How to organise a charity abseil event

Fundraising and organising a charity abseil

Easily one of the fastest-growing fundraising events, a charity abseil is challenging, fun and very successful in raising money. Before we get into how to organise one for your charity, let’s look at what the event actually entails…

What is urban abseiling?

Most of us can relate to the fear of heights, even if you have a head for it. While rural abseiling is often preceded by rock climbing, urban abseiling brings the fear to the cities.

Participants start at the top of a chosen landmark – a building, a bridge, a viaduct, etc. – harness up, then conquer their fear by slowly rappelling down.

What makes it perfect as a charity event is the exposure you receive by being in a central location.

Think about it. Doing a charity abseil out in the sticks means friends and family will be less tempted to come and watch, while media and news crews may not make the effort.

In the city, friends can show their support, locals may stop to ogle what’s going on and it’s easy for media companies to cover your event. More exposure equals more donations to your cause. In fact, urban abseils often raise anywhere between £2,000 and £40,000+.

Is urban abseiling scary?

We won’t lie, looking down from the top of a high building is a daunting prospect. Harnessing up and taking that first step down fills you with dread, but you may be surprised by how quickly you get used to it.

If you or your participants feel especially fearful, our trained guides are great at helping you overcome it. After all, a charity challenge isn’t a challenge at all without some element of fear.

How do you organise a charity abseil?

Well, the first thing you’ll need to do is decide which building you want to abseil down. You need a building tall enough and central enough to make your fundraising abseil stand out. Lost Earth Adventures often run charity abseils at the K2 building in Hull, a popular location. We’ve run abseils across the UK though, at just about every major city, from skyscrapers to bridges and viaducts to churches and other religious buildings.

Once you decide where you wish to do the abseil, let us know and, if we haven’t already undertaken a safety inspection, we’ll do all this for you ready for the big day.

Advertising a charity event

While we sort the safety, equipment and logistics of your event, you need to get people to join your event and help raise funds. Easy enough if you’re a business doing a charity event – your employees can take part.

For charities, there are lots of avenues you can explore. Speak with local businesses and national ones with offices near you. Create an event on social media and spread the word as far as you can. You could do leaflet drops in your area or advertise in local newspapers and other printed material.

The nature of urban abseiling often means people from every walk of life are willing to get involved. We’ve had young children, parents, and grandparents take part. Teachers, lawyers, doctors, factory workers and even vicars have got involved. Again, with it being in the centre of a town or city, it’s very convenient for people to join your event.

What about media and news companies? Getting coverage this way helps broaden the exposure. Naturally, we’ll also help advertise your event in any way we can. You’ll want to create a buzz before the event but taking lots of photos and videos on the day is equally important.

You can then share this immediately after the event and charities often get last-minute donations in this way. You can see more of our top tips for fundraising here.

So, now you should be all clued up and raring to start planning your charity urban abseil. See our charity abseils in more detail or explore other popular charity challenges.