Organisers looking forward to bigger and better 2012

Final figures are still to be tallied but the amount raised from Trailtrekker 2011 looks set to surpass previous totals and come in above £350,000.

Oxfam said it was delighted with the figure and is already looking forward to 2012 to take Trailtrekker to the next level.

Oxfam’s marketing officer for Trailtrekker, Tom Holloway, said the charity was looking to radically expand on the size of the event by extending the number of team from around 170 this year to 300 next year.

Mr Holloway, who took part in last year’s Trailtrekker and completed it in less than 24 hours, said that to increase numbers to 300 would be “a big step up” but felt confident the charity could attract that level of interest.

He said: “We are on track to raise more money than ever before.

“We should be beyond the £350,000 mark, which is going to make a big difference to the help we can give to people in projects all over the world.

“For 2012 we are hoping it is going to be bigger and better. We aim to have 300 teams lined up on the start line and hope to see as many people as we can having a good time while raising money.”

Mr Holloway said he hoped that measures such as the new bronze and silver awards, which allow walkers to walk just a part of the full 100km (62.5 mile) distance, would encourage more participation and increase the amount of people taking part.

“People who gave bronze a go might want to step up to silver this year and similarly silver entrants might want to give the full distance a go in 2012,” he said.

“But Trailtrekker is established now. People can see that it is organised, that we have infrastructure and that it is safe for anyone to get involved.

“We expect to see people coming from all over the country to take on this challenging course.

“It’s in one of the most beautiful parts of the world and we expect to see it become really established as part of the calendar.”

After two years of beautiful sunshine over both days for previous Trailtrekker events, Mr Holloway said damper and blustery conditions this year had not made things easy for those taking part but on the whole it not proved too much for the walkers and their aching limbs.

He said: “There have been some really strong winds and although it has been raining here and a little bit across the course it has not too bad, although we have had some low cloud which walkers have had to deal with. However there’s been no heavy rain which is great.”

With regards to the funds raised by this year’s event, the exact destination for the money generated from the event had yet to be determined.

“The money raised is really valuable to Oxfam. It goes into a section called Unrestricted Funds,” he said.

“This means that we have money ready to help people as and when emergencies arise – money that proves invaluable when you have a humanitarian emergency requiring instant attention on the ground.

“The work that Trailtrekker does in terms of helping to support this is so important. We cannot emphasis how much it helps us.”

The Yorkshire Post has been Trailtrekker’s official media partner since it was launched in 2009.