE at Windsor Castle signed off by The King himself, and The Big Marsden Trek for Royal Marsden Cancer Charity. With Trek Together being a success raising over £75,000, Jas said "It's one of my favourite events that I've ever worked on. Just the whole atmosphere in the event village with all the stallholders, activities, and the screen was really great, seeing everybody crossing the finish line and getting their times up there."

Erin and Sarah worked on an amazing collaboration for Manchester Metropolitan University earlier this year, delivering TR3K alongside a student team. Sarah said “It's been an absolute pleasure being part of this project, and has challenged us to pivot and evolve our planning and programming in response to student needs. It's given me a renewed perspective on our industry, and a renewed sense of gratitude at the wonderful and enthusiastic people that form part of it.”

Elodie worked with Selco Builders Warehouse on a ‘Race Across the World’ inspired event, raising over £80,000 for Cancer Research UK and other Community Heroes. It was a brand-new style of event for us and perhaps one of the most fun and creative ones yet!

The National Autistic Society are launching a new event taking place in November as an alternative to Bonfire Night and Halloween. Planning is underway and this event is going to really feel like it belongs to the charity and suit their supporters. We are really excited to share more on this one soon.

GE Team

We’ve had a lot of change in the GE team this year, saying hello and goodbye to people, but we have some exciting updates.

Devon joined us after her travels down-under with highlights of attending the Australian Open and The Ashes. With a history of sports and a passion for rugby and swimming, she’s dived straight into her Event Coordinator role looking after many of our Walk for Parkinson’s events alongside our whole host of suppliers.

Emma started her new role at GE in May as Partnerships Manager. “Having worked as an Event Coordinator for 18 months, I’ve loved developing relationships with our clients and have a real interest in how the company is developing and evolving. With the support of the team, I knew it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up and went for it! It’s been a great few months in the role. I’ve met new clients, learning things I didn’t know before and now starting the 2027 planning which is super exciting!”.

James, our new Event Manager, has got stuck in with Devon Heli Hike, Trek 26 and Walk for Parkinson’s, and was commended on how he “took the brief and ran with it, which is a testament to his professionalism”.  He is looking after the operations for The National Autistic Society’s brand-new event coming to the Olympic Park in November. He did the recce this week, meeting with the venue who are enthusiastic to see this event brought to life, as are we!

We have also been working with Alex, an experienced freelance Event Manager, who has helped us scope out a venue for a new obstacle race coming next year. He and Emma went down to sunny Weymouth on a successful recce and even enjoyed an ice cream from a family business running since 1937. Alex is also going to be delivering one of our favourite obstacle races in September – Only the Brave for East Anglian Air Ambulance!

Our wonderful Abi is logging off next week as she goes on Maternity Leave, after a successful event season finishing off at Trek26 Northumberland last weekend. We are wishing her all the best with the most amazing adventure, and can’t wait to welcome a GE baby to the crew!

On a sad note, our fantastic Fred is leaving us in September. Fred has been a part of the business for many years and is such a great energy to be around. He is amazing at what he does and will be an asset to his new team.

We have welcomed 117 freelance Operations Crew this year, who, alongside those that have returned year after year, work tirelessly to make our events what they are. Their hardworking, can-do attitude is constant and we truly couldn’t do these events without them and their knowledge and passion for our events.

And finally, we are hiring! Soon we will be welcoming four new faces, with two Event Managers, a Senior Partnerships Manager and a Warehouse and Logistics Manager. With interviews underway, we’ll have a fresh team ready for 2027 planning, and we couldn’t be more ready for them!

Positive impact

Alongside new events and new team members, we have been implementing things behind the scenes to do good for all.

We swapped from long wheelbased vans to a lorry this year for Trek26 to cut down on staffing costs and carbon emissions.

We have donated 73 boxes of fruit, sandwiches, salads, and onion bhajis to food banks post event, food that would otherwise makes its way to landfill.

The team have been more involved in decision-making - whether that’s the culture, 2027 scheduling, branding, or improvements of processes, as we are one team all striving for more at GE.

And we have enrolled Fliss and Abi onto Growth-spurt, a community to support new parents and their career. Fliss recently shared “It has been the workshops that have helped me better understand hormone health, the conversations with other parents navigating similar life stages and the opportunity to learn from shared experiences.”

So that’s it! Lots of changes but a great position going into the tail end of event season and starting 2027 planning. Watch this space for what’s to come!

Six Events. One Weekend. One and a Half Times Around the World.

This weekend, more than 2,800 participants laced up their boots and took on six fundraising challenge events across the UK, supported by a team of 57 crew who showed up, adapted, and got the job done, whatever the day threw at them.

