270 STATIONS. 11 LINES. 9 ZONES. 1 CITY. 1 DAY. A MOMENTOUS OCCASION.

The Tube Challenge is a challenge whereby a party attempts to travel through all 270 London Underground Tube stations in one sitting. On 18th February, starting at Morden Underground Station in Zone 4 and finishing at Wimbledon Underground Station in Zone 3, passing through Amersham and Chesham in Zone 9, as well as Waterloo, Oxford Circus and London Bridge in Zone 1, the group will take on the Tube Challenge commencing at 6:00AM.

The world record: 16 hours, 29 minutes and 13 seconds. (Set by Andi James and Steve Wilson on 27 May 2011)
The aim: 18 hours.

The mathematically gifted amongst you may have noticed that the aim set will be able to be achieved without beating (or even meeting) the World Record set. This is because the reason for taking part in this challenge is not to achieve any records, but to raise money for their youth group, Take A Stand, in order to travel to Rio de Janeiro for World Youth Day.

Take A Stand is a youth initiative based at the parish of St. Raphael’s, Kingston-Upon-Thames, UK, aiming to build international solidarity among young Catholics, through a range of activities, including providing catechesis for young Catholics. World Youth Day is an event led by the Pope aimed at 16-35 year olds, held every 2-3 years in cities from all around the world, from Sydney to Denver, Paris and Cologne to Madrid and Rome, Częstochowa and Manila to Buenos Aires and Toronto. Initiated by Pope John Paul II in 1985, the largest World Youth Day was held in Manila, Philippines in 1995 attracted an estimated attendance of 5 million, making it the largest Papal gathering in Roman Catholic history. With over 4 million expected to attend World Youth Day this year in Rio de Janeiro (23-28 July), Word Youth Day will return to South America for the first time since 1987 (Buenos Aires) and will be the first hosted by a Lusophone nation. World Youth Day is an opportunity to experience the universality of the Catholic Church, an opportunity to deepen your faith along with others from every corner of the planet. Despite high expenses, the founding members of Take A Stand are determined to raise enough money to send their group to Brazil, as they see World Youth Day as an opportunity like no other and can help young people in their search for vocations in life. Evidence of this can be found in Take A Stand, which was set up in January 2012 following World Youth Day 2011 in Madrid, Spain, and is now sending even more youngsters to this World Youth Day.

However, the cost of sending one pilgrim to Brazil, is estimated at £2,200, that is £72,600 for the 33 members of take A Stand; therefore, fundraising is the key to boarding that flight in July. Events such as Quiz Nights, Cake Sales and Carol Services have helped contribute to the fundraising target of £20,000, furthermore, sponsors have said that they will match any amount raised; therefore, the minimum aim is for each pilgrim to pay under £1000.

Speaking to the Take A Stand member behind the idea of taking on the Tube Challenge, they felt the group had to come up with something a little different to your usual fundraising activity: “Reaching a £20,000 target was never going to be an easy for us, we had to come up with something that could generate some money, could bond the group and was ‘fun’”.

The challenge also creates a personal connection with anyone who has travelled on the London Underground – as Take A Stand are based in Greater London, that is definitely the majority of people! This was also one of the reasons for taking up the challenge: “As Londoners we ride the tube regularly so the Tube Challenge I thought it was pretty cool task, visiting all 270 stops in one day is not a small achievement!”. And rightly so. This is a truly unbelievable challenge, and anyone who has travelled on the London Underground will fully understand how hard this will be, travelling through both rush hours, in and around the United Kingdom’s biggest city.

270 Stations. 11 Lines. 9 Zones. 1 City. 1 Day. The logistics are set. The challenge is ready. You can add another statistic: amount raised. You can make this a momentous occasion.

If you would like to donate towards Take A Stand’s journey to Rio de Janeiro (as well as around London), you can visit www.justgiving.com/takeastand, text POPE50 £amount to 70070 or send a cheque payable to St Raphael's Church to Take A Stand, 19 Etwell Place, Surbiton, KT5 8SF. For more information, please visit www.teamtakeastand.com or you can contact me by e-mail at tdsilva42@gmail.com or on Twitter @tomdsilva1