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Website questions

Please find below some frequently asked questions about the Race for Life website and online sponsorship pages. For further questions, please return to our FAQs index page.

01. How secure is the website?

This website is on a secure server and all the transactional areas of the website (i.e. for entering races, paying in sponsorship, buying merchandise and donating) use industry standard 1024 SSL encryption.

When we capture your personal data it is encrypted in transit, and stored in a carefully controlled environment with restricted access. We are fully committed to protecting the security of your data. More information on the steps we take to protect your privacy can be found on our privacy page.

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02. What is the point of using this website?

It is more cost-effective for us as a charity if you use this website, as opposed to calling or writing to us, so that more money can be spent on Cancer Research UK's life-saving work.

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03. Is there a site map for this website?

Yes - there is a site map listing the pages on this website.

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04. If I enter or order merchandise online, what happens next?

After you make an online transaction with us, you will automatically receive a confirmation email, with the details of your transaction, which you can use as a receipt.

If you have purchased merchandise with your Race for Life entry, your items should be with you four weeks before your event.

If you have purchased merchandise separately from a Race for Life entry, you should receive your items within 28 working days.

If you do not receive a confirmation email please call our hotline on 0871 641 1111.

Calls provided by BT will be charged at up to 6 pence per minute. A call set-up fee of up to 6 pence per call applies to calls from residential lines. Mobile and other providers’ costs may vary.

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05. How do I donate anonymously on my friend's online sponsorship page?

After you have made your payment, you are given the opportunity to leave your name and a message on your friend’s sponsorship page, for your friend and other page visitors to read.

If you wish to donate anonymously, please write “anonymous” in the name box, as shown below. Please note, however, that your friend will be able to know your identity by logging into their secure account.

Anonymous donation example

If you have any problems, please call the Race for Life hotline on 0871 641 1111. Our lines are open Monday to Friday, from 8.30am to 8.30pm; 9.00am to 5.00pm at weekends. A member of our team will be happy to assist you.

Calls provided by BT will be charged at up to 6 pence per minute. A call set-up fee of up to 6 pence per call applies to calls from residential lines. Mobile and other providers’ costs may vary.

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06. Why does the donation I have made on Justgiving not include Gift Aid?

For a donation to be eligible for Gift Aid, it must firstly be made by a UK taxpayer. Then, according to HMRC rules, you can only make a Gift Aid declaration on your own money - the money on which you personally pay tax.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not allow us to claim Gift Aid on your donation if you told us that:

1. The donation was on behalf of someone else or a group of people
If you stated that you collected money from other donors and are simply making one collective donation on everyone’s behalf, you are not legally allowed to ask for Gift Aid to be claimed and added to your donation.

This is because you cannot make a legal Gift Aid declaration on behalf of someone else, even if they are themselves a UK taxpayer. The only way around this is to ask each person to make their own donation and Gift Aid declaration on the site.

The exception to the rule:

If you are entering the details of someone else because you are helping them use a computer for a legitimate reason, eg. if they are visually impaired, you can ask them and tick the box above on their behalf.

This only applies if you pay with their credit/debit card and fill in their details (full name and home address) on the Gift Aid declaration form when making your donation.

2. The donation was on behalf of a company

If you are making a donation on behalf of a company, or using a company credit card, the donation is not eligible for Gift Aid as you can only make declarations on your own tax payer status when spending your own money. However, the company is entitled to claim tax relief on the donation.

3. You told us you were not a UK taxpayer

If you have any further questions about Gift Aid, please call our hotline on 0871 641 1111. Our lines are open Monday to Friday, from 8.30am to 8.30pm; 9.00am to 5.00pm at weekends. A member of our team will be happy to assist you.

Calls provided by BT will be charged at up to 6 pence per minute. A call set-up fee of up to 6 pence per call applies to calls from residential lines. Mobile and other providers’ costs may vary.

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07. How do I change my taxpayer status on donations I have made online?

If you need to change your taxpayer status on donations you have made you will need to call the Race for Life hotline on 0871 641 1111.

Our lines are open Monday to Friday, from 8.30am to 8.30pm; 9.00am to 5.00pm at weekends. A member of our team will be happy to assist you.

Calls provided by BT will be charged at up to 6 pence per minute. A call set-up fee of up to 6 pence per call applies to calls from residential lines. Mobile and other providers’ costs may vary.

