Breaking the Cycle: the Weavers' 380-mile Ride

The Worshipful Company of Weavers is celebrating 900 years of history, and marking it by extending its long-standing support for people in the criminal justice system. In July 2026, five members set out to do something about one issue in particular: the imprisonment of women and mothers on short sentences, which affects 15,000 to 20,000 children every year.

The Challenge

Charles, Jackie, Spadge, Robert and William planned to ride 380 miles from Durham to London over six days, visiting 10 of the 12 women's prisons along the way. A brilliant idea, with a familiar fundraising problem attached: five riders, each with their own friends, family and colleagues to ask, and no easy way to give each rider something personal to share without ending up with five separate pages on five separate platforms and a spreadsheet to stitch the totals together.

The Solution

The Weavers set up their CYCLE26 campaign on DONATE™ and added a team challenge to it. Setup was quick, and everything they needed was already built in:

A team page for the ride. The "Wobbling Weavers" page carried the story, the route, the dates and the £25,000 target.
A personal page and code for every rider. Each of the five riders automatically got their own fundraising page and unique code to share, so supporters gave to the rider they knew, and every donation counted towards the rider, the team and the campaign at once.
Match funding built in. Two supporters pledged £12,500 in match funding, set up directly on the campaign, so every donation was doubled while the pot lasted. Nothing extra to administer.
Every way to give. Card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal and Direct Debit online, donations by text to the CYCLE26 keyword, and a contactless tap plaque the Weavers took on the prison tour itself.
Gift Aid handled automatically. Declarations collected at the point of donation and claimed for them, adding up to 25% to eligible gifts.
One report, live. Totals per rider, per team and per campaign, straight from the portal, with nothing to add up by hand.

The Result

By the end of the ride, 182 supporters had given £14,140, and the full £12,500 of match funding had been unlocked: more than £26,600 for the campaign, past the £25,000 target before Gift Aid was counted. 73% of donors added Gift Aid to their donation, and every pound was attributed rider by rider, reported in one place, without a single spreadsheet.