Across Royal Ramble, Trek24 Norfolk, Trek26 Jurassic Coast, Pier to Pier Norfolk, and Walk for Parkinson's Kent and Staffordshire, participants walked more than 40,000 miles, ate over 4,000 biscuits, and raised ever-growing funds for some brilliant causes. That's one and a half times around the world, made possible by the determination of participants, the dedication of volunteers and crew, and the collective effort of everyone involved.

UKPN announcing £130,000 has been raised for DofE, which will give over 3,000 young people a start in life

It wasn't a smooth weekend by any stretch. At Trek26 Jurassic Coast, winds were strong enough to shift portable toilets, so the team quickly ratcheted them down and adapted rest stops to operate from vans rather than gazebos.

Across the country, complex venues, changing conditions and last-minute operational demands kept teams on their toes. Our Event Managers took it all in their stride, adapting plans where needed and ensuring participants received the experience they came for.

Abi at Walk for Parkinson’s Staffordshire

The moments that made it worthwhile?

At the Royal Ramble, UK Power Networks announced an incredible £130,000 raised for The Duke of Edinburgh's Award, with the event already confirmed to return in 2027.

At Trek24 Norfolk, the East Anglian Air Ambulance helicopter landed at Sandringham, giving participants the chance to meet the heli team before they were tasked and called away to exactly the kind of emergency everyone had been fundraising to support.

And at Walk for Parkinson's Kent, almost 300 people danced to 'Walking on Sunshine' before setting off around the park together.

‘Walking on Sunshine’ at Walk for Parkinson’s Kent to round off our weekend

Weekends like this are a reminder of what challenge events can achieve: bringing people together, creating memorable experiences, and raising vital funds for causes that matter.

If you want your supporters to have an experience they'll remember, backed by an event team that can adapt to whatever the day brings, we'd love to hear from you.

Get in touch at emma@gladiatorevents.co.uk

Trekking the Giant's Causeway for the Alzheimer's Society

Last weekend, our team headed to the iconic landscape of Northern Ireland to deliver Trek26 along the Giant's Causeway for Alzheimer's Society. It's the kind of setting that stops you in your tracks, and it made for a really memorable event for everyone who took part.

This is the first year we’ve taken the multi-event series across to Northern Ireland and it was fantastic to see it so well supported, with over 1000 participants signed up and over £500,000 raised to date, a staggering amount that will have a huge impact on the charity’s essential work.

A new event location always comes with a healthy dose of challenges. With two event controls and a very exposed coastline, we had our eyes firmly on the weather forecast in the run-up, and the wind during set-up certainly made life interesting. Conditions on the live event day were wet and this tested both the trekkers and the team, with safety and welfare at the front of our minds at all times. We also had to coordinate a road closure, which is always something we approach carefully, mindful of the impact on local communities.

Some of our dedicated but damp GE crew… (we promise they are usually smiling!)

We were delighted to see how supportive the local venues, suppliers and community were of the event overall.

After the event, leftover fruit from our rest stops was donated to three charities: Guildford Action, Vaughan House, and Oasis Food Pantry in Carlisle.

Elodie, our Event Manager on the ground, said: "The team were amazing and really pulled together. It was a challenging event to deliver logistically, but the support we had from locals and suppliers made a huge difference, and I'm really proud of what we achieved."

Thinking about organising a fundraising challenge event for your charity? We'd love to hear from you. Whether you have a vision already or you're starting from scratch, we love chatting all things adventure and events!

Racing Across the UK...for Cancer Research UK

Last week our team delivered a unique event for a Corporate-Charity partnership between Selco Builders Warehouse and Cancer Research UK. Selco were looking to raise money for CRUK by racing from their Northern-most store in York to their Southern-most store in Exeter, across three days.

Starting in York, Selco’s senior leadership teams surrendered their phones and wallets before setting off across the country on one of four routes that they’d chosen depending on how successful they’d been with their fundraising in the lead-up to the day. They were armed with ‘Race’ money of £100, and accompanied by one of GE’s crew who were tasked with ensuring there was no cheating or rule breaking!

Selco were keen to engage with their store network, their ‘community heroes’ (community groups supported by the Company across the country) and with Cancer Research UK, so along the way, teams completed a range of creative and physically demanding challenges sponsored by corporate partners. From carrying 1,000 screws and fragile lightbulbs across the country, to building cribs for charity partner Latch (Leeds Action to Create Homes), every checkpoint tested their skills!

The event delivered plenty of memorable moments — from train ticket mishaps and improvised travel plans to dramatic final sprints (and an impressive entrance on horseback!) and mystery clues leading teams to the “real” finish line. But beyond the competition, the challenge created something even more valuable: genuine camaraderie between participants, crew members, charity partners and sponsors.

Elodie from our team led on the concept, planning and delivery of this, and reflected on the incredible atmosphere at the finish line and the friendships formed. The event certainly wasn’t without its challenges, and the GE team was kept on its toes for the three days, with unknown routes and unexpected timings, but the team’s dedication shone through and the event was a huge success.