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08. Can I edit the message I left on my friend’s online sponsorship page?

You are able to edit both the message and the display name which appears alongside your donation. You can edit your message at any time.

You will need to know the last four digits of the payment card you used to make the donation and your donation reference number which is contained within the email receipt you received.

If you have any problems, please call the Race for Life hotline on 0871 641 1111. Our lines are open Monday to Friday, from 8.30am to 8.30pm; 9.00am to 5.00pm at weekends. A member of our team will be happy to assist you.

Calls provided by BT will be charged at up to 6 pence per minute. A call set-up fee of up to 6 pence per call applies to calls from residential lines. Mobile and other providers’ costs may vary.

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09. Has my donation been paid to Cancer Research UK?

Our online sponsorship partner, Justgiving, transfers all donations made to a sponsorship page to Cancer Research UK each week. Within a month, they reclaim Gift Aid on all eligible donations and send this additional income to us.

This means that charities receive sponsorship money much earlier than through traditional fundraising methods.

If you still have a query, please call the Race for Life helpdesk on 0871 641 1111. Our lines are open Monday to Friday, from 8.30am to 8.30pm; 9.00am to 5.00pm at weekends. A member of our team will be happy to assist you.

Calls provided by BT will be charged at up to 6 pence per minute. A call set-up fee of up to 6 pence per call applies to calls from residential lines. Mobile and other providers’ costs may vary.

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10. I think I may have donated to the wrong person. What should I do?

If you have made a donation to a Race for Life online sponsorship page and received a thank-you email from someone whose name you do not recognise it is most likely your friend is in a team with this person.

Before asking us to cancel your donation, please take a moment to double-check the details of the sponsorship page to which you made the donation.

The page may belong to a team rather than an individual, in which case the email you received will have come from the team leader.

To check whether you donated to the correct page, please go to the web address of the page you donated to and see whether the person you wanted to sponsor is listed among the "Team members".

If you are still having problems, please call the Race for Life helpdesk on 0871 641 1111. Our lines are open Monday to Friday, from 8.30am to 8.30pm; 9.00am to 5.00pm at weekends. A member of our team will investigate further and cancel your donation if necessary.

Calls provided by BT will be charged at up to 6 pence per minute. A call set-up fee of up to 6 pence per call applies to calls from residential lines. Mobile and other providers’ costs may vary.

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11. Can I get tax relief on my donation?

In the UK, only higher-rate taxpayers can claim tax relief on the donations they make to charity. This is because, under the Gift Aid scheme, the charity can claim the basic rate tax on donations from the HM Revenue and Customs.

Donors who are liable at the higher rate of income tax can claim the difference between the higher rate (40%) and the basic rate (22%) on the grossed up donation. For further information, please visit the HM Revenue and Customs website.

Claiming tax relief is easy. You only need to declare the amounts you donated in a given tax year in the appropriate section of your tax return. As a reminder, please print out a copy of the thank-you email that you received after you donated.

If you created a secure personal account on Justgiving, you will find a full list of all the donations you made on the site, to help you file your tax return even more easily.

If you are still have any questions, please call the Race for Life hotline on 0871 641 1111. Our lines are open Monday to Friday, from 8.30am to 8.30pm; 9.00am to 5.00pm at weekends. A member of our team will be happy to assist you.

Calls provided by BT will be charged at up to 6 pence per minute. A call set-up fee of up to 6 pence per call applies to calls from residential lines. Mobile and other providers’ costs may vary.

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12. I live outside the UK. Can I donate to a Race for Life online sponsorship page?

Yes, you can donate to your friend's sponsorship page from anywhere in the world, as long as you have a credit or debit card.

Please note, however, that donations on our site can only be made in pounds sterling (£ GBP), so you have to work out for yourself how much the donation you are making will cost you in your local currency. There are many currency conversion websites that can help you do this.

Your credit card company may charge additional fees for international transactions.

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13. I don't have a postcode - what should I do?

We require donors to enter their postcode or zip code. If you live in a country that does not use postcodes, please enter the value "00" in the postcode field.

If you are still having problems, please call the Race for Life hotline on 0871 641 1111. Our lines are open Monday to Friday, from 8.30am to 8.30pm; 9.00am to 5.00pm at weekends. A member of our team will be happy to assist you. If in doubt, please contact them before making your donation.

