Save our charities with the 2.6 Challenge

Thousands of fundraising events across the UK have been cancelled due to Covid-19 with a devastating impact on charity income that means many charities are facing closure.

The National Council for Voluntary Organisations' (NCVO) CEO, Karl Wilding, estimates that the UK charity sector will lose £4 billion in income as a result of the pandemic.

In response, the organisers of the biggest mass-participation sports events across the country have come together to create a new campaign to raise vital funds to help save the UK’s charities.

The campaign, The 2.6 Challenge, will launch on Sunday 26 April – what should have been the date of the 40th edition of the London Marathon, the world’s biggest one day annual fundraising event, which raised £66.4 million for charities in 2019.

From Sunday 26 April, the public is asked to dream up an activity based around the numbers 2.6 or 26 and fundraise or donate to Save the UK’s Charities via:

• twopointsixchallenge.co.uk

Local charities which you can so far donate towards of fundraise for include: Springhill Hospice, WHAG, Rochdale Foodbank, Rochdale and District Round Table Charitable Trust, Rotary Club of Middleton Trust Fund, Animals in Distress, RKT Trust, Missionary Ventures GB, Stepping Stone Projects, and Rochdale, Oldham and District Samaritans.

You can search for a charity to donate towards or fundraise for here: 

• uk.virginmoneygiving.com/giving/events/twopointsix/donate-now/

The 2.6 Challenge is open to anyone of any age – the only requirement is that the activity must follow the Government guidelines on exercise and social distancing: you should only go out once a day for exercise, either alone or with members of your household. You are urged to stay local and always keep more than two metres away from other people at all times.

“The 2.6 Challenge can be anything that works for you,” says Nick Rusling, Co-Chair of the Mass Participation Sports Organisers group (MSO) and CEO of Human Race. “You can run or walk 2.6 miles, 2.6km or for 26 minutes. You could do the same in your home or garden, go up and down the stairs 26 times, juggle for 2.6 minutes, do a 26 minute exercise class or get 26 people on a video call and do a 26 minute workout – anything you like. We want people to get active, have fun and raise money to help save the UK’s charities by giving money or raising funds for the charity close to your heart.”

“For many of the UK’s charities, the day of the London Marathon is the biggest fundraising day of the year,” said Hugh Brasher, Co-Chair of MSO and Event Director of London Marathon Events. “One of the founding pillars of the London Marathon was ‘to show how the family of mankind can be united’. We hope that The 2.6 Challenge, which starts on the day our 40th race should have taken place, will embody that spirit and inspire people, families and communities to fundraise for their chosen charity to help save the UK’s charities. Right now, our vulnerable members of society need the help of charities more than ever before. We are asking everyone to create a 2.6 Challenge of their own and raise funds or pledge a donation.”

Julie Halliwell, Chief Executive at Springhill Hospice said: “We are really pleased to be taking part in the 2.6 Challenge and we hope that our supporters are keen to join in. The challenge will encourage people to get active in a more creative way than they may normally do while supporting Springhill and other charities up and down the country. We are incredibly lucky to have so many supporters in our community who are always willing to get stuck in and take part in challenges like this to support our hospice.”

The mass-participation events organisers behind The 2.6 Challenge are: Human Race, parkrun, The Great Run Company, Run 4 Wales, Grounded Events, London Landmarks, Virgin Sport, Limelight Sports, Threshold Sports, Running High and London Marathon Events. The design and website has been created by Studio Republic and the social media campaign by LiveWire Sport. Both agencies are working pro bono.

The campaign is supported by the Charities Aid Foundation, the Institute of Fundraising, the Small Charities Coalition, the Office for Civil Society, Sport England, Let’s Do This, Virgin Money Giving and JustGiving.

For more information on The 2.6 Challenge, visit:

• twopointsixchallenge.co.uk