Take on the Sands swimming challenge this November. Swim 5K, 10K or 15K - you decide.
Give the greatest gift you can and help support anyone affected by pregnancy and baby loss. Sign up today to support Sands and help save babies’ lives.
Sign up
Why?
One in two of us, or somebody we know, has experienced the loss of a pregnancy or death of a baby. Too often, we don’t understand why. That’s why we need to take action. Now.
Join the team swimming together, using our combined power to inspire change and prevent babies from dying. Our swims won't go unnoticed, and the sponsorship we collect will lead to action – saving babies’ lives and improving maternity safety and bereavement care through training and campaigning.
Join our Strava Club
Join our Facebook Group
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Resources:
Download these resources to help you on your way:
Digital tracker - download a digital tracker to record your kilometres here (there's one in your pack also!)
Sponsorship form - download this form to collect cash donations. You can then pay these onto your fundraising page and send us a photo/scan of the form to allow us to claim Gift Aid.
FAQs:
You may have questions about the challenge. If you need to speak to a member of our team, you can email swim@sands.org.uk – it may take us a couple of days to get back to you. In the meantime, you can read our FAQs below.
How do I sign up?
To sign up to the challenge, you can register here.
Then head over to Facebook or Strava and join our challenge community where you can share your story, your swims and ask any questions.
I don’t have Facebook but want to take part. How do I do this?
No problem, you don't need Facebook to join our challenge! Simply fill out this registration form.
Is there an entry fee or fundraising target?
There is no entry fee for this challenge. We do however ask you to fundraise as part of your challenge. Sands fundraising pages are the easiest way to raise money. Yours will be activated automatically when you register for the challenge. And then it’s really easy to share your page with friends and family.
But dont forget, you can be eligible for our Make a Splash reward is a small thank you for your fundraising! If you raise £30 or more by 1 November, you’ll receive a Sands swimming cap featuring our logo.
You don’t need to do anything extra to claim your reward. If you reach the £30 fundraising milestone by 1 November, your swimming cap will be automatically sent to you once the challenge begins.
The first batch of caps will be sent out during the first week of November. Please allow up to 10 working days for your swimming cap to arrive.
When and where is this challenge?
This is a virtual swimming challenge for everyone and starts on 1st November. You can do this in your local pool or in the sea, but be sure to take precautions so that you are safe whilst completing your challenge. You can do this together with your friends and family.
Do I have to raise money online or can I do it a different way?
Absolutely. You can collect sponsorship in any way you like. If you’d like a sponsorship form, you can download one here. And please don't worry about filling in your serial number - we will do that for you.
After the challenge ends, do scan and email this to us at swim@sands.org.uk so we claim any gift aid. If you’re not able to scan or send us a clear photograph, drop us an email anyway and we can let you know where to send your form to via the post.
You can either add your cash donations as a self donation to your online fundraising page or you can add them via the Sands website by clicking here. Make sure to add in the description that this is your sponsorship donations for your 2026 - November Swimming Challenge.
Please do not send cash in the post.
Will I get a fundraising pack or t-shirt when I register for the challenge?
There won’t be a physical t-shirt or fundraising pack for the November Swimming Challenge, but we have something special for our early fundraisers, you could be eligible to receive a Make a Splash Reward!
Raise £30 or more by 1 November and you’ll receive a Sands swimming cap, featuring our Sands logo, as a thank you for your fundraising.
You don’t need to do anything extra to claim your reward. If you reach £30 by 1 November, we’ll automatically send your swimming cap to you once the challenge begins.
The first batch of swimming caps will start being sent out during the first week of November. Please allow up to 10 working days for your reward to arrive.
My family want to do the challenge with me. Can they have a swimming pack?
No problem! Simply ask them to fill out the registration form.
If they're not fundraising, you can buy additional swimming caps and t-shirts on our shop.
How do I track how far I've swam?
A length in your local swimming pool is probably 25 meters (or 50m if you’re lucky and have an Olympic pool!). That means you need to do 200 lengths in November (or 50 lengths a week).
Keep track of how many lengths you do on your swim and write the number down on your tracker once you're out of the pool. You just need to multiply the number of lengths you did by 25 to give you how many metres you did. There's 5000 metres in 5km.
If you're swimming in the sea or a lake, it's a little trickier. You'll need a waterproof sports watch to track how far you swim. You can get these from around £20 online.
Remember you can log your KMs on your fundraising page for this challenge, follow these steps:
1. Log in to your Sands account by clicking the person icon in the top right of the screen here
2. Click the person icon in the top right again
3. Click My Fundraising
4. Click My Fitness Activity
5. Scroll down to Add Activity and type in how many KMs you've done and any other details
6. Click Save Changes
Can I do a shorter/longer/earlier/later challenge?
Yes! Every swim you do will help Sands. So do this challenge in whatever way works best for you. Every stroke is very much appreciated!
Do I have to prove I’ve completed the challenge?
You don’t need to prove you’ve completed the challenge– we trust you! You can post videos, pictures, and updates on your fundraising page, in the Facebook group, on Strava or on your social media and tag it with #SwimforSands. Sharing updates and your milestone badges is also a great way to show those who have sponsored you that you’re committed to completing the challenge.
Can I fundraise as part of a team with my friends and family?
Yes you can! You can do a joint Team Fundraising page with your friends and family. The best way to do this is to all register for the challenge here, and then one of you create a Team by going to your Dashboard and select Create a Team.
Top tip: Edit the ‘Title’ and ‘About’ section on your page to add your team name and all your team member names.
How do I pay in my fundraising?
If you’ve collected offline fundraising, the easiest way to pay this to Sands if by donating to your online fundraising page. All donations from your fundraising page will automatically transfer to Sands.
You can also donate on our website. Make sure to say that your money is for your 2026 - November Swimming challenge so that we can make sure it is added to your total.
If you’re not able to donate this way, then drop us an email to swim@sands.org.uk and we can discuss other ways of getting the donation to us.
Is there a fundraising target?
When and where is the challenge taking place?
The swimming challenge is virtual swimming challenge throughout the month of November. You can break down the 5k, 10k or 15k distance over the 30 days in November. Or you can plan long swims over the weekends. You can swim in your local pool, the sea or lakes near by. Just always ensure you swim safely.
You can register for the challenge by clicking on this link.
My business/employer want to donate/match fund my fundraising. How do they do this?
Wonderful news, that your employer would like to match fund you! The process varies a little between companies. If you can pop us an email over to swim@sands.org.uk, we'll be more than happy to provide them with any further information they might need. Thank you so much!
Will I get a reward for completing the challenge?
Participants who raise less than £175 will receive a digital certificate by email after the challenge ends.
We will be sending out swimming badges and certificates in the post by the end of December, and they can take up to 10-14 working days to arrive. If we need any additional information from you we'll be in touch. If you have moved house, please let us know by emailing swim@sands.org.uk
There will also be an opportunity to purchase a swimming badge for a small fee to cover costs. We'll share details by email when available.
Swimming badges and team certificates will be sent to the Team Captain after the challenge has ended.
To qualify for a swimming badge, the team must raise £175 per team member. For example:
- Raise £175 – receive 1 swimming badge and a team certificate.
- Raise £350 – receive 2 swimming badges and a team certificate.
- Raise £525 – receive 3 swimming badges and a team certificate, and so on.