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.