David Lennon, Commercial Director of Selco (Team Pink member and winner!), said ‘I think we’ve created something genuinely exciting. Gladiator Events took the initial brief and turned it into something that was second-to-none, brilliant - I can’t thank you enough. ‘

The teams raised in total £80,000 for Cancer Research UK and other Community Heroes, and they hope to reach their target of £100,000 in the next few weeks. If you’d like to donate - please do! Link here.

The event highlighted the power of purpose-driven challenges to strengthen corporate relationships while supporting charitable causes in a meaningful and engaging way.

If you’d like to find out more about creating something like this for your Corporate Partner, get in touch!

We're Here for you, 2026!

It’s been a while since we’ve updated our news page - since we last posted we’ve been deep in our planning season, working closely with our brilliant charity partners to improve and build on their events for 2026. We’ve also welcomed four new partners into the fold so we have some exciting new events to introduce this year too.

Last weekend marked the official Kick-Off of our event season, with two events in the East and South of the country….

East Anglian Air Ambulance’s Trek 24, Suffolk Coast

On sunny Saturday, we welcomed over 200 trekkers to the Suffolk coast path. We’re now in our sixth year of working with the brilliant EAAA and we just love this event series.

24 mile trekkers set off early from Aldeburgh beach, enjoying the beautiful England Coastal Path through Thorpeness, Sizewell and Dunwich, where they were joined by 24km walkers after a slightly shorter route. After reaching Walberswick and Southwold, trekkers headed inland to the stunning Sotterley Estate, where they were welcomed with open arms from volunteers and staff from EAAA, armed with medals, drinks and a much needed freshly baked pizza!

All walkers were helping to raise vital funds to help those in need across East Anglia, and we are so proud of them all.

A huge well done to our HQ team of Tom, Emma and Elodie as well as our crew of Charlie, Fi, Matty, Mark, Sean, Pete and Joanna for their amazing hard work in kicking off our first event of the year!

Watch the event video here

Our crew at beautiful Sotterley Hall for EAAA’s Trek 24 event.

National Autistic Society’s Spectrum Colour Walk and Run

No rest for the team - moving onto Sunday we delivered the Spectrum Colour Walk for the National Autistic Society, along with a pilot 10km run that we trialled early in the day.

It’s our second year of working with the National Autistic Society and it is such a special event - full of community, colour and fun, inclusive and welcoming, and immensely calm.
We enjoyed introducing some innovative new developments to the core brilliant event, which included:

🏃‍♂️ A new 10k run, starting and finishing before the walk - a great way to maximise attendance and support whilst using all existing infrastructure and park hire.

🎧 Silent Disco headsets, for walkers or runners to listen to music pre- and post-race, or simply to turn off and use as noise cancelling headphones to quieten the outside world.

🎨 roaming face painters with rainbow themes, adding a pop of colour to everyone's great outfits.

🍦 Ice cream truck, a huge win given today's beautiful weather!

The walk takes place during World Autism acceptance month, and has raised over £58,000 so far, to add to the incredible total of £300,000 raised through the month 🎉

A huge well done to our HQ team of Emma, Erin and Jas for all their hard work, along with our Ops crew of Marina, Henry and Paul.

Face painting at National Autistic Society’s Spectrum Colour Walk

Sarah, Emma, Jasmine and Erin at the event hub

Six Weeks of Action: Gladiator Events' Summer Reflections

If things have seemed a little quieter from us lately, there’s a good reason — we’ve been deep in the thick of event season!

Following this past weekend, we’re now 27 events into our epic 40-event year, well past the halfway mark. With so much happening, we took some time as a team to share our favourite moments from the past six weeks — a perfect chance to reflect on the incredible experiences, people, and causes that make our work so rewarding.

Stuart Rodgers shared a particularly moving encounter from Trek26 for the Alzheimer’s Society. While event days are always busy, he had a moment to chat with an 86-year-old participant — an extraordinary man taking part in all twelve hikes this year, in memory of his late wife. It’s moments like this that remind us why we do what we do, and how powerful these events can be.

Stuart and our octogenarian participant in the North York Moors

Fred Newton felt particularly proud of our recently produced inflatable amnesty rucksacks — an innovation born from teamwork, dedication, and creativity. Fred uses his bag regularly for swimming, knowing each one is made from recycled materials and now helping young people in need through charities.

Was: inflatable slide Now: waterproof backpack

Felicity Taylor-Armstrong reflected on meeting a hiker living with early-onset Alzheimer’s, walking alongside his supportive family at a Suffolk event. The knowledge that every participant that day was fundraising for people like him made the experience deeply emotional and inspiring.

