# 41% of people who take part in mass participation events expect to do more this year

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2024/01/23/41-of-people-who-take-part-in-mass-participation-events-expect-to-do-more-this-year/
- Published: 2024-01-23T10:17:59+00:00
- Author: Melanie May

**Despite the cost of living crisis, only 12% of people who took part in mass participation
events last year expect to do less in 2024, but making events more affordable, along
with improving facilities and sustainability are top of the list for improvements
sought by participants.**

The [Mass Participation Pulse](https://wearemassive.co.uk/the-mass-participation-pulse-2024/)
from massive has asked over 7,000 runners, walkers, cyclists, swimmers, triathletes
to share their thoughts and opinions since 2022. This year’s edition is based on
almost 3,000 survey responses from mass participation event participants recruited
through event providers, entry platforms and sports media in the UK and Ireland 
throughout October 2023. It looks at the ongoing cost-of-living crisis’s impact 
on participants and event involvement.

It found that the mass participation event respondents by far did most often was
running / jogging at 77%, followed by trail running (10%) and triathlon (6%). Asked
what they had done in the last five years, running (84%), walking (41%) and cycling(
28%) came top.

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Overall too, 37% of respondents had taken part in an initiative to get people active,
such as Couch to 5k, Run Together, jogscotland or This Mum Runs. 22% of respondents
had taken part in Couch to 5k, rising to 40% of those who have been taking part 
in events for 2 years or less. This, massive says, suggests that these initiatives
are succeeding in breaking down barriers to event participation by helping people
become more active.

#### Fundraising for good causes

28% of those surveyed said they had fundraised for a charity as part of the last
mass participation event they took part in. Of these, 68% had fundraised for them
before and 32% had not. The main reasons given for fundraising were to raise money
for a cause cared about (30%), and to raise money for a specific charity (29%). 
19% said it was to do some good whilst taking part, for 10% it was to get a place,
and for 9% it was to raise awareness of a cause they care about.  

#### More findings from this year’s report

 * 41% are planning to increase the number of events they will do in 2024 compared
   to last year, compared to 12% expecting to do less
 * The median number of events people reported taking part in during 2023 (5) is
   now back to the pre-pandemic levels last seen in 2019 
 * Almost 10% of people have taken events and activity up since the end of the pandemic
 * Younger participants (18-34 year olds) are most likely to plan on doing more 
   events in 2024 
 * 30% cite improved levels of fitness as a reason for increasing the number of 
   events they will do
 * Top 3 criteria for choosing an event to take part in are: preferred distance (
   44%), price of entry (33%), and date (32%).
 * Top 3 things participants would like to see implemented in the future: making
   events more affordable (65%), improved facilities (42%), and improved sustainability(
   38%)
 * While female participants were the group most likely to report taking part in
   fewer events immediately after the pandemic, they increased participation levels
   by more than men in 2023 and are more positive about 2024 
 * Sustainability continues to grow in importance for event participants, with younger
   participants more than twice as likely to say event organisers are not doing 
   enough around this 

#### Recommendations

Among the report’s conclusions it says that while there are challenges ahead there
is also cause for optimism with increasing levels of participation and new audiences
being attracted to events.

It suggests that:

_“These new and younger audiences may have different expectations of events and 
motivations for signing up, but if as our data suggests, the longer people take 
part in events, the more events they tend to take part in. If we can keep these 
audiences, engaged and excited about the experience events offer then their impact
should continue to grow.”_

It also notes that _“mass participation events don’t exist in a vacuum”_ and that
initiatives like Couch to 5k that get people active seem to have been successful
in breaking down the fitness barrier to event entry that exists for many. As such,
it says, there may be opportunities for more initiatives that can do the same with
different activities.

Another area to consider, it says, is how to reduce the rate of people falling out
of event participation, which in part means ensuring events provide participants
with what they’re looking for.