Below you will find all the essential information needed for a summer of stepping, along with answers to our most frequently asked questions. Any further questions? Simply drop us an email and we’ll be happy to answer: onemillionsteps@diabetes.org.uk.
Key Event Information
Signing Up - register for Million Steps now and receive your free welcome pack.
It's free - that's right, it's free to take part. And you can receive amazing rewards for your fundraising for free too.
The challenge - you have three life changing distances to choose from.
500,000 steps - a perfect start to your stepping journey, you'll take about 5,400 steps a day.
1,000,000 steps - the original challenge, you'll take about 10,800 steps a day.
1,700,000 - from Lands End to John O'Groats, you'll take about 18,400 steps a day.
When - three months, that's 92 days, from 1 July to 30 September 2021.
Where - you can take on your Million Steps wherever you like, from your local park to your living room.
Fundraising - there's no minimum sponsorship but we recommend trying to raise £150. That's £50 a month.
Your profile page - your Million Steps profile page is built for tracking steps and fundraising. It's where you'll unlock your challenge badges.
Tracking your steps - use a type of pedometer that suits you. It could be your phone, a Fitbit or your pedometer of choice.
Logging steps - log your steps from 1 July using your Fitbit or add your steps manually on your profile page.
Under 18s - if you're under 18, please ask a parent or guardian to register on your behalf, they will need to create a new JustGiving account using a unique email address.
Supported by Fitbit - Diabetes UK and Fitbit share a simple ambition, to help everyone live healthier lives. By working together we'll help people lower their risk of health issues or even serious illness. This partnership is about helping to make everyone healthier, not just fitter.
We're fighting for a world where diabetes can do no harm and every step we take towards that is crucial. With your support we can continue our vital work across the UK supporting people living with and at risk of diabetes. Here are some of the ways your support can make a difference.
Every step and every donation counts.
We have tried to answer all of your commonly asked questions below. However, if you can’t find the information you’re looking for please email onemillionsteps@diabetes.org.uk or call 0345 123 2399 and we will be more than happy to help.
You can start fundraising on your profile page right now, and that's also where you'll track your steps from 1 July. But there's lots more you can do.
When you're logged in to your profile page, click the edit page button near the top of your page and you can:
Make your page your own. If you can't do any of the above or want some advice, email onemillionsteps@diabetes.org.uk.
Your safety and wellbeing is important to us, and all Diabetes UK events are held in line with the most up-to-date national and local coronavirus guidance and restrictions.
Please make sure you’re aware of and following the latest guidance and restrictions when taking part in any of our events. Find out more.
It’s important to keep safe as you step. Here’s some tips to keep safe:
Fundraising rewards are our way of saying thank you for the incredible fundraising you do. It's a small token of appreciation for helping us create a world where diabetes can do no harm.
We'll be sending your shoelace charms (your first donation reward) and keyring (£100 raised reward) every two weeks if you've chosen to receive rewards. If you've opted to not receive rewards but would like to, let us know at onemillionsteps@diabetes.org.uk.
For your t-shirts reward (£200 raised), please let the team know your preferred size at onemillionsteps@diabetes.org.uk
We will send the medal (£35 raised reward) and trophy (£650 raised reward) in November, after we've collected all of your fundraising from the One Million Step Challenge.
Thank you for your incredible support.
Healthy habits can be hard to stick to at first, but you don't have to commit to conquering all your targets in one go. In fact, working your steps into your everyday routine is one of the best ways to ensure you continue to step beyond the challenge.
Check out some great ways to boost your stepping.
Everyday we're learning creative ways to include a few extra steps into our day. We can't wait to hear about how you work your steps into your everyday routines too.
Join us for The Big Weekend of Walking and walk alongside thousands of steppers celebrating the start of their life-changing challenge. Earn your secret badge by logging any steps on the 10 or 11 of July. Don’t forget to post about your weekend in the Million Steps Facebook group.
Can’t step this weekend? Backdate your steps to the 10 or 11 July to earn your secret badge.
Fundraising online
How do I fundraise online?
Your One Million Step Challenge profile page is the simplest and most secure way to receive donations from friends and family.
It's automatically created for you when you sign up for Million Steps. Plus your supporters can Gift Aid their donation with a few taps if they're UK taxpayers. But you can fundraise offline too, there's more info on that below.
How do I send in money donated on my tracker page?
You don’t need to. The money donated onto your profile page comes directly to us.
Do I need a JustGiving page?
No, but you'll need to create a JustGiving account. You'll be asked to do this when you register for Million Steps. It only takes a few moments to do.
How do I send in money raised offline?
The easiest way is to pay your fundraising into your own bank account and donate it to your One Million Step Challenge profile page by card payment. That way we have all your fundraising in one place.
