Odyssey 30th Anniversary Events

1 in 2 of us will be diagnosed with cancer at some time in our lives. Cancer affects all of us, not just when you’re going through treatment yourself but it the impact it has on those around you.

In 2025 Odyssey celebrates its 30th Anniversary. 30 years since the germ of an idea developed into the Odyssey Challenge Courses we run each year. In that time we’ve welcomed hundreds of participants onto our life-enhancing, motivational and inspiring courses.

We want you to join in the celebrations so over the course of 2025 we’ve arranged a number of activities, events and fundraisers and we’d love as many people as possible to join us, celebrate Odyssey and spread the word.

April 1st – Wear Blue

Wear something blue on April 1st and celebrate Odyssey. Get your family, friends and work colleagues to join in. Minimum suggested donation of £5 but you can fundraise in your local community or at work and raise as much as you can.

April – Afternoon Tea

Arrange an afternoon tea at home, at work and invite family, friends as a fundraiser for Odyssey during April. Bake and sell cakes or cream teas. Include a raffle or games to raise even more.

May – Baton Relay

The start of our Baton Relay around the UK, from Kent, the location of our first course to Scotland and all places in between. If you’re interested in being part of the relay, you can join us by committing to walk, run or cycle a distance. Commit an amount to each mile or kilometre covered. You could even row, unicycle, skateboard … Just let us know the distance, where and when. Get your local walking, running or cycling club involved.

August – Pottery Fundraising Weekend, Wales (TBA)

A weekend of fun and challenge held at our welcoming pottery in Tywyn, Gwynedd, Wales. We have hosted Odyssey Pottery Fundraising weekends before and they have all been enormously successful and have sold out in a matter of hours! Book early to avoid disappointment. Max 12 places.

August 29th – 7th September – Sweden Canoe Fundraiser

A challenge canoeing the Harkan River in Sweden. Come and immerse yourself in the wilderness for 5 days canoeing through this beautiful area and help raise funds for Odyssey

October 11th – Indoor Climbing Wall, Sheffield

Come and join us as we collectively aim to climb the height of Ben Nevis in just a few hours at The Foundry Indoor Climbing Wall, Sheffield on 20th April. We are looking for a team of 8 to collectively climb the height of Ben Nevis and raise money for Odyssey.

November 22nd-29th – Sahara Desert Trek

Rediscover true adventure in the awe-inspiring Sahara Desert. This five–day trek covers 100km; passing through Morocco’s forbidding landscape punctuated by peaks, gorges, dunes and oases.

Fundraising ideas

If you don’t fancy any of these, you can organise your own event or fundraiser to involve friends and family or to engage your staff, customers, clients or members.

We’ve come up with a few ideas to get you started:

• Bake sale – cakes or pastries, sweet or savoury
• Car wash – get the family involved, arrange one at work.
• Dress down day or fancy dress day (See Wear Blue for Odyssey)
• Quiz/Race night – book your local community centre or a meeting room at work
• Raffle – ask for donations from friends, family or supplies
• Silent auction
• Sweepstake
• Take part in a challenge

We can support your event by providing a speaker, posters, leaflets or display materials if you need.

For more ideas – why not check out Alastair Humphreys Micro-Adventures for inspiration.

Encourage Payroll Giving

Payroll Giving is a way for employees, who pay UK income tax, to donate a specific amount each month to a charity of their choice tax free. These donations are deducted from your pay before tax, meaning that each £1 you give, will only cost you 80p. It you are a higher rate taxpayer; it will cost you even less.

Regular income ensures that Odyssey can budget and plan effectively so we would be most grateful if you are able to spread the word to your employees, employers, family and friends.

If you are a company, why not put some information on your intranet, in your staff newsletter or on a poster around the workplace to encourage your employees to take part. Another way to help is to match fund your employees’ donations so that we benefit twice.

Payroll Giving: How to…

For employees:

Speak to your employer to see if they have already set up the scheme. If your employer already has the scheme set up, let them know that you would like to support Odyssey Project Ltd and the amount you would like to donate.

For employers:

If an employee would like to give a donation to us via Payroll Giving and you don’t have the scheme set up, contact a payroll giving agency to set one up.