10 bizarre British world championships to raise money with friends
Howard Lake | 6 September 2013 | Blogs
Trying to motivate people to do something for charity or encouraging others to hand over their hard earned cash in aid of your favourite cause can often be a tough challenge. But that is no reason to give up, of course, and when it comes to how you go about it, the only limit is your imagination.
Teaming up with friends is a great way to stay interested, keep things enjoyable and help keep each other motivated. Think beyond the limits of the usual fun runs or dress down days and there’s more chance you’ll capture the attention of those kind-hearted souls who you are trying to persuade to donate money.
At Chillisauce we organise fun-filled adventures for groups of friends, families and colleagues week in and week out, and our mission is to help people create special memories with their loved ones that they can treasure for years to come. Whether it’s a boisterous stag do, luxurious hen party or an adrenalin-fuelled activity weekend, we are always looking for new and exciting ways for our customers to let their hair down.
Such adventures are a great way to do your bit for charity too, and fundraising can add an extra element of satisfaction to the weekend, knowing you’re helping to contribute to a long term legacy, not just a weekend of entertainment for yourselves.
For us here at Chillisauce, we think the more bizarre the better, so here are some of our favourite events where you and your friends can turn heads and raise money while enjoying an unforgettable weekend:
The Horseshoes Wheelie Bin Race
Image: Kent Online
When: July every year
Where: The Three Horseshoes Pub, Hernhill, Kent
Who: Teams of four
Any students worth their salt have no doubt climbed into a wheelie bin at some point on the way home from a night out, but this gives you a chance to add a competitive element. Organised by the 250-year-old Three Horseshoes pub in the quaint hamlet of Hernhill, Kent, the infamous wheelie bin race isn’t perhaps the olde worlde custom you might expect from this historic boozer. Teams of up to four, including one brave soul clambering inside the cockpit, attempt to negotiate the quarter-mile course in the quickest time, while lubricated onlookers watch the action (in between trips to the beer tent). Turning up with just a plain green bin won’t get you any bonus points, pimping your ride is the name of the game here, with bin-based contraptions often paying tribute to all manner of vehicles, from steam trains to German U-boats.
More info: www.3shoes.co.uk
Braughing Wheelbarrow Race
Image: The Studio Without Walls
When: Third Friday in July
Where: Braughing village ford, Hertfordshire
Who: Teams of two
Remember the wheelbarrow races you did at school sports day as a kid? Well this is nothing like those, as this involves actual wheelbarrows with actual wheels. Daring duos don fancy dress as one pushes the other around the 400m track. Be prepared to get wet though, as the track begins and ends in the village ford and making a splash on the finish line is the best way to guarantee a big cheer from the gathered crowds of villagers.
More info: www.braughing.org.uk
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The Crafty Craft Race
Image: Newbury.net
When: May Day bank holiday Monday
Where: The Kennet and Avon Canal, Newbury
Who: Teams of four to eight, with support crew of up to 20
‘Home made boat’ may be a phrase that fills you with fear, and unsurprisingly those who enter the annual Crafty Craft Race on the canal in Newbury don’t always have the most seaworthy vessels at their disposal. Still, that just adds to the element of excitement and the fun for those watching from the safety of the canal towpaths. An annual tradition dating back to the mid-1970s, teams don fancy dress before boarding their lavishly decorated boats to take on the fivemile stretch of canal, hopping out and carrying their rafts around the locks along the route.
More info: www.craftycraft.com
UK Cold Water Swimming Championships
Image: Amusing Planet
When: Bi-annually, January
Where: Tooting Bec Lido, Tooting Common, London
Who: Individuals or relay teams of four
Not one for the faint-hearted, you will need to rely on the warm feeling that you are raising money for good causes to take on this slightly masochistic challenge. Taking place in January every other year, Tooting Bec Lido, the UK’s biggest outdoor pool, welcomes hundreds of hardy swimmers taking the plunge and braving sub-zero temperatures in the unheated water.
Races take place in various categories, including the 450m endurance race and the ‘head-up’ breaststroke challenge, in which swimmers are encouraged to wear headgear (the crazier the better) and must not let their eyes go below the water. Hot tubs, saunas and hot drinks – plus a real ale tent – help warm you up afterwards.
More info: www.slsc.org.uk
World Bog Snorkelling Championships
Image: Pieway.com
When: Sunday, August Bank Holiday weekend
Where: Llanwrtyd Wells, Wales
Who: Individuals, but groups encouraged
From keeping your head up in crisp and clean freshwater to face-planting in a muddy bog, the World Bog Snorkelling Championships is a surprisingly competitive event attracting competitors from around the world. Entrants, encouraged to wear fruity garb, don a snorkel, mask and flippers before submerging themselves in the mud to race along a 60yd trench dug out of a peat bog outside Llanwrtyd Wells. It’s an individual race but groups including stag and hen parties are encouraged, with ‘novelty’ entrants welcomed alongside the more serious racers.
