Case study: Surrey Young Walkers member stories

Walking group brings its community to life through member stories

Sector: Community / not-for-profit

Client: Surrey Young Walkers

Services: Interviewing and writing member success stories

How I helped

Surrey Young Walkers is a volunteer-run walking group for young adults. I interviewed six members and wrote a series of member stories that put real faces and voices to the group — showing prospective members what joining actually feels like.

Client

Surrey Young Walkers organises regular group walks across the Surrey Hills and beyond aimed at adults between their 20s and 40s. Like most community groups, it grows by word of mouth, but its website and social channels focused on practical information, like routes and dates, with nothing that captured the human side of the group.

Challenge

For anyone nervously considering their first walk, the biggest question isn't "where do we meet?", but it's "will I fit in?" The group needed content that answered that question. That meant real stories from members with their reasons for joining – whether that’s moving to a new area or wanting to meet people.

Action

I interviewed six members, each with a different route into the group and a different story to tell. Rather than writing about walking, I focused each story on why the person laces up their boots on a weekend morning, like the friendships and the sense of belonging. I kept each story to under 1000 words: long enough to feel personal and provide helpful content, but short enough to be read in only a few minutes, and structured in short, scannable paragraphs.

Result

The result is a six-story series that gives Surrey Young Walkers something it never had before: a library of member voices it can use across its website and social media to encourage new members to join.

Testimonial

“A massive thank you to Tom Bomford for bringing our group’s experiences to life! Tom is a pleasure to work with; professional and efficient. Through his brilliant member feedback stories, they’ve perfectly captured the joy, camaraderie, and mental health benefits of our walking group. Tom’s ability to listen, connect, and write in a very engaging way, will no doubt encourage new members to lace up their boots and join us! We highly recommend Tom to any organisation looking for clear, concise, yet sincere summaries of their member feedback.”

— Ashley Martin, Chair, Surrey Young Walkers

Read member stories here:https://www.tombomford.com/case-studies-writing-portfolio