The Women’s Winter Walkathon: 16 Kilometres, Two Days, $16,491 Raised

Not every fundraiser needs an ocean pool in June. When House of Sadaqa launched the Women’s Winter Walkathon in July 2024, the idea was straightforward: sixteen kilometres, split across two days, walked by women, for families in need. It has since raised $16,491.83.

Where it came from

The Walkathon was announced within weeks of the inaugural Charity Winter Plunge in June 2024. Speaking to AMUST at the time, House of Sadaqa’s Mohammad Kandil put it plainly:

We are also excited to announce our upcoming Women’s Winter Walkathon in late July, where we are asking sisters to join us in walking 16 kilometres over two days to support families in need.

Mohammad Kandil, House of Sadaqa, AMUST, June 2024

The Plunge had drawn close to forty participants, almost all of them men. The Walkathon was designed to open the same kind of sponsored-challenge fundraising to women who wanted a women-only space to do it in.

The numbers

Raised	$16,491.83
Teams	7
Individual fundraisers	26
Average per fundraiser	About $634
Distance	16 km across two days

Seven teams from twenty-six fundraisers is a high ratio, and it shows. Across every House of Sadaqa peer-to-peer campaign, team-heavy events outperform individual-heavy ones, and the Walkathon has one of the strongest team ratios of any of them.

Why walking works as a fundraiser

A sponsored challenge has to clear two bars. It has to be hard enough that people will sponsor you, and easy enough that you will actually sign up. Cold-water plunges clear the first bar spectacularly and the second one narrowly. Walking is the reverse, and that is its strength.

• Almost nobody is excluded. No swimming ability, no equipment, no specific fitness level.
• It is social. Eight kilometres is roughly two hours of conversation, which is why groups form easily.
• It splits. Two days of eight kilometres is far less daunting than one day of sixteen.
• It is repeatable. Participants can train, which keeps them engaged with the campaign for weeks rather than hours.

Where the money goes

Into the Family Support Program. That means furniture and whitegoods through Home Essentials, food, counselling and transport for families in Sydney experiencing hardship, homelessness or family breakdown.

The program handles roughly one new referral every two days. Around 80% of applicants are women, typically with two or three children. Which makes a women-only fundraiser for a service that predominantly supports women and children a reasonably direct piece of symmetry.

Taking part

If you would like to walk, or to organise a team through your mosque, workplace or friendship group, you can start a fundraiser or get in touch to hear when the next Walkathon is scheduled. If walking is not for you, the Sleep in Your Car campaign runs on Friday 16 October 2026.

Frequently asked questions