Erin Azer reminded us of the power of teamwork — even during the long hours and road delays — recalling a journey where colleague Stuart Rodgers fed her sushi as she drove to an event. Sometimes, collaboration looks like team meetings. Sometimes, it looks like sushi.

Jasmine Iley celebrated a win after a last-minute event cancellation for reasons beyond our control. Against the odds, a new date was found before the end of the season, meaning more opportunities to raise funds for our partners at Parkinson’s UK.

Sarah Kenny enjoyed a quiet moment of reflection at the end of a very long and eventful day in the Yorkshire Dales, managing the route team for one of our treks. As she drove across the Dales on a very important mission to pick up pizzas for the crew, the sun was setting over sugarloaf hill and it was a moment to reflect on the day’s incredible collaboration and team spirit.

Sunset over Sugarloaf Hill

Abi Knapton smiled over two unforgettable photo updates from teammate Kim during a recent route-marking job… featuring some curious (and hungry) bovine spectators 🐮.

Curious and peckish in Derbyshire

Over Half Way

With 14 events still ahead of us, and a slightly quieter month than the rest, we’ll be continuing with our events but also fitting in some recces and planning trips for 2026 into the next month. This weekend we have recces or events in London, Northern Ireland and Scotland so the pace is not slowing!

Two Nations, Two Great Causes

It was another action-packed weekend for the Gladiator Events team, with two inspiring charity challenges: Walk for Parkinson’s in Norwich and Trek26 Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons) for Alzheimer’s Society.

🚶‍♀️ Walk for Parkinson’s – Whitlingham Country Park, Norwich
On Saturday, 130 dedicated walkers gathered in the serene surroundings of Whitlingham Country Park for Walk for Parkinson’s. An uplifting event in a stunning location, participants came together to raise funds and awareness for Parkinson’s UK. The energy on the day was amazing – a perfect mix of camaraderie and compassion. Our volunteers were out in force around the course offering encouragement, guidance, and cheerful support.

⛰️ Trek26 Bannau Brycheiniog – Alzheimer’s Society
Further west, the Brecon Beacons hosted the latest Trek26 challenge in difficult and unpredictable conditions. With heavy rain and thunderstorm warnings issued in the run-up to the event, our team moved swiftly to implement robust contingency plans.

From updated evacuation procedures and adapted event hubs to revised car parking and safety briefings, every eventuality was planned for to ensure participants could still enjoy the challenge safely. Despite the predicted weather, hundreds of trekkers took to the route and enjoyed much better than predicted weather!

Hannah Mayfield, Bespoke Events Fundraising Manager at Alzheimer’s Society, praised the Gladiator Events team for our thorough contingency planning and partnership approach, and we were proud of the collaboration shown between our teams, working as one rather than two.

💪 United Teams
Behind every successful event is a dedicated and supportive team — and last weekend we saw the very best of our Gladiator Events crew, working side by side with medics, mountain safety experts, and our incredible charity partners.

Across the two events, over £315,000 was raised — a phenomenal achievement that will go on to support vital services, research, and support networks for those affected by Parkinson’s and dementia.

Next stop? A well deserved weekend off for the whole GE team with no events!

A Challenging but Safe Weekend for Gladiator Events

This past weekend was set to be the busiest of the year for Gladiator Events, with five charity challenge events planned across the UK in Dorset, Norfolk, Lanarkshire, Bedfordshire, and Kent for wonderful charities including Parkinson’s UK, East Anglian Air Ambulance, East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices and the Alzheimer’s Society.

Safety in Severe Weather

As with all outdoor events, we are at the mercy of the weather, and this weekend, nature had other plans.

Following a yellow weather warning issued by the Met Office for Saturday, we gathered to discuss our emergency planning scenarios, and considered each of the four events that were due to take place that day. We reviewed our severe weather contingency procedures and assessed each of our events on an individual basis, considering contingency planning and measures we could take to ensure the safety of our participants and the wider community and services in each location.

As a result of this, and in close consultation with our charity partners, we collectively made the incredibly tough call to postpone our events in Norfolk and Dorset.

Postponing events never feels good. Charities miss out on vital fundraising, participants lose out on an experience they’ve trained and fundraised hard for, as well as funds that they have committed to travel to and stay at their event location, and our own team are unable to deliver the experience they’ve spent over a year planning. But above all, our priority is considering the safety of everyone affected by our event.

In Norfolk, where we were due to run our Pier to Pier hike for East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices, and Dorset, where Trek26 for the Alzheimer’s Society was due to take place, the combination of exposed terrain, limited access for emergency services, and the intense, unpredictable weather created an unacceptable level of risk. With no suitable alternative routes available in these rural areas, proceeding with the events would have placed our participants — and potentially others — in danger.

We are working to reschedule the Norfolk and Dorset events to later in the year, so please do keep an eye on updates on the Trek26 and Pier to Pier websites.

