The Clean Air Champions scheme is Asthma + Lung UK's programme for students to become ambassadors for clean air. The scheme has 3 building blocks that students will take action on to become Clean Air Champions: raising awareness, campaigning, and fundraising.

This website is the hub for the Champions' sponsored walking challenge (the fundraising element of the scheme). They are organising sponsored walks with their schools to show how active travel can have a positive effect on air quality.

The other blocks in the scheme are raising awareness and campaigning.

To raise awareness, Champions use our free resource pack to build their knowledge of air pollution and then spread the word to their school and community. This could be talking to their class, presenting in assembly or making a display board - whatever they choose!

Through campaigning, Champions can use their voices to make a difference. This could be by writing a letter to their MP, signing a petition or spreading the word in their local community.

If your school isn't on board yet and would like to take part, please get in touch with us! You can email us at community@asthmaandlung.org.uk

Everything you need take part in the sponsored walking challenge is on this website. Sign up for free and set up your personal fundraising page. Link your Strava or Fitbit to your page to track your distance automatically or add your steps in manually. Go it alone or form a team with your classmates. Begin collecting your sponsorship - tell your family and friends what an amazing thing you're doing!

Students can sign up themselves or their parent/guardians can sign up on their behalf to handle their account.

When you click the 'Sign Up' button, you'll see the option to sign up on behalf of your child(ren). Through this option, you can be the owner of the account and create your child(rens) profile(s) through your account.

When you sign up on their behalf, you'll get a page automatically created for yourself too. You don't have to use this page and you can navigate to your child's page through the top-right-hand menu.

The Clean Air Champions team can send you a unique link to sign your school up through this site. If your school isn't on board yet and would like to take part, please get in touch with us! Please do get in touch with us through this form here

No, it's totally free! There's no fundraising minimum target either - it's just about raising as much as you can.

Yes, you can! The challenge is about doing what works for you, so you can walk or travel as much as you would like. You can find lots of guidance for managing your condition and advice for high pollution days on our website and you can always chat to our lovely Helpline team too if you have questions. Call them on 0300 222 5800.

You can collect all your sponsorship through your online page. Then your page will show the grand total of all your fundraising.

Direct your supporters to your profile page, then they simply click the donate button on your profile to sponsor you. Your supporters can quickly and easily donate by card payment through our secure site. Their donation will then appear on your profile and be reflected in your grand total.

All donations that you collect on your page come through automatically to Asthma + Lung UK.

It's best to keep all your fundraising online and on your profile page if possible, so it is reflected in your grand total and show on the leaderboards. If you have received sponsorship in cash, the best thing to do is keep the cash donations and pay the amount in yourself by card on to your own page.

Please note, do not claim Gift Aid on a donation if you're making the payment on behalf of someone else. This is even the case if they have told you they are happy for you to claim Gift Aid.

Please don't set up a Facebook Fundraiser for Clean Air Champions. Like with cash donations, it's best to keep all your fundraising online and on your profile page if possible, so it is reflected in your grand total and show on the leaderboards.

You can share your profile page on your Facebook and other social media though - this is a great way to spread the word about what you're doing! In your dashboard when you log in, you can find the 'Share' buttons to share your page link.

At Asthma + Lung UK, we believe that every breath matters - and that the right to breathe freely applies to everybody, regardless of income, age, ethnicity, gender, or background.

Our vision is for a world where everyone has healthy lungs. A world where lung health is prioritised through better understanding, research, treatment and support. And we will be the driving force behind the transformation of lung health.

From research and campaigning to advice and support, as the nation's lung charity we are on a mission to change the way that lung health is perceived.Because breath is life - and that's worth fighting for

Your incredible fundraising is such an important step in making a difference in the fight for clean air. This can pay for things like air quality monitors to show how much air pollution is in an area. This crucial data from the monitors can then be used to show what needs to change in the fight against air pollution.

Your profile page includes your personal distance tracker so you can monitor your progress towards your distance target.

You can link your Strava or Fitbit app to your profile and then your distance tracker will update automatically.

Follow these steps to track your distance automatically

1. Download the Fitbit or Strava app and set up your account.
2. Log in to your Clean Air Champions account.
3. Under the heading 'Connect your preferred Fitness app', click on the name of the app you wish to connect.
4. Follow the prompts to connect your account.
5. When you next walk, select 'Start your workout' in the app on your phone. Once you end your walk, save your workout and your distance will be added to your page the following day.

If you have synced your app already but it is not working, please log in and reconnect it.

When using Fitbit, you must start an activity and save it. Your daily steps will not automatically add to your page. If you are having issues, try syncing through both your Fitbit and the Fitbit app on your smartphone.

Your tracker will be updated each day with the previous day's distances.

You can manually add your distance measurement to the tracker in your 'My Walking Activity' tab of your profile after registering. This is a great option if you're using a pedometer or a different method of tracking your distances.

Follow these steps to manually add your miles

1. Log in to your account and select 'My Walking Activity'
2. Under 'Add activity' enter the date and distance.
3. The number of miles will now appear on your fundraising page!

The site can take 24 hours to refresh and upload new activity, so please check back later.

We all know how unpredictable the weather can be so make sure you're ready for different conditions especially if you're going on a long walk. Make sure you're wearing comfy and suitable footwear. Bring sunscreen, a waterproof and plenty of water and snacks too.

We'd recommend planning your walking routes using the Go Jauntly app to find new walking routes right from your doorstep. Their Green Routes specifically avoid busy roads, taking you through the best nature has to offer, UK-wide. Find out more Here

Always check the latest Government guidance before organising your walks, as it’s different from place to place and change regularly. When taking part, please follow all Government guidance and social distancing rules. For the most up to date advice, please look at the Government website for your area.

England: Coronavirus (COVID-19): guidance and support - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Wales: Coronavirus (COVID-19) | Topic | GOV.WALES

Scotland: Coronavirus in Scotland - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Northern Ireland: Coronavirus (COVID-19) | nidirect