Calls provided by BT will be charged at up to 6 pence per minute. A call set-up fee of up to 6 pence per call applies to calls from residential lines. Mobile and other providers’ costs may vary.

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14. What are Verified by VISA (VBV™) and MasterCard SecureCode (MCSC™)?

VISA and MasterCard have helped create a higher standard of security for online card transactions, called Verified by VISA (VBV™) and MasterCard SecureCode (MCSC™) respectively.

This means that, when you make a donation through the site using a VISA card or MasterCard, you may be taken to the secure site of your card issuer and asked to verify your card details by confirming a password.

Once you have verified your card, you will automatically be taken back to site to complete your donation.

This new process is the online equivalent of the now familiar "chip and pin" process used in shops and restaurants.

Why have we introduced this?

Because these new verification processes provide extra protection to our users. We take your card security very seriously, so we want to provide the highest possible levels of security on our site.

I am not registered with VBV™ or MasterCard SecureCode™. What can I do?

If you are not yet registered, you can do so for the first time when you sponsor someone on Race for Life. Your card issuer will be able to confirm whether or not you are obliged to register.

How secure will my password be?

We have no knowledge of, or access to, your VBV™ or MasterCard SecureCode™ password at any time. This is why you are asked to submit your password to your card issuer directly, over a secure link. The system does not see or store your password.

What should I do if I get a failure message?

Please call your card provider for help and try again later.

If you’re having any problems to do with Verified by Visa or MasterCard SecureCode, your card provider will be able to give you more information.

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15. How do I see the status of my donation to an online sponsorship page?

If you have not created an account, unfortunately this information will not be available.

If you have created an account, log in to your account. Click the "My account" button in the top right hand corner of your online sponsorship page, or go to our raise money online page and click on "Access your online sponsorship page".

- enter your email address and password and then click the continue using our secure server button
- from the homepage of your account, click on the "Your donations" tab
- the "Overview - donations" page appears
- in the middle of the page click on the link, "View all of your donations"
- you will see details of each donation including status.

If you have any problems, please call the Race for Life hotline on 0871 641 1111. Our lines are open Monday to Friday, from 8.30am to 8.30pm; 9.00am to 5.00pm at weekends. A member of our team will be happy to assist you.

Calls provided by BT will be charged at up to 6 pence per minute. A call set-up fee of up to 6 pence per call applies to calls from residential lines. Mobile and other providers’ costs may vary.

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16. How do I see a list of all my donations to an online sponsorship page?

- if you have not created an account, this information is not available
- if you have created an account, log in to your account. Click the "Your Account" button in the top right hand corner of your online sponsorship page, or go to our raise money online page and click on "Access your online sponsorship page"
- enter your email address and password and then click the continue using our secure server button
- from the homepage of your account, click on the "Your donations" tab
- the “Overview - donations” page appears
- in the middle of the page click on the link, "View all of your donations"
- you will see a list of all of your donations showing the date, the charity, the amount and the status of each donation.

If you have any problems, please call the Race for Life hotline on 0871 641 1111. Our lines are open Monday to Friday, from 8.30am to 8.30pm; 9.00am to 5.00pm at weekends. A member of our team will be happy to assist you.

Calls provided by BT will be charged at up to 6 pence per minute. A call set-up fee of up to 6 pence per call applies to calls from residential lines. Mobile and other providers' costs may vary.

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17. What is a prepay voucher?

In 2009, we offered prepay vouchers to those people who wanted to be first in the queue to enter Race for Life 2010. The prepay voucher was only available for a limited time via the website and the Race for Life hotline and is valid against the entry fee to any Race for Life 2010 event.

If you purchased a prepay voucher, you can redeem in towards entry to any Race for Life 2010 by entering your voucher code when completing your entry form. Your prepay voucher codes can be found in your confirmation email you received after purchase.  

If you have any problems, please call the Race for Life hotline on 0871 641 1111. Our lines are open Monday to Friday, from 8:30 am to 8:30 pm; 9:00 am to 5:00 pm at weekends. A member of our team will be happy to assist you.

Calls provided by BT will be charged at up to 6 pence per minute. A call set-up fee of up to 6 pence per call applies to calls from residential lines. Mobile and other providers’ costs may vary.

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