Wrapping up and Kicking off a Season

On Saturday, despite the weather warnings, Event Manager Stu delivered our final Trek 24 event of the season for East Anglian Air Ambulance on Saturday, on the edge of the Chilterns in Bedfordshire. In this particular location, we were able to make adjustments to the event to ensure the safety of everyone involved, one of which included shortening the distance for our longer distance walkers. The day was a great success and the weather held out despite the forecasts. Click here to see EAAA’s brilliant video capturing the day.

Liz Howard, Event Manager at EAAA, said: ‘I just wanted to say a big thank you to you and your team on Saturday! Despite the weather threats and the yellow warnings and thanks to Stuart’s calm efforts to adapting the route, the event managed to go ahead, and we had many happy Trekkers crossing the finish line.’

Meanwhile, in Maidstone and Glasgow, our team were kicking off our Walk for Parkinson’s season for Parkinson’s UK, with hundreds of walkers living with or affected by Parkinson’s choosing to walk to support the cause. Glasgow’s team battled the midges and wet puddles and had a glorious day in Chatelherault Country Park, and Maidstone’s team enjoyed the much fairer Sunday weather in beautiful Mote Park, with the route combining sweeping parkland, lakeside walking, wildflower meadows and mystical woodlands.

Team Spirit in the Lake District

Last weekend, over 1,200 incredible walkers took to the trails of the Lake District for the latest Trek26 in support of the Alzheimer’s Society. Experiencing rain, blustery winds and sunshine — sometimes all within the same hour — participants took on either 13 or 26 miles around beautiful Ullswater.

Despite the tough conditions, spirits ran high and there were many stories of individuals joining together to support each other throughout the challenge, forming new friendships and sharing their experiences. The event raised over £500,000 for Alzheimer's Society, with donations still coming in.

Participant Emma summed up the spirit of the day perfectly:

"24 hours since one of the toughest challenges I’ve faced. It still hasn’t really sunk in!

I started the day on my own, wondering how I’d get through mentally at the times I knew I’d be physically struggling (Miles 13–18 were BRUTAL). I was fortunate enough to get chatting with a nice guy from Cambridge at breakfast and we decided to do it together for our parents. Then, about 1/4 of a mile in, we were joined by another two and a silent agreement was made to finish together. Lee, Denise and Becky, I could never have finished this without you. The camaraderie, the determination, the outburst of song toward the end, all of it 🫶🏼 Thank you so much.

This experience was so much more than I’d expected, and I’m so grateful that I could complete it and exceed my fundraising target for such a good cause, and make some excellent hiking friends on the way!
Every step was for you, mum. ♥️"

Two Events, One Weekend of Charity Challenge and Fundraising

It was another fantastic weekend for Gladiator Events as we delivered two charity challenge events across the UK. The newest addition to the Trek26 Series in Northumberland and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Royal Ramble saw hundreds of walkers dig deep and hike for two brilliant causes.

Trek26 Northumberland

Saturday saw the launch of a brand new addition to the Alzheimer’s Society’s Trek26 series in Northumberland. Almost 800 walkers descended on the dramatic landscapes of the North East coastline to take on either a 13 or 26-mile route through coastal paths, rolling countryside, and past historic monuments.

Throughout the day, there were brilliant connections formed between walkers united for the same cause – and it all paid off with an impressive £431,000 raised for the charity at the time of writing.

The atmosphere and support and connection amongst walkers, volunteers and organisers was a real theme of the day.

One participant, Catherine, commented:
From the moment I stepped over the start line to the finishers line - the day has been fantastic! I’ll be back next year. Met some amazing people. I supported a gentleman from Mile 9 to the finishers line. This gentleman and I exchanged stories of why we were there today. Together we will make a difference.

The Royal Ramble

Meanwhile, in the heart of the capital, nearly 500 walkers from UK Power Networks (UKPN) took on a 20-mile fundraising hike through London to support The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award charity.

The Royal Ramble, which passed almost 30 royal monuments and parks, was a unique route celebrating the royal connection to the charity. From Buckingham Palace to St. James’ Park and across Tower Bridge, the day mixed challenge and culture in equal measure.

Walkers were in high spirits, and the weather stayed kind throughout the day. With £87,700 raised for the DofE, the event finished in style with a riverside celebration at Potters Fields Park, offering incredible views of Tower Bridge as a backdrop for walkers to enjoy some well-earned rest and celebration.

Abi Knapton, Event Manager from Gladiator Events, commented:

The Royal Ramble was a huge success, with a real team spirit showed between all walkers on the route and afterwards. A particular highlight for me was our huge livestream screen in our event hub, which shared live results as walkers came through the finish line, as well as live pictures from our walkers out on the route, fostering a real sense of shared connection between everyone and creating an atmosphere of celebration.

