Fundraising guidelines
We are very grateful for your support, but it is vital you choose a fundraising event or activity that safely supports your physical and mental health. Here we set out a few guidelines to follow and keep you safe along the way – your health and wellbeing are paramount to us too!
Physical challenges
If you have recently recovered from an eating disorder, or currently have one, we strongly discourage you from undertaking any physical challenges such as runs, cycles or long-distance hikes which may adversely impact your recovery and/or health.
We ask that you always consult your GP and any other appropriate medical professionals to check you are physically and mentally well enough to cope with the demands of the event and any training needed before committing to it.
If in any doubt, or you need to withdraw from the event, please do not worry or put yourself at any risk. Your health and wellbeing are the most important thing, and we would far rather you withdrew or did something different instead.
If you do not have personal experience of an eating disorder but have supported someone else who has, it’s still important that you ensure you are fit and well enough to participate. Again, we recommend that you consult your GP or other health professional prior to committing to a challenge.
Avoid triggering terms
When creating your fundraising page or story, please consider carefully how the words you use may impact the reader, who may have an eating disorder or be at risk of developing one. Some terms, imagery and language may be triggering.
We ask you not to include:
- References to weight loss/gain, measurements of weight (stone/KGs etc), body image, calories burned/consumed or detailed descriptions of training intensity.
- Imagery of yourself or a loved one when suffering from an eating disorder that show extreme weight loss or gain, including before and after photographs.
- Any language or terms that may appear to be trivialising the seriousness of eating disorders.
Distances and numbers
We ask that you are mindful that an emphasis on distances, training achievements (numbers, time, distances etc) can be triggering and unhelpful for those who either have an eating disorder or may be at risk of developing one. Therefore, we ask you to be careful what information you include in your fundraising page and any social media updates.
We understand that in the case of a physical challenge such as a marathon it is not possible to ‘hide’ the distance involved and aspects of the training required – these are well known factors after all, but instead try to focus on the reasons why you are training, how it is going in general terms, or how it feels to be supporting those affected by an eating disorder.
Referring to the experience of a friend or loved one
If you are referring to someone else’s experience of an eating disorder, please ensure you have their permission and support to do so and respect their wishes regarding how much information is revealed. We suggest showing them a draft of the text on your fundraising page before making it live.
The all-important small print – terms and conditions
To ensure you have a positive experience while fundraising for us, we ask you to read and adhere to a few terms and conditions that outline expectations, what you can and can’t do for us and how we will support you during the process. Read them here.