The Hedgerow Trust

The November 60 Mile Walking Challenge · Registered charity 1198472

For charities: see the full challenge journey this runs on

Walk 60 miles in November.

Pick a coach who will be in your pocket the whole way.

A walker on a muddy track at dawn, phone in hand, between two tall autumn hedgerows heavy with berries.
The Thirsk corridor, first light. Four miles of it still has gaps in.
Meet the coaches Already signed up? Your coach has your number.

£35 closes a 3 metre gap in a hedgerow. 187 miles restored so far. 313 to go.

Meet your coaches

Four of them. One of you. Have a listen before you decide, because you will be hearing from them most of November.

Sarge, a man in his fifties in a walking jacket, arms folded, half a smile.

Sarge

Ex-army. Tough love. Secretly your biggest fan.

Day one. Kit on. Door. Go. Two miles. Report in when you’re back.

06:40

Three days. Life turns up and walks get dropped. Happens to everyone. Door’s still there when you want it. So am I.

18:12

Sixty miles. You said you’d walk it. You’ve walked it. Whatever else happens this month, that’s done and nobody can take it off you.

21:05
Sunny, a Black British woman in her thirties in a yellow rain jacket, both arms up on a muddy footpath.

Sunny

All the energy. All the exclamation marks. All for you.

Right. Day one. Two miles. Shoes on, out the door, don’t think about it too hard. Go on. I’ll be here bouncing.

07:58

Somebody has donated 🎉 Someone read what you’re doing, stopped what they were doing, and got their card out. For you. Because you asked.

12:30

Sixty miles. SIXTY 🌿 Every single one of those was a decision to put your shoes on.

17:44
Vic, a British South Asian man in his forties in a flat cap and navy fleece, leaning on a farm gate with a mug of tea.

Vic

Dry. Deadpan. Pretends not to care. Clearly does.

Day one. Two miles. Out you go. I’ll be holding the fort with a brew. Someone has to.

08:15

Not seen any miles for a few days. Just saying hello. Kettle’s on whenever you’re back.

19:02

Right. Sixty miles. That’s the thing you said you’d do, done. I’m impressed. Don’t make it weird. 🌿

20:47
Grandad Ray, an older man in a flat cap and cardigan, holding a mug, smiling.

Grandad Ray

Warm, proud of you, and never far from a kettle.

Day one. Two miles, gently, and no need to hurry any of them. Derek’s on the fence post seeing you off. That’s the robin.

09:20

A hedge takes about three years to knit together properly, so a quiet few days is nothing to anybody. I’m here when you want me.

14:05

That’s the sixty done. That’s a proper thing to have done. I’m proud of you, and Jean says well done, and she doesn’t say that to everybody.

20:11

Voice samples are about ten seconds each. Nothing plays until you press.

How it works

One

Pick a coach

Sarge, Sunny, Vic or Ray. Swap at any time by replying COACH. Nobody takes it personally.

Two

Choose how often

Every day, once a week, or just the big moments. Reply LESS to turn it down, STOP to turn it off.

Three

Walk. They will be there.

They message you on WhatsApp through November with your live fundraising total and your miles, and they notice when you have had a hard week.

Sign up and meet them

Takes about a minute. Your coach says hello straight away.

This is what your coach will call you.

We only use it for your coach and your miles.

£180 closes about 15 metres of hedgerow.

How often should they message you?

You can change this later by replying LESS.

Your coach

Pick one here or up in the cards. They stay in step.

You can reply STOP at any time.

Your coach is an AI character. We would rather say so.

Written by our fundraising team

Sarge, Sunny, Vic and Ray were built here, in Harrogate, by the people who write our appeals. The voices are actors and models. The character is ours.

Labelled every time you hear one

Every voice note and video carries the same line, out loud and on screen: “Created with AI, but the sentiment is 100% Hedgerow Trust.”

A person is one message away

If you tell your coach you are struggling, injured or upset, it stops coaching and a real person at the Trust reads what you sent. Reply HELP at any point and you get a human, on weekdays, by name.

We use AI to keep 6,200 supporters company through a cold month with eleven members of staff. We do not use it to pretend to be your friend.