Alzheimer's Society Trek26 & East Anglian Air Ambulance Trek24 Events Bask In The Spring Sunshine

Glorious sunshine has come to the UK’s shores with the driest Spring on record. On the weekend of 10th May the Gladiator Events team were busy with the logistics and management of two iconic trekking events in the East & West of England.

Alzheimer's Society Trek26 Stonehenge

Salisbury Plain was the host for the 2025 edition of Trek26 Stonehenge and the first of 12 events in the Series. Supporters came from all over to enjoy the lovely rolling Wiltshire countryside, a historic area with fine ridges and glimpses of the iconic Stonehenge circle.

Participants pulled out all the stops and did an incredible job of hiking 13 or 26 miles to support the amazing work of the Alzheimer’s Society and the emotional and positive messages came flooding in after the event, reminding us of the true reason we do what we do. As one participant, Sharon, put it:

Dealing & coping with a loved one with Alzheimer’s is so lonely but yesterday i felt part of a huge family

For Event Manager, Abi Knapton:

It was great to have our first Trek26 event of the year last weekend in Stonehenge, over 1300 amazing trekkers took part in the sunshine raising money for Alzheimer's Society. It was lovely to read so many emotional messages on our two Forget Me Not Gardens to understand why trekkers were taking part. The team loved being out on the route and filling our trekkers with lots of snacks to keep them going! 

East Anglian Air Ambulance Trek 24 Norfolk

259 trekkers came together in support of the East Anglian Air Ambulance on the Norfolk Broads. The supporters set off from Whitlingham Country Park in Norwich and enjoyed some beautiful riverside walking along the Wherryman’s Way. The walkers had the choice of 24 miles or 24 km, representing the 24/7 service that the air ambulance provides. The charity were delighted with the funds raised, which sat at just over £35,000 on event day but were set to continue rising.

Liz Howard from EAAA said:

A big well done to your team on Saturday! They all did a fantastic job making sure the day was a great success and we had some lovely feedback from participants saying how well organised it all was - which is exactly the kind of experience we all want them to have!  

Hundreds Flock To The National Autistic Society’s Spectrum Colour Walk

600 adults and children flocked to Battersea Park on a sunny but breezy Saturday afternoon to take part in the Spectrum Colour Walk, an inclusive 5km walk around the serene tree lined paths of the park. The event was a roaring success with over £60,000 raised for the National Autistic Society.

The Perfect Setting

Battersea Park, one of London’s favourite green spaces was host to the Spectrum Colour Walk. Planted several hundred years ago in 200 acres of trees and grassy areas it was the perfect host for this autism-friendly event.

World Autism Acceptance Month

Autism comes in many forms and the event kicked-off a wider campaign to raise awareness and support of autistic people. According the National Autistic Society, ‘autistic people face discrimination and barriers across all sectors of society…with 8/10 autistic people experiencing mental health problems’.

An Event Designed For All

The event was carefully designed to cater for autistic people with a specific quiet zone set up, no loud music blaring out over the PA system, an array of bright rainbow colours in the event village and on the route. All information was concise and clearly communicated, either in verbal or written briefings.

Event Manager’s Report

For Emma Butler, the Event Manager from Gladiator Events:

‘The Spectrum Colour Walk for the National Autistic Society held in Battersea Park had a lovely calm and welcoming atmosphere. The sun was shining, participants were smiling and the day ran really smoothly with a great team of staff and volunteers. My highlight was seeing all the participants set off for their walk, and then seeing how a little encouragement when starting their second lap gave them the motivation to keep going! ‘

Final Thoughts

A friendly and joyful event, celebrating the best of people! You can find out more on the work of the National Autistic Society by following this link here.

Marvellous Muddy Mayhem Report: An 'Epic' Success For Garden House Hospice

Almost 500 intrepid adults and children took on the Muddy Mayhem, a family-friendly obstacle course race (OCR) raising funds for Garden House Hospice Care. With Spring in the air, the Muddy Mayhem marked the first event for Gladiator Events in 2025 and was a blast!

Woodall Estate Delivers An ‘Epic’ Event

The hosts for the 2025 Muddy Mayhem was the Woodall Estate, a privately owned estate nestled in a pretty part of Hertfordshire. According to Garden House Hospice: ‘today was nothing short of epic! Muddy Mayhem 2025 at Woodhall Estate was a fantastic success, with muddy fun had by all in support of Garden House Hospice Care. Thank you to everyone who took part, donated, and cheered the runners on – you made it unforgettable’

Behind The Scenes

Putting on OCR event is time-consuming and challenging with a lot of care required testing and setting up safe equipment which has been designed in a thoughtful way. The Team starting the process several days out from the live event getting wet and muddy on many occasions.

