Limelight Sports, the agency of the Active World has just finished overseeing the operational event delivery of The Great Big Walk. The Great Big Walk is an idea from the Eden Project, funded by the National Lottery and other supporters including Pears Foundation and Prince of Wales’s Charitable Foundation, and Renault with a fleet of electric support vehicles.
The Great Big Walk set off on the 29th May with five teams of walkers taking different routes across the UK, finishing on the 18th June. It started in Batley in West Yorkshire which is where Jo Cox was MP. Every day each team visited different community projects and initiatives and spent time with the extraordinary people who go the extra mile to bring communities together. The finish was timed to coincide with the anniversary of Jo’s death, with walkers returning to their communities for The Big Lunch, the highlight of The Great Get Together weekend. The weekend saw millions of individuals participate in Big Lunches and other events, highlighting the rich diversity of communities which make up the backbone of the UK.
Limelight Sports was responsible for the operational event delivery of The Great Big Walk overseeing the detailed planning of 5 different routes leaving Batley with finish destinations in Cornwall, London, Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland.
Each route had a Limelight Sports trained operational route leader who oversaw the holistic planning, safety & operations of all those on the route. In addition, Limelight recruited operational support officers who managed the electric vehicles, ensuring they were adequately charged and that each of the five routes were meticulously planned in advance. The event routes included highlights for those taking part such as The Great Get Together at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London, reaching the top of Snowden, ziplining over the Eden Project in Cornwall, reaching the top of Slieve Donald, the highest peak in Ulster and seeing the Kelpies, part of an extraordinary community project in Scotland.
Tom Newton, Project Manager at Limelight Sports said, “This was one of the most challenging events we have ever been involved with and it presented a whole host of different and unexpected challenges. Having 5 separate teams covering a distance of over 1900 miles with 173 community stops gives an indication of the scale of the operation but it was wonderful to see the community spirit and commitment of everyone involved”
Lindsey Brummitt, Programme Director, Eden Project commented “One of our major concerns was the logistics and operational organization of The Great Big Walk but the team at Limelight were extremely professional and hard-working and every member of the team worked together to go above and beyond to make sure an incredibly complex project was delivered in short timescales and within budget”.
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For further information about Limelight Sports contact Jo McDiarmid: 020 7299 4188
www.limelightsports.com
thegreatbigwalk.com
About Limelight Sports
With over 25 years’ industry experience, Limelight Sports, global leading participation sport agency, has offices in London, Melbourne, and Dubai. The agency works with major, global brands such as Nike, J.P.Morgan and ESPN Digital, using its extensive knowledge of the positive impact of participation sport to engage their target audiences through active experiences and campaigns. It has created and delivered some of the most high profile live events including the Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Mile, Sky Ride and J.P.Morgan Corporate Challenge London and Sydney. Limelight Sports also organises Swimathon, the world’s biggest fundraising swimming challenge. Additionally, the agency owns properties such as Race the World, the first fully supported round the world cycling race for amateurs and London Duathlon, the world’s largest duathlon.