The Blue Mile Race for the Environment expands across UK

by Teresa Page on 20 Apr 2011 The Blue Mile – Race for the Environment is a designed to engage people actively with our water environment. Through The Blue Mile, WWF is raising money to protect these amazing environments.

WWF-UK agrees a new multi-year contract with Sport Environment to develop the Blue Mile into one of their leading fundraising events.

Sport Environment, a leading sport and social change company, founded by triple round the world sailor Conrad Humphreys will work with WWF, one of the world’s leading conservation organisations to expand The Blue Mile – Race for the Environment across the UK.

WWF have acquired the rights to the innovative mass-participation event that was launched in 2009 by Paul Deighton, Chief Executive of London 2012, and will now expand the event across the UK, with a series of grass-roots challenges and a new flagship London Blue Mile event that will take place on Sunday 4th September 2011.

Sport Environment approached WWF in 2009 to become the official charity partner of the inaugural Blue Mile event which they successfully delivered in Plymouth last year. Both parties have worked together since then to map out the vision and strategy to expand the Blue Mile nationally and encourage many more people to take part.

The multi-year agreement demonstrates WWF’s commitment to encouraging thousands of people across the UK to get actively involved in raising vital funds for their work protecting rivers and seas. The call to action is to get out there, enjoy our water environment and complete your blue mile with your family and friends and at the same time raise some funds to help keep our rivers and seas healthy. For more information visit the website.

Ian Lulham, Blue Mile Project Manager, WWF, 'We are delighted to be able to expand the Blue mile and encourage many more people to take part. Whether you swim or kayak, paddle or simply walk alongside your local river, all we are asking is that you complete a mile on or near water, get sponsored and help save our marine and freshwater environment.'

Conrad Humphreys, Founder and Ambassador for the Blue Mile, 'Having grown up by the sea and spent most of my professional life competing on the ocean, it was very important to find a way to encourage more people to enjoy our blue environment and take care of it. Today’s news that WWF will take forward this simple and enjoyable event and share it with many more people around the country is vital to our mission of using sport as a catalyst to inspire social change.'