Event Manager’s Report

For the Event Manager Stuart Rodgers, ‘From the volunteers to the suppliers, everyone was filled with energy and enthusiasm. I had a small but incredibly hard-working team, everything came together seamlessly, making it all the more rewarding. It was truly amazing to witness the involvement of so many families and children, all eager to participate and enjoy the day. The sense of community really shone through and seeing everyone come together to help fundraise made it an epic day’.

Final Thoughts

The event raised funds and awareness for the Garden House Hospice and had excellent feedback from all who took part. Once again showing the power of events for Charites to connect with supporters.

Learn more about the important work of the Garden House Hospice Care.

Photos courtesy of the Garden House Hospice Facebook Page.

We are Stewards of the Land

Ben Fogle: A New Life in the Wild. Season 15, Episode 1: Ullapool. My5.tv

A passing comment made a real impact on me when watching this documentary over the weekend. It’s an inspiring programme, by the way. Jaw-droppingly beautiful scenery of the wild Scottish Highlands, alongside a dive into the lives of the young couple who single-handedly look after their 10,000 acre Estate with their baby son and dogs in tow.

There were some scenes that resonated with me – feeding and changing a baby while out in the Wild is something I am pretty comfortable with! But I can’t claim to be anything like as tough as this couple with what their day-to-day life entailed. They live a simple and almost completely off-grid existence, and don’t have any reliance on modern machinery or technology. This is inspirational, yet back-breakingly hard work!

Anyway, back to that comment.

Ben Fogle asked Iona, ‘Are you guys the Lairds of the land?’

Iona responded, ‘I prefer to think of myself as the Steward, of looking after the land for future generations. It’s not so short-sighted as thinking it’s anything to do with me.’

It makes such perfect sense. It shows an understanding of the responsibility she has to take care of the land, its flora and fauna, in order to keep it thriving for the future. She’s absolutely right. It’s not about us. We are simply passing through. If we all adopted this attitude, what kind of difference could we make?

If we all looked at the land surrounding us – whether a private garden, our local street or local park, and thought of ourselves as Stewards of that land, we could collectively make an enormous impact. It’s about seeing the land not as something we own, or enjoy using, but as something we have a responsibility to protect for the future.

We’re lucky enough to spend time running events on many beautiful private Estates across the UK. We’re always so careful to make minimum impact on the land, and to leave the land exactly as we found it. But this has made me think about what more we can do. How can we make a positive impact on the land we use, rather than simply returning it to its previous state? It’s our responsibility to do this. It’s something we will definitely be turning our efforts to as our events start coming back this year.

We’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas!

Moving Forward with Meaning

This pandemic has challenged me to eke out the positives of any situation. 2020 has forced us to develop tough skin and to be resilient when hit with bombshell after bombshell of challenges and news.

As a ‘glass half full’ kind of person, and being in the incredibly fortunate position of remaining healthy, I have been able to get through the past 10 months without too many major wobbles. That’s not to say it’s been easy. Isolation from family and friends, juggling caring for my two small children with running a business, a serious health crisis for one of my closest family, all 20 of our 2020 events cancelled and just dealing with the bombardment of news from around the globe tested my resilience. But we all have our own challenges during these times and I am very aware that mine are mild compared to many.

With 2020’s events all written off, I was afforded time to reflect. The pandemic put a lot of things in perspective for me. I thought hard about why I started Gladiator Events, what we are trying to achieve and how we can do better. We have a platform, so it’s important to me that we use this platform to achieve, to influence and to make an impact.

During this time I decided to become a mentor with an amazing organisation called Routes, who pair professional women with refugee and asylum-seeking women to create a mentoring partnership. I am reaching the end of a four-month mentoring journey with my mentee. Throughout this experience I have been educated, inspired and challenged. I’ve been inspired to look at ways we as a business can offer our expertise to those in need and we now have clear team targets to work with other organisations and charities to do just this.

Sustainability is another area that all of the Gladiator Events team shares a passionate desire to work towards. We have, for the first time, measured our Carbon Footprint from our 2019 events and we now have a benchmark from which to set our new targets.

We are working towards a goal of becoming B Corp certified in the near future and whilst we still have a lot of work to do to meet this goal, the shared belief of ‘being the change we seek in the world’ is motivating us to stay on track and to push towards making Gladiator Events as socially and environmentally responsible an organisation we can, and in leading the way in showing how business can become a force for good.

Sarah

A Changed Landscape and Silver Linings

About now, in any normal year, we would be right in the thick of it. Our energy would be starting to lag slightly, the skin on our hands and faces would be looking weather-beaten (or glowing, to put a positive spin on it), and we’d most likely be on our 3rd or 4th pair of heavy duty gloves. We should have 7 events under our belts by now. We should be a well-oiled machine, setting up camp at each new Estate and building, inflating, plumbing, pinning, hammering and staking our way through with precision and good humour.