Or you can pay by phone by calling 0345 123 2399. Make sure to let our team know you're paying in fundraising for the One Million Step Challenge.
If you have a cheque you can make it payable to Diabetes UK and send to:
One Million Step Challenge
Diabetes UK
Wells Lawrence House,
126 Back Church Lane,
London
E1 1FH
Include your sponsorship form or a note with your name and the event you have taken part in.
The deadline to send donations in is 31 October.
From 1 July, you can start tracking your steps on your profile page. You must firstly log in to your account.
There are two ways to add your steps to your Million Steps profile page;
You can manually add your steps whenever you like, whether that's twice a day, once a week or a few times a month.
By adding your steps to your page, you’ll unlock special badges, increase your step total and show all your fans how hard you’re working to step for a healthier you and support Diabetes UK.
To log your distance via the step tracker on your page, you must be logged in to your One Million Step Challenge page.
You don’t need to use Fitbit to take part, you can add your steps onto your profile page manually. You just need a way to count your steps, miles, metres or kilometres and most smartphones, or a pedometer, will take care of that.
If you've adjusted the stride length on your fitness app, it may appear differently on your profile page. This is because we must use an average stride length for everyone. If your steps are appearing as less, top them up using the manual step tracker so you don't miss a step.
You can connect your Fitbit account to your profile page, so your walking activities will be linked directly to your page. Unfortunately you can't connect other apps directly to your Million Steps profile page.
To connect to Fitbit, you must be logged in to your One Million Step Challenge page.
1. Find the ‘Connect to Fitbit’ button on your page.
Can’t see this button? Double check that you’re logged in and on the right page.
2. Follow the prompts to log in or sign up to Fitbit.
3. Select which Fitbit data you would like to share with JustGiving. You must tick the box to share ‘activity and exercise’ for your Fitbit activity to automatically sync to your One Million Step Challenge page.
4. Press ‘Allow’ to connect your Fitbit account to your page.
5. The future activity that you log through Fitbit will now appear in the Step History section of your page:
a. Activities will only show on your page if you ticked the box to share your 'activity and exercise' in Step 3 above. If you did not tick this box during Step 3, you must disconnect Fitbit from your page, wait 10 minutes, and reconnect.
b. Activities recorded on Fitbit before 1 July will not show on your profile page.
c. Activities recorded on Fitbit before you linked your Fitbit account to your profile page will not show on your profile page.
d. Only run or walk activities recorded on Fitbit will show on your profile page.
e. Your daily step count, recorded outside of a run or walk activity, will not show on your profile page. These steps can be added using the manual step tracker on your fundraising page.
6. Please allow up to 5 minutes for activities to pull through to your page once you complete them on Fitbit and remember to refresh your One Million Steps page!
Only steps that you log on Fitbit as a run or walk activity will be pulled through to your profile page.
While your daily step summary will not be automatically added to your total, these steps should still count towards your step target! Add them to your total using the step tracker on your page.
You can disconnect Fitbit from your One Million Steps Challenge fundraising page, either by disconnecting from the 'Fitness Tracking' section of your edit page preferences or by visiting the app setting controls in Fitbit.
Disconnecting your Fitbit account will remove all synced activities from your fundraising page and total step count.
No, you cannot edit a step activity. However, it’s super simple to delete your incorrect activity and log a new activity with the correct details via the step tracker on your page.
Yes, you can delete a step activity using the delete button under the activity step total.
You sure can! Log in to your page and find the link to 'edit page', under the donate button. You can change your distance target to 500,000 steps, 1,000,000 steps or 1,700,000 steps.
You are unable to split your step target with your team. The One Million Step Challenge platform is only designed for you to step these distances as an individual. You can of course unofficially split the steps as a team, but you will only receive badges for the distance that you step and log on your individual page. We would recommend just making it clear in your story section that you are taking on the distance together as a team.
Register for Million Steps and you're half way there. On your profile page when you're logged in, you'll see a grey box near the top of your page. It will say 'Create Team' - tap this button. It will take you to the 'Edit Page' section of your profile page. From here, you can create a team by typing in your new team name, or find a team by searching for the team you'd like to join.
Your team members will have to register individually and then connect to your team, you just need to share your team name with them.
Do we have a team target?
You take on your own target for the challenge, whether that's 500,000, 1,000,000 or 1,700,000. Your team page will show your overall team step count.
You can change your team fundraising target at any time and your collective fundraising total will show in your totaliser.
Here are a few things to try if your page isn't showing you're connected to a team:
No problem at all, email us at onemillionsteps@diabetes.org.uk with the link to your profile page and we'll sort it for you.
If you need any further support then please don’t hesitate to get in touch with the team by emailing onemillionsteps@diabetes.org.uk or by calling 0345 123 2399.
Join us this summer and step towards a healthier, more confident you.
One million steps. Three months. One life-changing challenge.
