Sunny blue sky with treetops around the edge.

Out In The Open

This year's Out In The Open was another huge success

2024 was another hugely successful year for Out In The Open. Over 2,400 supporters signed up and took on the challenge to complete 300,000 steps in June.  

Thank you to everyone who participated and raised vital funds to help us create a world where no young person feels alone with their mental health.  

Sign up to our mailing list to be the first to hear about Out In The Open 2025. 

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Out In The Open has raised over £250,000 so far!

In 2024 alone, our incredible supporters raised over £80,000. And donations continue to come in! We are so grateful for your generosity. Thank you for supporting young people to feel less alone with their mental health.

How does the challenge work?

A person stands with their back to the camera, wearing a YoungMinds t-shirt. They are looking out over the fields in the countryside.

A man wearing a YoungMinds tshirt is standing with his back to the camera, overlooking a field in the countryside

Every spring, we challenge participants to complete 300,000 steps in June to raise funds for YoungMinds, and help us create a world where no young person feels alone with their mental health. 

How can I register for 2024?

  • Registrations are currently closed.

    If you’d like to take part in Out In The Open 2025, sign up to our mailing list and you’ll be the first to hear when it’s time to register! 

How we'll support you

A girl wearing a YoungMinds tshirt is standing in the woods. She has her back to the camera but has turned her head around and is smiling. She is pointing at the YoungMinds t-shirt logo on the back of her tshirt.

A girl wearing a YoungMinds tshirt is standing in the woods. She has her back to the camera but has turned her head around and is smiling. She is pointing at the YoungMinds t-shirt logo on the back of her tshirt. 

Throughout the challenge, you’ll have the support of our fundraising team as you take on your 300k steps in June.

  • Be part of a supportive Facebook community

  • Get regular emails throughout the challenge

  • Get your own fundraising pack, including a distance tracker and sponsorship form

  • Get virtual milestone badges throughout the challenge

Out In The Open FAQs

Definitely, we’d still love for you to take part! You can sign up to the challenge without Facebook using the sign up form we share and clicking ‘register with email’. You’ll be set up with a fundraiser on Social Sync which you can share with others. Please bear in mind though that you won’t receive updates and emails throughout the campaign as these are generated through Facebook.

Yes, that’s a great idea! We’d suggest that you register individually so that you can order your free t-shirt and so that you receive updates throughout the campaign. If you then create a fundraiser for your team on JustGiving and link it to the Out In The Open 2024 JustGiving page, you’ll be joining the other teams that are participating. You can then share your fundraising page with your friends and family. Perhaps one of you can take the lead and keep a record of your step count as a team.

Please allow up to 10 working days for your welcome pack to arrive – this includes your t-shirt (if you’ve ordered one), a steps tracker and a donation form.

Please take a screenshot of the error message that you are receiving and send this to fundraising@youngminds.org.uk – we’ll then look into this for you.

Facebook automatically sets the target on your page at £150! However, we only ask that you raise as much as you’re able to. You can adjust your target according to the challenge you'd like to set yourself too.

That's absolutely okay! The only thing that matters is that you challenge yourself. However much you achieve, we're so grateful for your support and for raising much needed funds for YoungMinds.

You can take part no matter how old you are! However, if you’re under 16, you will need a parent or guardian to sign you up to the challenge. Please email fundraising@youngminds.org.uk with permission from your parent or guardian.

You should only take part in the challenge if it feels right for you. If doing an exercise challenge could trigger you or affect your mental health for the worse, please put your mental health first and don’t take part. There are plenty of other ways you can get involved, whether that’s donating to another person’s fundraiser or sharing our website with your friends and family.

If you’re struggling with an eating or exercise problem, or you think you might be, please know that support is available. For help and advice, take a look at our guide to eating problems for young people.

A first step could be visiting your GP to explore what support is available to you. You can find your nearest eating disorder service on the NHS website. You may also find it helpful to contact BEAT, who specialise in providing advice around eating problems and disorders.

Alternatively, if you are a parent worried about your child's eating, take a look at our parents' guide to eating problems.

Absolutely! It's your personal challenge and we encourage everyone to adapt it to suit their needs and goals. Why not calculate how many miles 300,00 steps covers approximately and consider if you want to complete a similar distance?

Absolutely! It's your personal challenge and we encourage everyone to adapt it to suit their needs and goals.

Nope! This is your challenge, so you can do it any way you like. If you’d like to use all 30 days in June to spread out the steps or do it in two weeks, that’s absolutely fine. If you have any concerns, please talk to your doctor before taking part in this challenge. The challenge should be completed however is best for your health and physical ability.

You are more than welcome to take part wherever you are based in the world. However unfortunately we can only ship t-shirts to UK addresses.

Yes, absolutely. Thank you for wanting to make a difference! You're welcome to make a donation.

Please include 'Out In The Open' in the message box, so we can add it towards our overall total raised! Thank you so much for your support.

If you have any questions or need more information, please get in touch with the fundraising team by emailing fundraising@youngminds.org.uk.