More info: www.green-events.co.uk
The Maldon Mud Race
Image: Digital Spy
When: Annually every spring
Where: Maldon, Essex
Like the best ‘why would you do that?’ events, this one started life as a pub bet, when a local was challenged to run across the muddy bed of the River Blackwater at low tide, down a pint and then run back. That was back in 1973 and it’s certainly come a long way since, with more than 12,000 people gathering in 2013 to watch hundreds of racers from across the world take on the 400m dash from one side of the river to the other and back again. Originally held during the nippy months of December or January, extreme cold forced it to be postponed until spring in 2010 and organisers have stuck with that time of year since.
More info: www.maldonmudrace.com
World Stinging Nettle Eating Championships
When: Second Saturday in June
Where: The Bottle Inn, Marshwood, Dorset
Who: Individual entrants in male and female categories
‘Grasp that nettle’ may seem an appropriate turn of phrase for taking on some of these less than inviting challenges, but eating that nettle sounds like a step too far. That doesn’t stop the scores of hungry entrants who gather at the Bottle Inn in Dorset to devour platefuls of stinging nettles, munching the leaves from the long stalks piled in front of them. Yet again, it seemed a daft argument was the origin of this now infamous contest, when two farmers argued over who had the longest nettles growing in their field, with one vowing to eat any nettles which outgrew his own. The charity beer festival taking place at the same time as the competition in this charming 16th century pub helps to take the sting out it all.
More info: www.bottle-inn.net
Onion Eating Competition
Photo: Paul Smith on Flickr.com
When: Second Saturday in September
Where: Newent, Gloucestershire
Who: Individual entrants in male and female categories
It’s unlikely people will be queuing up to kiss you even if you emerge victorious from this one, so get the chewing gum at the ready. The Onion Eating Competition is one of the highlights of the bustling Newent Onion Fayre, and sees men and women taking to the stage to chomp their way through a whole raw onion in the fastest time possible, with last year’s winners both managing it in just over a minute. Open to anyone, all you need to do is turn up and put your name down and you can probably get away without months of training.
More info: www.newentonionfayre.org
Mince Pie eating championships
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Photo: The Travelling Bum on Flickr.com
When: Early November
Where: Wookey Hole Caves, Somerset
Who: Individuals
If you think you’re usually sick of mince pies by the time Christmas Day comes along, then try wolfing down 46 of them in 10 minutes – in November. That’s what record-breaker Sonya Thomas did back in 2006 during Wookey Hole’s Big Eat competition, with dozens of people attempting to smash that record every year. If you thought Santa had it bad every Christmas Eve, at least he gets a breather in between houses. Here, competitors are faced with a plateful of stacks of the crumbly pies, forcing them down as quickly as possible in between swigs of water. Worth watching just for the fascinating variety of tactics deployed.
More info: www.wookey.co.uk
The Great Christmas Pudding Race
Great Christmas Pudding Race from LondonTown.com
Where: Covent Garden, London
When: First or second Saturday in December
Who: Teams of six, raising a minimum of £600 in sponsorship
This is your chance to run off those mince pies, taking on a number of challenges along a funfilled obstacle course, doing your best to protect that other beloved festive dessert, the humble Christmas pudding. Teams of six tackle inflatable slides, giant jigsaws and crowds pelting them with flour-filled balloons and firing foam cannons, balancing their Christmas puds on trays as they go. Fancy dress is, of course, the norm and thousands is raised for Cancer Research in the process.
More info: www.xmaspuddingrace.org.uk
How to maximise your fundraising efforts
The plan for events such as these is two-fold, have a fun weekend with your friends, while raising as much money as possible for charity. Tactics for raising funds can vary depending on the event, but incentivising your sponsors is often a great way to help swell the coffers, and gives you and your teammates extra incentive to perform well while you’re there.
For example, traditional races or endurance events could be sponsored on a ‘per lap’ or distance covered basis. The same principle can apply to many events – people donate a certain amount if you wolf down so many mince pies, break your previous best for eating nettles, or finish in the top 10 of a wacky race.
If it’s a workplace team taking on a charity challenge then you could even tap up your boss to double the donations if your team wins their category, for example.
Don’t forget to make the most of the goodwill of spectators too, people will give generously on the day, especially if they can see you’ve really entered into the spirit of things, so don your fancy dress and rattle those collection buckets.
At Chillisauce, we’re addicted to discovering the world’s wackiest events, so for more insights into the weird and wonderful challenges that people put themselves through head on over to the Chillisauce Blog. And we always love to hear about new adventures, so let us know about your favourite thrill-seeking fundraising events.
Michael Chidzey is the Head of Digital Marketing at Chillisauce, which is famous for organising corporate events, parties & launches, experiential campaigns, activity weekends, stag dos and hen nights.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.