What is the Moonraker Challenge?
A night time team based orienteering walk organised by the Rotary Club of Taunton Vale with questions along the way. Solve clues and find your way between checkpoints.
Course of around 8 and 16 miles are undertaken by teams of between four and eight people. Awards are won based on sponsorship money raised and questions answered. All sponsorship money goes to the nominated and other Rotary Charities.
In 2022 you raised over £10,000. We supported Ups and Downs SouthWest, a Down Syndrome support charity serving children and young people, their parents/carers and all linked professionals dealing with the health and education of children and young people who have Down Syndrome and Charis Refugees, a charity which settles refugee families in the Southwest of England through the UK Home Office Community Resettlement programme. This has been prominent in the South West for some time but are now needed more than ever due to the Ukraine Crisis.
Why Enter?
Because it’s great fun, great exercise for both brain and body and a really terrific way to raise money for very worthy causes! Most teams come back year after year to try their skill at that year’s route and questions. Teams enter because they really enjoy the challenge of navigating the route and solving clues in the dark, while raising substantial sponsorship for important local charities. Many teams have been doing it for ages and look forward to a new challenge in the dark every year, but many new or inexperienced teams start early and complete most of the shorter course before it gets too dark if that’s what you want. You have a choice of start times so you can be last out (if you book early enough) or first out (same applies). It’s up to you.
Who Benefits?
This year our main charity is Somerset Counselling Centre.They provide a safe space to talk to a skilled counsellor, who will listen and help understand how past experiences, worries about the future, or lack of self-confidence may be affecting your life. They offer flexibility; providing counselling in-person, online and over the phone.
Other charities such as ARC, TOG, Taunton East Development Fund, Abbeyfield Care Home and Somerset Sight are all charities we have supported regularly or in the past along with many others both locally and abroad.
Where, When and How Long?
Every year the route changes. Our expert route planners seek an area vast enough to give several miles of interesting and sufficiently challenging walking while keeping it safe and manageable. Our start point for the 2023 event is at Quantock Lodge close to Over Stowey and Adscombe.
Our shorter course will appeal to all and is suitable for younger or less experienced walkers who’ve not done a night orienteering exercise before. The longer course is designed to give more of a challenge for the more experienced and adventurous.
An early start time should enable you to complete most of the short course in daylight if you and your team are more comfortable with that. Please book early if that is important to you.