Take on APP's Miles for Mums and Babies Challenge.
Each mile you complete as part of the challenge reflects the journey mums, babies, partners and families travel to be together, whilst mums receive care in Mother and Baby Units.
You could walk, run or cycle 10, 50, 100 or even 1,000 miles or more! Need some inspiration for how far you might want to go? How about….
- 5 miles - 1 in 5 mums suffer some kind of mental illness in the perinatal period.
- 25 miles - distance between the three London based MBUs.
- 51 miles - distance between the two Scottish MBUs (Edinburgh to Glasgow).
- 318 miles - distance from the UK's westernmost MBU (in Exeter) to the most easterly (in Norfolk).
- 452 miles - distance from the UK's northernmost MBU (in Edinburgh) to the most southerly (in Dorset). Many mums and babies travel hundreds of miles to be together whilst mum is treated in hospital for a severe maternal mental illness. Dads, partners, families and friends may have to travel hundreds of miles back and forth to visit mum and baby.
- 1,400 miles - 1,400 mothers experience postpartum psychosis in the UK each year.
Or choose your own distance, perhaps reflecting a number or distance that is special to you. Find out where your closest Mother and Baby Unit is and look on google maps to see the distance.
You could complete the distance on your own or as part of a team – maybe get all the family involved, invite your work colleagues to join you or rope in a group of friends. You could even complete your chosen distance using a variety of methods - run, swim, row, cycle, walk…. It’s up to you.
With every donation, you’ll be helping to support mums and babies affected by severe maternal mental illness.
Run
Pick your own number of miles or join an organised event. We have access to hundreds of races, fun runs, jumps, rides and other events all over the country (and even overseas if you fancy it!)
Find a few ideas here but if you're looking for an event in your area, of a certain length or in a specific month, let us know and we can help you find something to suit you.
Swim
Not a runner? Fancy a swim instead? There are places available in the Great Swim events in Windermere and Alton, more details here: greatswim.org
Or if you’re not up for an open water swim, why not set yourself a swimathon challenge in your local pool? Alice completed a massive 71 miles in a month at her local pool, raising more than £700 for APP.
Walk
For any Scottish supporters, there are Kiltwalk events every year in Glasgow, Aberdeen, Dundee and Edinburgh, all with different options available depending on the level of challenge you’re looking for. For more details and to sign up check out their website: thekiltwalk.co.uk
Not in Scotland or just fancy planning your own route? Find inspiration for trails in the UK here.
The team from Margaret Oates MBU in Nottingham walked a huge 318 miles in May for their team challenge.
Cycle
Choose your own distance and complete it at home on a static bike (like Tara who cycled 10k a day for a month on her static bike, or Hannah who completed 62 miles indoors); or on roads or tracks near you (like Hazel who cycled 65miles across Scotland and raised over £5000 in the process!)
Obstacle
Maybe straightforward running isn’t exciting enough for you? Then perhaps an inflatable obstacle race is what you're looking for! We have options for 2.5k, 5k, 10k and 15k fun runs around a course involving 17 massive bouncy obstacles! This is one all the family can join in with.
Events take place between April and October in Exeter, Guildford, Kent, Towcester, Leeds, St Albans, Bristol, Southampton, Wolverhampton, Cheshire, West Sussex, Edinburgh, Lincoln, Norfolk, Huntingdon, Warwickshire.
An APP team took on a colour run inflatable race in Manchester last year, raised over £1000 and had LOTS of fun while they did it! In fact they loved it so much, they're doing it again next May - and we still have a few places left if you fancy joining them for an epic day out!
Toddle
Get your kids involved, rope in your local nursery, playgroup or preschool and set up a sponsored toddle for APP! Or invite some friends along for a sponsored buggy walk? We’d love to see some tiny fundraisers!
Got another idea? Maybe you’re a paddleboarder? A climber? A horse rider or a kayaker? Perhaps you want to combine as many different methods as you can over your chosen distance! However you choose to complete your Miles for Mums and Babies challenge, we’d love to hear about it!
Set up your Miles for Mums and Babies Challenge
- Choose your activity or activities.
- Set your target distance: in miles, kilometres or steps. Choose from one of the suggestions above, or perhaps reflect a number or distance that is special to you.
- Decide on your date or time frame: this could be one session, multiple sessions in a month/three months/by the end of the year, or whatever it takes.
- Make it a personal challenge or join up with family, friends or colleagues as a team.
- Set up your Just Giving/Facebook Fundraiser sponsorship page with a fundraising target (we suggest £150) and ask friends and family to sponsor you (please tick the box to allow APP consent to contact you).
- Get in contact with Fliss at fundraising@app-network.org - if you can commit to raising at least £50, we'll send an APP-branded vest or T-shirt to wear during your challenge, plus balloons, leaflets and other goodies, help you publicise your event (if you want us to), and send you a medal when you’ve completed your challenge.
Together we want to raise more than £10,000 to support the work of Action on Postpartum Psychosis.
Fundraisers' stories so far
Get inspiration from our 2023 Miles for Mums and Babies challenges - you can read all about them here.
Click here to receive a free fundraising e-pack or
Sign up by emailing us
Rachel's story
"I travelled 150 miles from near Newport, Wales to be treated in a Mother and Baby Unit hospital in Nottingham, England for postpartum psychosis with my newborn Finley… My family drove around 700 miles a week to visit us. It wasn't easy for them either."
Read Rachel’s postpartum psychosis story.
Ten #MilesForMumsAndBabies Facts
- 1 in 5 women develop a mental illness during pregnancy or within the first year after having a baby.
- The average stay in a Mother and Baby Unit is 8 weeks.
- Action on Postpartum Psychosis has been campaigning for more MBUs for 10 years.
- 1 to 2 in every 1,000 mothers experience postpartum psychosis.
- More than 1,400 women experience postpartum psychosis each year in the UK.
- It’s just over 10 miles to walk between the Coombe Wood Perinatal Mental Health Unit and East London Mother and Baby Unit in London (11.1 miles).
- There are 22 Mother and Baby Units in the UK.
- The first Mother and Baby Unit was at the Bethlem Royal Hospital in London.
- It’s just under 500 miles to cycle from NHS Lothian Livingston Mother and Baby Unit in Scotland to Jasmine Lodge Mother and Baby Unit in Devon (494 miles).
- There’s still no Mother and Baby Unit planned for women in Northern Ireland. Find out more about APP's campaigning for Mother and Baby Units.
We’re looking for people to take part in the #MilesForMumsAndBabies challenge - could it be you?
Go the extra mile
Make a donation to Action on Postpartum Psychosis today.
APP's fantastic fundraisers
A huge thank you to everyone taking part in and supporting our #MilesForMumsAndBabies challenge.