But those hands and faces remain unscathed and smooth. The gloves lay piled in boxes, the timber, tools and inflatables sit mud-free and neatly stacked, gathering dust in our storage unit. We have yet to load a van with a single piece of kit, as lockdown started two days after our very first event was due to take place.

Of course, we are all desperate for things to get back to ‘normal’ so that we can return to what we love. But we are all still working to define what ‘normal’ is now.

As a company that is so committed to helping charities across the UK, we have been keen to explore how we can help in the current COVID-19 crisis. We are delighted to have partnered with Karshare UK to donate two of our Gladiator Events vans to organisations in Brighton. Instead of transporting obstacle kit around the Country, our vans are now delivering thousands of meals and provisions to vulnerable people across Brighton. We are so pleased that they are being put to good use rather than sitting redundant on the roadside.

Sadly, many of our charity partners have decided to cancel their 2020 events completely. In such an uncertain landscape it has seemed more sensible in many cases to cut losses, and limit the damage. We truly hope that we will be able to run a few of our events still in 2020, but the final decision on this may lay out of our hands.

All we can do in the meantime is plan, plan and plan for our return, whenever that may be. The safety of our staff, volunteers, participants and suppliers is always our top priority, and we cannot return until we, and all the relevant authorities, are content that we are not putting anyone at risk by doing so. We have been working hard re-designing every part of our event from start to finish, ensuring that we are adhering to social distancing, keeping our equipment and site clean, and minimising any risk of transmission. We have a plan that we are confident with, and we look forward to fine-tuning it as we all learn more about the virus, and as restrictions begin to ease.

We have seen some wonderful collaboration during this time. The Event Industry has come together across the globe in a way that we have never seen before. No-one is a competitor, we are all working together for the common cause of bringing back events in a post-COVID world, that inspire, energise and provide joy, and that allow our incredible charity partners to continue their essential work.

We know that when the events do return, they will be even more special than before. We will not take for granted any part of the experience. We will be even more committed to our Sustainability goals.

It has been awe-inspiring to see how quickly and effectively the whole world has been able to mobilise and change its behaviour during this pandemic. This gives us the belief that we can come together to make more positive change in the world, to make the world a fairer place, and to start to heal the damage that humans have caused to nature.

We look forward to seeing you all, safely, one day soon.

Sarah

On the Agenda for 2020: Sustainable Events

Thanks to some brilliant high-profile TV shows and well known individuals, we have all become much more aware of our impact on the environment recently.

The Gladiator Events Team is working really hard to make a change to the way we operate as a Business, at our events and as consultants to our charity partners, to make sure that our events have a minimal impact on the environment.

We have already put in place a lot of changes over the past two years, including eliminating plastic bottles at almost all of our events and recycling as much of our waste as possible (currently 90% of our event waste is recycled).

However there is so much more that we can do. It can be tricky to know where to start, and this is why we’ve decided to put together a 5 year pledge, aiming to drastically reduce our carbon footprint by 2025.

We want to become industry leaders in delivering environmentally conscious events, and we are working really hard to measure, plan and implement our pledge.

We have just launched our Sustainability page on our site, as well as our Environmental Policy.

Here are some of our ideas that we will be working on over the next few months:

• Measuring our Company’s annual carbon footprint for 2019, so we can set ourselves targets for 2020 and beyond

• Having conversations with all our suppliers about their environmental credentials, and working with those that share our values.

• Using local suppliers with short journey times

• Banning single use plastic from all our caterers at 2020 events

• Staff car-sharing and encouraging participant and volunteer car-sharing

• Going digital - all our information documents for the event are now only available digitally

What are you doing in your organisation to work in a more sustainable way? We’d love to hear from you.

2019 HIGHLIGHTS!

Wow! What an amazing season for Gladiator Events.

We wanted to take this time to thank every single one of you for your continuous support throughout the year. We appreciate those who have spent long hours building, running and breaking down our events, supplying our events, participating at the events and those who want to make the events happen. You have all been incredible and without you we wouldn’t have been able to have such a successful year.

In early 2019 we welcomed a new addition to the team, Georgee. Fresh out of University, Georgee came with a bounce of enthusiasm and a love of dogs. In October we also welcomed our newest member of the team, Senior Event Manager Fliss.

After 15 events this year, it is safe to say we are becoming bigger and better every year and with the 20 events next season we are excited to get stuck in once again making it enjoyable to all of you who have shown your support.

In February, we will be gathering all of our staff for training days to make sure the 2020 season is as successful as 2019. We are very much looking forward to kick-starting the 2020 season starting on March 21st for Extreme Warrior on behalf of Katherine House Hospice.

If you fancy a challenge; large or small, team or solo, obstacles or treks, dogs or no dogs, go and check out the event calendar for the season. We promise to not disappoint.

Thank you again, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year — Love, The Gladiator Events Team x